No. 2 Ohio State is set to finish its home schedule for the 2026 Big Ten wrestling season against No. 5 Iowa on Friday, February 6, at the Covelli Center in Columbus. The match will begin at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast live on BTN.
The Buckeyes currently hold a perfect record of 16-0 overall and are 5-0 in conference competition. They have also remained undefeated at home this season with a 6-0 record.
Before the match, Ohio State will recognize its seniors during a ceremony. Managers Noah Loris, Ava Marinell, Taylor Csanyi, Frank Saldana, and Emma Schatzel will be honored alongside athletes Peyton Fenton, Carter Chase, Paddy Gallagher, Carson Kharchla, and Jesse Mendez.
This season marks Ohio State’s highest number of dual wins since the team finished with an 18-2 record under head coach Tom Ryan in the 2009-10 campaign. Under Ryan’s leadership over two decades in Columbus, the Buckeyes have achieved ten or more wins in fifteen different seasons.
Redshirt freshman Ben Davino has made a notable impact by leading the nation (tied) with eleven technical falls this year and accumulating an aggregate time of fifty-five minutes and eight seconds for those victories.
Ohio State last defeated Iowa at home in Columbus in 2018 with a score of 22-12. The teams most recently met earlier this year at the 2025 National Duals in Tulsa where Ohio State won convincingly, finishing with a score of 27-12.
During the National Duals Invitational held November 15–16, Ohio State secured four team-dual victories—including wins over Wyoming, No. 10 Minnesota, No. 2 Nebraska, and No. 3 Iowa—to claim the event title along with a $200,000 prize. In that tournament run, Buckeye wrestlers went undefeated across five weight classes (125 through 157 pounds), losing only five matches total during both days of competition.
The team also picked up significant road wins against top-ranked opponents: they beat No.7 Minnesota (29-9) and then edged out No.6 Nebraska (17-16). Against Nebraska, heavyweight Nick Feldman clinched victory for Ohio State by defeating AJ Ferrari with a sudden victory decision.
Ohio State opened its Big Ten slate on January 11 by shutting out No.23 Indiana (45-0), marking their first shutout win against Indiana and their first conference shutout since beating Maryland (41-0) on January 31 last year.
Probable lineups for Friday’s matchup feature ranked competitors from both schools across multiple weight classes:
125 – Nic Bouzakis (OSU) vs Dean Peterson/Joey Cruz (IOWA)
133 – Ben Davino (OSU) vs Drake Ayala (IOWA)
141 – Jesse Mendez (OSU) vs Kale Petersen (IOWA)
149 – Ethan Stiles (OSU) vs Ryder Block/Kael Voinovich (IOWA)
157 – Landon Desselle/Maddox Shaw/Daxton Chase (OSU) vs Jordan Williams/Victor Voinovich III (IOWA)
165 – Paddy Gallagher/e’Than Birden (OSU) vs Michael Caliendo (IOWA)
174 – Carson Kharchla (OSU) vs Patrick Kennedy (IOWA)
184 – Dylan Fishback (OSU) vs Gabe Arnold (IOWA)
197 – Luke Geog/Seth Shumate(OSU) vs Brody Sampson(IOWA)
HWT – Nick Feldman(OSU) vs Ken Kueter(IOWA)