A battle between two Olympic gold medalists in their new roles or just a wrestling contest of the highest caliber? What would be the title of the contest scheduled for February 23, 2025? After all, on that day, Tom Brands’s Iowa Hawkeyes will cross paths against David Taylor’s Oklahoma Cowboys. In their wrestling career, both experienced the grandest success in the sport—winning the Olympics. Later, Brands has set himself as a phenomenal wrestling coach, serving the post.

In his 18 seasons at Iowa State University, the Hawkeyes have grabbed the NCAA team title four times. Additionally, under his tutelage, the Hawkeyes have displayed stunning performances against the Cowboys. In fact, his tactical moves often kept John Smith, the Cowboys’ former coach, at bay. So will that show continue this time as well?

Again, a tough question! The rivalry began in 1954 when Oklahoma State defeated Iowa 24-8 in Iowa City, marking the start of one of the oldest and most storied rivalries in college wrestling history. As of 2024, Iowa and Oklahoma State have combined for 58 NCAA team titles and 228 individual championships, solidifying their positions as the two most successful programs in NCAA wrestling history. But a lot of things are at stake this time.

John Smith is not in Stillwater anymore. David Taylor has taken over. And who can question his mastery in wrestling? But would he be able to bring a change this time? However, the records are not on his side. Let’s take a gander at those rivalry records. 

Learn about the legendary rivalry between Iowa and Oklahoma State wrestling

How big is the rivalry between the Hawkeyes and Oklahoma State wrestling? John Smith, the former coach, shared an insight on it. In February this year, the camps met each other in Stillwater. But before that, the veteran coach said, “You don’t take it for granted. You never know how things could change. But it’s sure nice while we have it that we’ve been committed to each other and having this dual meet.”

But in the season finale against the Hawkeyes, Smith had to taste the bitter pill. The rival won the contest (22-9), thrashing the No. 2 wrestling squad that Sunday. It was the first victory for the Hawkeyes in Stillwater since 2015, the last record Smith left with in OSU, and a stark contrast to that of his first memory of this historic rivalry when Iowa lost to OSU 24-6. However, their consistent victories have strongly established Iowa’s upper hand in recent times.

On February 25 this year, the two wrestling programs met each other for the 57th time. However, the interest was no less to watch as the contest drew significant crowds. As per the update, the Gallagher-Iba Arena housed 13,721 fans to watch the battle. In 2015, the game drew 42,287 fans to Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium, the largest attendance in the rivalry’s history. Unfortunately, both times, the Cowboys had to face heartbreaking losses. Yet, in the long rival episode, OSU has the better say with 29-25-2 (till the match last year). But in the last 10 meetings, Iowa has overpowered them eight times. In fact, last year as well, the Cowboys failed to mark something when they reached Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes proved their authority with a 28-7 victory, while the Cowboys showed minimum resistance. Now add four losses in a trot in their last four duels since the 2019-20 season! Those numbers are enough to result in a dampener on the Cowboys’ motivations. So, in his newly found hat, the OSU coach has a lot of things to handle. But let’s have a look at the list of coaches that the two sides have fielded against each other in recent times. 

Who are the legendary coaches of the Iowa and Oklahoma wrestling teams?

In 2023-24, coach Tom Brands completed his 18th season as Hawkeyes’s coach. He is raring to go for another season, to claim big for the camp. However, in his vast career in Iowa City, the coach has snagged five Big Ten and three NWCA Coach of the Year titles for his performance as the coach. He is the one who helped the squad land the NCAA title in 2008 after a gap of eight years. In 2021 as well, he led the wrestling camp to land the same feat. But this time, the fun doubled when the Hawkeyes bagged the Big Ten title. 

On the opposite side, David Taylor is the new entrant in the league as the coach. But his predecessor in the post, John Smith, had some splendid records. In the Cowboys’ history, Smith is the winningest coach (having the dual record of 490-73-6). Moreover, in his 32 years as OSU coach, he earned 15 selections as the conference’s coach of the year. Apart from this, he took the NWCA Coach of the Year title two times (in 1994 and 2003). An absolute reign in the upper echelon! Now, David Taylor has a legend in front of him to match himself with. The fans will be waiting to watch him thrive on the Cowboys’ side.