Brody Teske doesn’t care what his bracket looks like at 133 pounds in this weekend’s Big Ten Championships.

“Let it all play out the way God intended,” the Iowa senior said Tuesday. “He’s already got it mapped out. So, go live it.”

Teske is the #14 pre-seed in his weight class for this weekend’s event in College Park, Maryland. He has been one of four 133-pounders to compete for the Hawkeyes this season, joining Cullan Schriever, Jace Rhodes and Kale Petersen.

Teske, who has also been at 141 this season, is 5-3 in duals and 11-4 overall. He has wrestled at 133 in Iowa’s last two duals.

“You just stay the course,” Teske said when asked what it will take this weekend. “I’m really healthy. Whether it was a plan or not, missing some matches this year, I made weight every time. That’s a first in my college career. I'm strong and healthy and excited for the opportunities. As far as the small details that need to be figured out, it's just a matter of getting there, honestly.”

Teske is going to have a long road, given where he was seeded.

Asked about Teske’s low seeding, Iowa coach Tom Brands said, “There’s funny things that go on. He wrestled at Oklahoma State, and you’ve got to make sure, in the situation that we were in, the timing was right (for a wrestle-off). We’re going to do what's best for our athletes first. And then in my assessment and the program's assessment, it was right to get the timing right for the wrestle-off for a lot of reasons, and I'm not going to get into it too much. I've already said probably more than I want to say about it.

“It’s a policy, I guess you could say, with the Big Ten, that when you submit your lineup and you get to a certain point, and you do a change, there has to be a certain number of points. It's got to be close, within two or three points. I'm not sure exactly what it is. whether or not you can open it up for a coach's vote. And the policy says that because of how this went down, we are not able to open it up for another vote. So he goes in as a 14 seed, and away we go.”

Teske isn’t worried about the seeding.

“I've prepared to be wrestling in championship season,” he said. “That's where we're at. As far as the seeding and all that stuff goes. It's championship season for a reason. And you know, when you get to come and just lay down, nobody's everyone's coming to fight. And so you're ready to bring the fight and if you're not, you probably should stay home.”

Redshirt Decisions

True freshmen Gabe Arnold and Ben Kueter won’t wrestle this weekend, as Brands decided to preserve their redshirt seasons.

Arnold had a 3-1 duals record at 174 and 184, and went 8-1 overall. Kueter was 3-1 at 285 in duals after joining the team at midseason after his first season on Iowa’s football team.

“There’s a lot of things that go into those decisions,” Brands said. “They're certainly capable. We have other guys that are capable there as well. There’s different reasons for both of them.

“The bottom line is, at the end of this process, this program and this guy really like the idea of both those guys having four years (of eligibility remaining) at the end of this year.”

Patrick Kennedy will wrestle at 174, Aiden Riggins will be at 184, and Bradley Hill will be at 285.

Brands said the decision on Kueter had nothing to do with football. The Hawkeyes begin spring football practice later this month.

“This wasn’t, like, a mutual decision, so he could springboard better as a second year going into the spring football season,” Brands said. “This was based on, like I said, there's a lot of reasons why you would do it. There's a lot of reasons why you wouldn't do it. And I'll tell you what, Bradley Hill ain't chopped liver. He's a capable, talented, explosive heavyweight that we love.”

Hawkeyes' Momentum

Iowa comes into the tournament ranked #2 nationally after a 22-9 win over then-#2 Oklahoma State on February 25.

It was a momentum boost to end a dual season in which the Hawkeyes went 12-2, with the losses coming back-to-back against #9 Michigan and #1 Penn State.

“We’ve had a little bit of ups and downs, maybe, if you want to call it that from an outsider’s perspective, anyway,” said 197-pounder Zach Glazier, who is the #3 pre-seed in his weight class for this weekend’s tournament. “That was a little bit of an up, and I think it puts us in a good spot heading into the weekend.”