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As a note, all rankings are courtesy of Intermat, who do a good job and don’t charge me money to view them. Team rankings are dual rankings, not tournament.
Should Iowa be wary of a slow start coming off of covid pause? That’s more or less what Kind of... asked me after Michigan lost to Penn State on Sunday. Well, yes and no. Penn State came off their pause by losing a couple big matches to Indiana wrestlers (need I say more?), and Michigan looked pretty slow this weekend against a good and a very good team. So why should Iowa be the exception? Well, first, they’re older. They’ve been here before, and they know exactly how to prepare. Seriously, this team is starting six seniors and two juniors. They’re also very driven. Eight of those ten starters had All-American or better hopes, and dreams of team title, cut short this time last year. That’s not to say everyone isn’t driven, but Iowa hasn’t won a title in way too long, and they got robbed last year. But, perhaps most importantly, Iowa isn’t rushing back to competition. Michigan had, what, four days of practice before the Ohio State dual? Iowa is returning to practice today for Big Tens in two and a half weeks (they also may wrestle Wisconsin on Sunday, tbd). I’m not saying this is ideal, but with a different team, at a different moment, it could be a lot worse.