What if we told you there was a 16-team dual tournament in November that includes just about all of the best college wrestling teams in the nation?
Well, there is one. The National Duals Invitational will be held Nov. 15-16 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with teams competing for a $200,000 first-place cash prize and a $1,000,000 total purse. Both Iowa and Northern Iowa will compete, giving an early look at both squads against some of the best competition nationwide.
Flowrestling released the 16-team bracket to the public on Oct. 7 to get fans excited as the season inches closer. Seeded teams include No. 1 Iowa, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Oklahoma State. The remaining 12 were randomly drawn into the field. The full 16-team bracket can be viewed on nationaldualsinvitational.com.
While this may or may not be Iowa or Northern Iowa’s first duals of the year, it certainly will be a massive opportunity for each team to win some big matches and duals at the beginning of the wrestling calendar. Here’s a look at the first-round matchups and three takeaways on Iowa and Northern Iowa’s draw:
All individual rankings of wrestlers are from Intermat.
Iowa’s path to the finals appears favorable
The Hawkeyes will open vs. Missouri in the first round. With a win there, a match with the winner of Illinois and Little Rock would follow, with the most likely semifinals opponent being longtime rival Oklahoma State (No. 4 seed). No. 2 Nebraska or No. 3 Ohio State are likely to await whoever comes out of Iowa’s side of the bracket.
There’s a reason we don’t anoint winners of duals before they happen, but this is a nice draw for Iowa given some strong teams scattered across the field.
Under coach Brian Smith, Missouri is a worthy opponent and has some young stars, but the Tigers don’t appear to be a team on paper that can hang with Iowa’s depth (Missouri is No. 18 dual team by Intermat to Iowa’s No. 4). The Hawkeyes’ next opponent seems likely to be Illinois (No. 13 dual team by Intermat), and an obvious challenge could await Drake Ayala with reigning NCAA champion Lucas Byrd at 133 if both compete, but the Hawkeyes also appear to have the depth to handle that dual.
By virtue of being seeded, Oklahoma State looks poised to leave its quad (which includes Cornell, North Carolina State and Northern Iowa) to face off with Iowa in the semifinals. After graduating a pair of national champions in Dean Hamiti and Wyatt Hendrickson, the Cowboys are a youthful squad coming into the season with lots to prove. But with Iowa having more veteran talent, and with it being early in the year, that bodes well for the Hawkeyes in a potential matchup.
There’s a lot we don’t know about these teams without any dual results or lineups beyond what we think they will look like in about a month’s time, so take this all with a grain of salt. That being said, the draw lines up favorably for Iowa to make a run at the $200,000 cash prize with the way their side of the bracket sets up.
Iowa favored vs. Missouri in first round, but tests to come
Let’s talk a bit more about the matchup we know will happen in Tulsa for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa will be challenged in spots vs. Missouri, particularly from 174 to 197 pounds. The presumed matchups would be No. 2 Patrick Kennedy vs. No. 6 Cam Steed at 174, No. 2 Angelo Ferrari vs. No. 9 Aeoden Sinclair at 184 and No. 16 Massoma Endene vs. No. 13 Evan Bates at 197 if each team rolls out its starters. With multiple duals for each team on each day, coaches may opt to rest guys here and there, but these would be the top matchups on paper as of today.
Kennedy enters the season for Iowa as one of the nation’s top guys after his fourth-place outing as NCAAs last season. Steed took seventh at NCAAs at 165 pounds but is listed as a 174-pounder by Missouri this season. With the exception of two losses by injury default last season, Steed lost only to NCAA All-Americans. This would be an early test for Kennedy in a year when a lot is expected of him.
The matchup many fans will eye is Ferrari vs. Sinclair, a pair of guys who redshirted last year but have loads of talent. Stephen Buchanan, Iowa’s lone national champion last year and one of Ferrari’s main training partners, won in a major decision over Sinclair (15-4) at the Soldier Salute at 197 pounds.
Before going to Missouri, Sinclair was the No. 1 recruit in the 2024 class at 190 pounds by Flowrestling, a Fargo champion, a Super 32 champion and a United States U17 World team member. After Ferrari showcased his talents in limited time last year in a win over Dustin Plott and a tough loss to five-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci, a lot is expected of Ferrari. Right away in what is expected to be his first year in the lineup, he’ll have a chance to prove he’s ready to meet those lofty expectations on him.
Lastly, Endene projects to have a significant opportunity vs. Bates, who is a two-time NCAA qualifier. As a three-time NCAA Division III champion, Endene maxed out at that level, but can he compete on the NCAA’s biggest stage?
Iowa projects to win this dual, but there’s certainly going to be some big opportunities against a tough Tiger team.
A lot to be learned about Northern Iowa at National Duals Invitational
It’s a new age for the Panthers with former national champion Parker Keckeisen and NCAA All-American Cael Happel graduated from the program. Who will step up in their absence?
Their first matchup with North Carolina State will tell us quite a bit, with reigning 125-pound national champion Vincent Robinson, four total wrestlers in the top 10 and seven of 10 total weights ranked to begin the season. NC State is the No. 10 ranked dual team to UNI’s 17 after the Panthers had one of its best dual season in modern history last year.
UNI will be looking mainly to Ryder Downey (165) and Wyatt Voelker (heavyweight), with the pair bumping up weights as of now. Both were picks to reach the podium in 2025 but fell short. They along with proven commodities Trever Anderson at 125, Julian Farber at 133, Caleb Rathjen at 149 and Jared Simma at 174 are among those UNI will need to excel to match last season’s success.
A strong tournament from those guys and the new faces in the lineup would grow confidence for a crew looking to build on coach Doug Schwab’s best season yet.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: 3 takeaways from National Duals Invitational bracket release, Iowa wrestling’s path
Reporting by Eli McKown, Des Moines Register / Hawk Central
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