Detailing the full history between Penn State Wrestling and Iowa

Penn State Wrestling has a long and storied career in the annals of collegiate wrestling.

But so too does Iowa Wrestling.

And at this point, it would be fairly easy to argue they have the richer history … a total of 24 NCAA team titles tends to do that.

However, the Nittany Lions are starting to nip at the heels of the Hawkeyes.

With their most recent team title in the 2025 NCAA Championships, Cael Sanderson has now led Penn State Wrestling to the promised land in 12 of the past 14 NCAA’s. And along with the Nittany Lions’ first team title back in 1953, it gives them a total of 13 all-time.

So it got us at NittanyCentral thinking to ourselves, “What does the complete history look like between Penn State Wrestling and Iowa?”

Which was a much better question than pondering whether or not the NBA Lottery was rigged or trying to figure out what people eat non-dairy bread.

Don’t worry, readers, we’re always here to ask the tough questions.

So with that, let’s dive into the full history of dual meets between the Nittany Lions and the Hawkeyes!

Penn State Wrestling vs. Iowa: Pre-B1G

Years: 1983-1990
Dual Meets: 9
PSU Wins: 3
Score: 114-230

Prior to Penn State joining the B1G in June of 1990, the Nittany Lions already had a handful of dual meets under their belt against the Hawkeyes.

The first meeting between Penn State Wrestling and Iowa dates back to December 6, 1982.

And while the Nittany Lions had a very respectable squad that year, they simply weren’t on the same planet as Iowa.

Dan Gable and the Hawkeyes were in search of their sixth straight NCAA team title. Conversely, Head Coach Rich Lorenzo was looking to bounce back from an underperformance from his team in the 1982 NCAA Championships.

During their 1981-1982 campaign, the Nittany Lions owned a 12-3 dual meet record and they took home an EWL Conference Championship. But unfortunately, they sputtered a bit in the NCAA’s and finished in a disappointing 14th place with 20.3 team points.

So you can now get a sense of the state of each program.

One was trying to become only the second D1 program to win at least six straight NCAA team titles (Oklahoma State 1937-1946). And the other one was battling hard but essentially spinning their tires.

First Penn State/Iowa Matchup

So yeah, it should come as no surprise that Iowa spanked the Nittany Lions to the tune of 34-9 in front of the home fans at Rec Hall.

Carl DeStefanis and Bob Bury were the only two guys to win a match for Penn State on the day. Additionally, Iowa racked up four decisions, a major decision, and three pins.

Things didn’t go much better in the next three matchups as Iowa extended their winning streak to four straight against the Nittany Lions.

Lorenzo’s crew dropped a tough dual meet in Iowa 26-19 before getting boat raced 31-9 and 35-5 respectively.

First Penn State Wrestling Win

But the tide was slowly turning.

Dan Gable’s stranglehold on collegiate wrestling was starting to loosen a bit. And the Penn State faithful only had to wait until the 1986-1987 season for them to see the Nittany Lions prevail over the Hawkeyes.

That season’s Penn State team was especially strong. They held an 18-1-1 regular season dual meet record, they cruised to a conference title, and they finished in third place in the 1987 NCAA Championships. Furthermore, they had a program-best eight guys finish as All-Americans.

And that was the year the Nittany Lions spanked Iowa 27-15 in front of a raucous Rec Hall crowd. It also started a three-match winning streak for Penn State as they went on to take down the Hawkeyes 19-18 and 18-16 in the next two meetings.

But Dan Gable and Iowa would get the last laugh as the calendar flipped to a new decade.

Penn State and Iowa squared off on two separate occasions during the 1989-1990 season. And let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.

The Nittany Lions were completely outmatched, and they dropped both dual meets to a combined score of 55-8. Ouch.

1983-1990 Matchups

1983 – Loss 34-9 (home)
1984 – Loss 26-16 (away)
1985 – Loss 31-9 (home)
1986 – Loss 35-5 (away)
1987 – Win 27-15 (home)
1988 – Win 19-18 (away)
1989 – Win 18-16 (home)
1990 – Loss 22-5 (neutral)
1990 – Loss 33-3 (away)

Penn State Wrestling vs. Iowa: B1G 1990’s

Years: 1991-1999
Dual Meets: 12
PSU Wins: 1
Score: 154-305

Remember when I said the rest of the nation was catching up to Iowa in terms of talent and coaching?

Well, forget I even said that. Because just when everyone was thinking that Iowa State, Arizona State, and Oklahoma State had already passed Iowa, Gable said to the nation, “Not so fast, my friend!”

Between 1991 and 1999, Iowa climbed back to the top of the wrestling world a staggering eight times in that nine year span. And before Dan Gable turned the Hawkeyes wrestling program over to Jim Zalesky, his 1997 squad laid waste to everyone in their path.

That year’s team set the all-time record for points scored in an NCAA Championship (170), had eight All-Americans, and crowned five individual champions.

So let’s just say Penn State Wrestling’s welcoming party to the B1G Conference didn’t exactly include the Hawkeyes. Because “tough sledding” would be a gross understatement when looking at the Nittany Lions’ performances against Iowa during this stretch.

Perhaps the term “impossible figure skating on a unicycle” would be a more apt description.

It’s also worth noting that the Nittany Lions saw three different head coaches between 1991 and 1999.

Rich Lorenzo stepped aside following the 1992 season as John Fritz took over from 1993 to 1998. Then, after Fritz stepped down at the end of the 1998 campaign, Troy Sunderland assumed the reins.

1991-1999 Matchups

1991 – Loss 32-6 (home)
1991 – Tie 19-19 (neutral)
1992 – Loss 30-11 (away)
1993 – Tie 18-18 (home)
1994 – Loss 29-15 (away)
1994 – Loss 24-15 (neutral)
1995 – Loss 33-6 (home)
1996 – Loss 28-6 (away)
1997 – Loss 22-15 (home)
1998 – Win 25-17 (away)
1998 – Loss 23-9 (away)
1999 – Loss 30-9 (home)

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Penn State Wrestling vs. Iowa: B1G 2000’s

Years: 2000-2009
Dual Meets: 10
PSU Wins: 2
Score: 131-236

And the trend continued into the early 2000s.

But, for this decade, it was the first time the Nittany Lions didn’t let the Hawkeyes double their team aggregate score. So they had that going for them, which was nice.

The seasons stretching from 2000 to 2002 and including 2005 were some of the hardest Penn State Wrestling fans had to endure in quite some time. The Nittany Lions were a combined 29-46 in dual meets, they had an average B1G finish of seventh, and an average NCAA finish of 25th.

So again, it shouldn’t be much of a shock that Iowa pretty much had its way with them on the mat.

However, there were some bright spots. Especially towards the end of Sunderland’s tenure in Happy Valley.

Penn State was able to snag back-to-back wins against Iowa in 2006 and 2007. Additionally, Sunderland led the Nittany Lions to a third-place finish in the 2008 NCAA Championships, where they had four All-Americans and an individual champion (Phil Davis).

Unfortunately, following the 2009 season,n it was announced that Troy Sunderland would no longer be the head coach of the Nittany Lions.

And thus began the Cael Sanderson era for Penn State Wrestling.

Soon enough, the Nittany Lion faithful would start to see a change in the dynamic between them and Iowa.

2000-2009 Matchups

2000 – Loss 22-9 (away)
2001 – Loss 33-10 (home)
2002 – Loss 24-11 (away)
2003 – Loss 26-10 (home)
2004 – Loss 23-11 (away)
2005 – Loss 23-16 (home)
2006 – Win 21-12 (away)
2007 – Win 24-13 (home)
2008 – Loss 27-13 (away)
2009 – Loss 33-6 (home)

Penn State Wrestling vs. Iowa: B1G 2010’s

Years: 2010-2019
Dual Meets: 8
PSU Wins: 4
Score: 147-139

From 2010 to 2019 marks the first time in program history that Penn State did not have a losing record against Iowa on the mat. Furthermore, it was the first 10 year stretch in which they actually outscored the Hawkeyes in the aggregate.

See if you can spot why this was the case …

Year Dual Record B1G Finish NCAA Finish
2010 13-6-1 5th 9th
2011 17-1-1 1st 1st
2012 13-1-0 1st 1st
2013 13-1-0 1st 1st
2014 15-1-0 1st 1st
2015 11-4-0 5th 6th
2016 16-0-0 1st 1st
2017 14-0-0 2nd 1st
2018 14-0-0 2nd 1st
2019 14-0-0 1st 1st

Penn State Wrestling, under the command of Cael Sanderson, was the epitome of a sleeping giant.

Right out of the gates, his teams hit the ground running.

Does it help to have guys like Quentin Wright, Frank Molinaro, Ed Ruth, and David Taylor on your team?

How about Matt Brown, Nico Megaludis, and Vincenzo Joseph?

And Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, Mark Hall, and Bo Nickal?

You’re damn right it does!

And while Sanderson had the Nittany Lions rocking and rolling on the national stage, the Hawkeyes weren’t backing down.

Heck, it still took Cael until his third year before Penn State knocked off Iowa in a dual meet. Tom Brands always had his guys wrestling hard when Penn State was next on the calendar.

However, the tide was about to change. And big time.

2010-2019 Matchups

2010 – Loss 29-6 (away)
2011 – Loss 22-13 (home)
2012 – Win 22-12 (home)
2013 – Loss 22-16 (away)
2014 – Win 24-12 (away)
2015 – Loss 18-12 (home)
2017 – Win 26-11 (away)
2018 – Win 28-13 (home)

Penn State Wrestling vs. Iowa: B1G 2020 to Present

Years: 2020-2025
Dual Meets: 5
PSU Wins: 4
Score: 118-60

So now we’ve reached the point where the pendulum between Penn State and Iowa has fully swung from one side to the other.

And sure, the Hawkeyes do have a win this decade. But that was back on January 31st, 2020. Only a mere 1932 days ago.

To make matters worse for Tom Brands and the Hawkeyes, the Nittany Lions have outscored them 59-14 in their last two dual meets. And I honestly feel like that score differential still doesn’t do the results justice.

Everyone knows that Penn State Wrestling has the best coaching staff in the country. And when you add in a plethora of talent and guys committed to working hard, it all culminates in a winning culture inside the wrestling room.

Champions like Roman Bravo-Young and Nick Young have already come and gone (well, not exactly with Lee since he’s on the coaching staff). Then, when you factor in four-time NCAA champion Aaron Brooks’ time has too already come and gone. Same goes for “Mr Five Time” Carter Starocci. Yet the well-oiled wrestling machine in Happy Valley is still bringing in insanely good talent and churning out the next crop of Nittany Lion legends.

Thanks to their efforts, the Nittany Lions have been on a run of success against their bitter rivals over the past half-decade.

2020-2025 Matchups

2020 – Loss 19-17 (away)
2022 – Win 19-13 (away)
2023 – Win 23-14 (home)
2024 – Win 29-6 (away)
2025 – Win 30-8 (home)

What all of this means for the Iowa Hawkeyes and their fans is simple.

At some point, they will win a dual meet against Penn State. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Furthermore, as long as Cael is the head coach, the Nittany Lions’ 14-28-2 all-time record against Iowa is going to look way less one-sided.

MORE Penn State Wrestling News from NittanyCentral:

Carter Starocci’s Iconic Penn State Journey: Unmatched, Unbroken, Unforgettable
How Beau Bartlett Became a Nittany Lion Wrestling Star, One Match at a Time
No. 1 Overall Prospect Marcus Blaze Set to Make Instant Impact in Happy Valley

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Chris Snyder

Penn State Wrestling Beat Reporter at NittanyCentral

Expertise: College Wrestling, College Football, Lays Chips
Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA

Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.

And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.

Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.

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