Iowa coach Tom Brands went from automotive terms to agricultural references in describing what he wants to see out of the third-ranked Hawkeyes in the final weeks of the regular season.

Brands said after last Friday’s 19-16 win over Nebraska that the Hawkeyes needed to be running on “10 cylinders.”

“It’s a 10-cylinder engine and it’s running on … pick your number,” Brands said.

On Tuesday, Brands used a different term for what he wants to see out of his team, starting with Friday’s dual at #6 Minnesota and Sunday’s dual against Northwestern at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“You have to score match points in the first, second and third period in bushel fulls,” Brands said. “You know what a bushel is? Iowa farmers. Bushel fulls.”

The Hawkeyes didn’t do much harvesting of points against the Huskers — Stephen Buchanan won by fall and Ben Kueter added a major decision, but everyone else won by decision. And they know that has to improve with the postseason approaching.

“It's crunch time,” 165-pounder Michael Caliendo said. “Now, we're getting close (to the postseason) and, you know, if there's any time to be doing our best wrestling, now's the time.”

“I think it's important, especially for me,” said 141-pounder Cullan Schriever. “There's been some matches where I haven't scored like I wanted to. I know what my scoring ability looks like, and how capable I am to score a lot of points. I mean, that is a point of emphasis for the whole team. And I take that, and I want to make that a point in my wrestling too.”

There will be at least one lineup change — and maybe another — heading into the weekend. Jacori Teemer is back in the lineup at 157 after not wrestling last week. Nelson Brands is listed as a possibility at 174 along with Patrick Kennedy.

“We have a lot of options,” Tom Brands said. “We have guys getting healthy — when we have two guys at a weight, then we're going to consider all options. And sometimes, you know, things are in your control, and sometimes things are out of your control. And so we’ve got to take advantage of the things that are in our control when that happens.”

Schriever is still listed in the lineup at 141, a weight class that has featured four different competitors in duals this season.

Asked about the competition at the spot, Brands said, “We have all options on the table. We like all of our guys there.”

Then he smiled.

Facing The Gophers

Iowa leads the all-time series with Minnesota, 80-28-1, and has won the last 10 duals against the Gophers, including five consecutive in Minneapolis.

It’s a rivalry, though, that Brands appreciates for its intensity.

“The memories, for me, are with J Robinson as coach,” Brands said of the long-time Minnesota coach who won three national championships with the Gophers. “He was one of the very few, if any, who never took it personally. We were nose-to-nose more than once, in a friendly way. A lot of respect for him, as I said.

“They had some good teams. They had some national championship teams.”

The Gophers are 10-1 overall this season, 6-1 in the Big Ten.

In Between

Schriever grew up in Mason City, Iowa, which is close to the Minnesota border.

“It’s actually closer, where I grew up, to Minneapolis than it is to here,” Schriever said. “The Iowa-Minnesota rivalry has always been interesting to me because I've been a die-hard Hawk fan. I can't wait to get out of there and go.”

It will be Schriever’s first taste of the rivalry as a competitor. He attended one Iowa-Minnesota dual, as a fan, with Iowa teammate Patrick Kennedy, who grew up in Minnesota.

“I've wrestled in Minnesota once, the extra match thing my freshman year when COVID was going on,” Schriever said. “So this one is for real this time, I guess. So I'm really excited to do that and be a part of that rivalry. And I'm sure Kennedy is too.”

Familiar Foe

Caliendo, ranked second nationally at 165, will face 15th-ranked Andrew Sparks of Minnesota on Friday. Caliendo has defeated Sparks twice, at the Southern Scuffle in 2023 when Caliendo was at North Dakota State, and earlier this season, when Caliendo recorded a 7-6 win over him in the championship match at the Soldier Salute.

“I know what I need to do, and I know what it is going to take to get it done,” Caliendo said. “I’ve just got to wrestle my match at the end of the day.”

Asked if such familiarity could be a positive or a negative, Caliendo said: “I mean, it could be both. Each match is different, and you can't rely too much on what happened last time and expect it to be the same. I’m just going to go out there and do the only thing I know how to do — wrestle tough.”