No. 16 Wisconsin to close out regular season at Northern Iowa

Sunday, February 22

Cedar Falls, IA

1:00 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

Northern Iowa

No. 16 Wisconsin to close out regular season at Northern Iowa

February 17, 2026 | Wrestling

UW looks to build momentum after last weekend’s upset

By: Aliza Manekia

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin wrestling heads into its final dual of the season this weekend, traveling to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for a non-conference matchup on Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. CT. The Badgers look to close out a historic year for the program.

1. The Last Time Out
Wisconsin earned a statement win last Sunday, knocking off No. 10 Michigan, 19-17, for its first top-10 victory since the 2022-23 season. Wyatt Ingham set the tone early with an upset decision to put the Badgers on the board. Joseph Zargo followed with a hard-fought win over Lachlan McNeil, holding on through a Michigan challenge to add key points to the team score. Luke Mechler delivered one of the biggest moments of the dual, battling through regulation and overtime before reaching a tiebreaker with Catrabone. Mechler secured the riding time advantage to claim the decision and give Wisconsin another crucial upset win. With the victory, the Badgers finished eighth out of 14 teams in the Big Ten standings.

2. Scouting the Panthers
No.18 Northern Iowa enters the matchup after closing its Big 12 slate with a dual against No. 4 Iowa State. The Panthers picked up wins at 165 pounds behind an overtime victory from Ryder Downey and at 184 pounds with Izzy Moreno earning a decision after moving up a weight class. Northern Iowa brings a 10-8 record into the weekend, while Wisconsin holds a 31-19-2 edge in the all-time series. The last meeting between the programs came last season, ending in a loss for the Badgers.

3. In the Rankings
Seven Badgers earned spots in this week's InterMat rankings as Wisconsin checks in at No. 20 in the NWCA Coaches Poll.
No. 10 - Braxton Amos, 285
No. 13 - Joseph Zargo, 149
No. 15 - Zan Fugitt, 133
No. 18 - Nicolar Rivera, 125
No. 21 - Wyatt Ingham, 197
No. 24 - Cody Goebel, 165
No. 26 - Luke Mechler, 157

4. Projected Lineups

No. 16 Wisconsin	Weight	No. 18 Northern Iowa
No. 18 Nicolar Rivera	125	No. 28 Trever Anderson
No. 15 Zan Fugitt	133	No. 22 Julian Farber
Carson Exferd OR Peter Tomazevic	141	Maximus Brady
No. 13 Joseph Zargo	149	No. 31 Caleb Rathjen OR Ethan Basile
No. 26 Luke Mechler	157	Cael Rahnavardi OR RJ Weston
No. 24 Cody Goebel	165	No. 6 Ryder Downey
Luke Condon	174	No. 13 Jared Simma
Cale Anderson OR David Malin	184	No. 21 Nick Fox
No. 21 Wyatt Ingham	197	John Gunderson OR Carson Babcock
No. 10 Braxton Amos	HWT	No. 32 Adam Ahrendson OR Grant Stromberg

5. Up Next
Wisconsin travels to State College, Pa., for the 2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, taking place March 7-8.

* All individual rankings courtesy of InterMat (Febuary 17)