The Iowa Hawkeyes return to action on Sunday with a tough dual top to bottom at Nebraska. Now the Huskers will have to travel across the country from New Jersey back home to Lincoln, but pose several interesting matchup problems for the Hawkeyes.

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Sun. Feb. 3 | Noon Central

There are six matchups of ranked wrestlers and 16 guys overall who appear in this week's rankings. Perhaps the most intriguing match of the dual comes at 165, where #2 and undefeated Alex Marinelli takes on CKLV champ Isaiah White. The two have never wrestled before and will certainly have Big Ten seeding implications, as White has already lost to Vincenzo Joseph and Evan Wick, the latter of whom Marinelli beat in the Midlands finals.

The other Top-10 battle will see #2 Tyler Berger against #7 Kaleb Young. The two-time All-American Berger created a stir when he called out Jason Nolf in what will supposedly be his last tweet until after NCAAs. Likewise, Young was the subject of some debate as he lost to Eric Barone on Friday and then did not wrestle against #3 Ryan Deakin on Sunday. Young was listed as the only possible starter in the match notes, but Jeren Glosser may also end up weighing-in.

Iowa is favored in the three other matches featuring a ranked guy against a ranked guy. Sam Stoll has never wrestled David Jensen, but was 2-1 against David's older brother Collin, himself a former Husker. Jacob Warner and Eric Schultz have also not wrestled before, and their common opponents don't offer much: both beat Andre Lee and Zack Chakonis and lost to Tanner Sloan.

Spencer Lee did not weigh-in for the Northwestern dual, raising questions about his health. If that decision was purely precautionary he'll now have over a week between competitions to get back to as close to 100% as someone can be at this point in the season. Since CKLV, Moisey is 3-3 and was unable to pick up bonus in two of the three matches against unranked guys. That points to Lee likely being able to overwhelm the Husker if he goes on Sunday.

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Aside from Berger, the only other Husker favored in a ranked matchup is Taylor Venz against Cash Wilcke. Venz is excellent on the mat, with five pins this year and able to pick up points on top in all his wins so far. Wilcke will have to slow down the match and keep a strong base on bottom to keep it close and put himself in position to win or minimize damage team score wise.

Where the Hawkeyes can do most of their damage is from 133 to 149. DeSanto should pick up bonus and Lugo is favored, but the Murin/Red match is probably a tossup, especially with the dual being at Nebraska. On the Husker's end, 174 is their big opportunity to pick up team points. Mikey Labriola is a whirlwind on his feet, even taking down Mark Hall. But Keegan Shaw did pick up a nice ranked win over Johnny Sebastian of Northwestern.

Overall, Iowa's advantages at the first four and last two weights, plus the fact that Nebraska will have to be traveling back across the country while it will be Iowa's only dual of the weekend, should make for another dual win for the Hawks. But the Huskers have just enough firepower to make the Black & Gold sweat this one out until the very end.

Iowa Projected Lineup

125: #2 Spencer Lee

133: #3 Austin DeSanto

141: #19 Max Murin

149: #16 Pat Lugo

157: #7 Kaleb Young

165: #2 Alex Marinelli

174: Mitch Bowman or  Keegan Shaw

184: #16 Cash Wilcke

197: #5 Jacob Warner

285: #5 Sam Stoll

Nebraska Projected Lineup

125: #14 Zeke Moisey

133: Jevon Parrish or Tucker Sjomeling

141: Chad Red

149: Collin Purinton or Jordan Shearer

157: #2 Tyler Berger

165: #6 Isaiah White

174: #9 Mikey Labriola

184: #3 Taylor Venz

197: #11 Eric Schultz

285: #14 David Jensen