There is no “or” on third-ranked Iowa’s probable lineup for Friday’s dual against #7 Nebraska at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

That doesn’t mean coach Tom Brands has ruled out additional options at certain weight classes. 

But in a season where the Hawkeyes have listed a lot of options at certain weights on a weekly basis, it might be a sign that the lineup for the postseason is starting to get established.

“I think we've been close,” Brands said.

Brands said he has been “open-minded” during the season about what the lineup will look like.

“You have options at certain places,” he said. “As we get closer and closer (to the postseason), it becomes more and more certain.”

The lineup for Friday is almost the same as the lineup the Hawkeyes used in last Sunday’s 34-9 win over Maryland, with the exception of Drake Ayala returning instead of Kale Petersen at 133.

The lineup also includes freshman Miguel Estrada at 157. Estrada has six competitions this season, which takes him out of the opportunity to use this season as a redshirt year.

“The benefits are that he's getting matches,” Brands said. “Now, if you want to weigh whether he should redshirt or not, we need him. We need him. The conversation wasn't, ‘You’re going.’ The conversation was, ‘We need you. What do you want to do?’ He wanted to go. And that's what we need.”

Estrada is 13-1 overall this season, 3-1 in duals.

“We have a great talent there, and a very conscientious guy that wants to get better, and we love it,” Brands said.

Being able to use Estrada has helped Brands get recovery time for Jacori Teemer, who is 1-1 since coming back from a leg injury suffered earlier this season.

“Just one day at a time, getting better every day for him,” Brands said.

Nelson Brands Update

Another wrestler who could find his way back into the lineup this month is veteran 174-pounder Nelson Brands, who is 3-1 this season but hasn’t competed in a dual since the December 6 matchup against Princeton.

Tom Brands, though, was noncommittal when asked if Nelson could compete before the postseason.

“We are going to put our best team on the mat, and we have certain guys that are certainly capable that are in different phases of preparation, strengthening, rehabilitation on injuries, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera,” Brands said. “And we will take that one day at a time. We will put the best team on the mat.”

Asked if Nelson can be beneficial as an experienced voice in the wrestling room, especially after a loss like last Friday’s 30-8 defeat to top-ranked Penn State, Tom Brands said, “I mean, all of our credentialed guys need to be leaders, and they are when you have guys that have been there and done that. In his case, he's an All-American. We need examples. We need spoken leadership. There's a lot of ways to lead.”

Speaking Of Penn State

That answer led Brands to talk about the loss to the Nittany Lions.

“I'm not fixated on that result,” he said. “I know we got our ass handed to us, and I know we got a lot of work to do, but this isn't about that. There isn't, ‘There's not leadership in the room’ or whatever. And I don't think you insinuated that, maybe I’m getting a little defensive here, but this isn't about that. ‘So and so needs to step up and be a leader when it's your time to compete.’ You're the guy that needs to step up at your weight class, and you need to go out and do what you can do, instead of maybe taking it on the chin over and over again. And that's what happened. We got it on the chin over and over again.”

Parco’s Response

Kyle Parco, ranked fourth at 149, suffered his first loss of the season in the Penn State dual, falling to Shayne Van Ness 17-6.

“I think last week was a really good learning point for me, not only from a technical standpoint, but from a wrestling attitude and where my mind's at,” Parco said. “ I think I need to expect more out of myself. I think that's what I got from that match. For me to win a national title, I’ve got to expect more of myself. It’s going to take a lot more from me and I expect more to get to that point where I'm winning those matches and not letting him take me down like that, not letting that match swing that way away from where I was scoring points and winning.”

Parco said he understood right away what happened in that match.

“It's tough after every loss, but quickly after that, I was noticing what I needed to do,” he said. “It wasn't just, ‘Oh, I messed up here. I didn't do this. It was kind of a lot of things that didn't go my way and that I didn't do right. So it's not just, ‘Oh, I can't let them do this one thing. ‘I think it's a lot of things. So that's what I'm going to work on this week.”

Parco bounced back with a technical fall win over Michael Pizzuto of Maryland on Sunday, part of the Hawkeyes’ 34-9 win.

“You know, we're a really good team, and I think we're all disappointed in how we performed against Penn State,” Parco said. “And that's not who we are as a team. We're way better than that. I think we all know that. So I think it's getting back to that this week, preparing, getting better, and going and performing like we know how to do. So I think a lot of our guys on the team have something to prove this weekend.”