One of college wrestling’s most traditional rivalries is coming back in the 2026-27 season.
Iowa wrestling and UNI have agreed to a two-year, home-and-home series for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons, both programs announced on Tuesday, June 30. The first meeting will be on Dec. 11, 2026, at the UNI-Dome, which is being dubbed: Dual In the Dome” and presented by Journeyman Wrestling. Start time is 7 p.m. CT and the dual will be streamed exclusively on Flowrestling.
That matchup will be followed by another dual in 2027-28 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The date for the dual in Iowa City has yet to be announced.
“This is an exciting day for the UNI and Iowa wrestling programs with the announcement of this home-and-home series,” UNI Director of Athletics Dr. Megan Franaklin said in a release. “This matchup gives us the opportunity to celebrate the sport of wrestling, honor the generations of student-athletes and coaches who built these proud programs, and begin anew. It is a reminder that our greatest successes often come through the friendships, partnerships, and shared vision that exist beyond the mat. When those entities come together with the common goal of growing the sport, we get to put together an exciting announcement like this today.”
It will be the first time since Dec. 8, 2011, that the programs have met for a dual. The 2026-27 matchup at the UNI-Dome will be the 55th meeting all-time between the programs, with the Hawkeyes holding a 44-8-2 record against their in-state counterpart.
The last time the Panthers and Hawkeyes met, Doug Schwab was just in his second year as head coach of UNI. Previously, Schwab wrestled for the Hawkeyes from 1998-2001 and was a 1999 NCAA champion. He was an assistant coach at Iowa under head coach Tom Brands from 2007 to 2010 before taking the head coaching position with the Panthers.
UNI is coming off of an 11-8 dual season and a tie for 31st at the 2026 NCAA Championships, but returns several star veterans and Iowa natives, like Ryder Downey and Wyatt Voelker, who will look to upend the Hawkeyes at home.
“I couldn’t be more excited for my team, our program, our fans, the state of Iowa and the wrestling community as a whole,” Schwab said in a release. “In-state rivalries are like no other and I am grateful for the opportunity to renew this one with the Hawkeyes. I can’t wait to have Tom, his staff, team, program and fans to a sold-out UNI-Dome.”
Brands is 6-0 all-time against UNI as head coach of the Hawkeyes. Iowa had an up-and-down dual season last year at 12-6. Still adding seven NCAA All-Americans and earning a fourth-place finish at NCAAs allowed the program to end the year on a high note. While they’ll be replacing several key figures like Drake Ayala, Michael Caliendo and Patrick Kennedy, Iowa will lean on rising stars Angelo Ferrari, Ben Kueter and others to try and retain dominance over UNI.
“We are fired up to wrestle UNI again,” Brands said in a release. “This is an important dual for our team, our fans and the entire state of Iowa. Opportunities like this are good for wrestling, and we are excited to be part of it.”
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: Iowa wrestling, UNI agree to home-and-home duals
Reporting by Eli McKown, Des Moines Register / Hawk Central
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Eli McKown, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
