Tanner Lafever | On3.com Rivals

A decade-and-a-half dormant instate rivalry is no longer such for the Iowa men’s wrestling program.

On Tuesday morning, it was announced that the Hawkeyes have scheduled a home-and-home dual series with Northern Iowa.

Presented by Journeymen Wrestling, the “Dual in the Dome” will bring together programs with 54 all-time meetings between them (Iowa leads 44-8-2) – the last of which took place on December 8, 2011.

The Hawkeyes prevailed over the Panthers in that one (38-4) – just as they did in their first-ever meeting back in 1930 (21.5-6.5). But in the 15 years since last they dualled, UNI has built itself into a consistent winner – all of it under the tutelage of a Hawkeye alum.

That man, Doug Schwab, was a three-time All-American at Iowa (1999-2001) – winning an NCAA title in 1999.

His 130 career wins remains the 10^th-most in program history. And in 2008 he became one of just 20 Hawkeyes to ever wrestle at the Olympics.

Schwab was an assistant coach at two different schools for Tom Brands in the mid-to-late-2000s – first at Virginia Tech and then Iowa.

In 2010, he was named head coach at Northern Iowa and has since led the Panthers to 11 top-20 NCAA finishes – including a ninth-place effort in 2025 that was the program’s best since 1962.

Now, familiar foes (and former colleagues) will reunite once again, with Iowa traveling to UNI on December 11^th for a dual that will stream live on FloWrestling.

The Panthers will make a return trip (about 90 miles down I-380) to Iowa City during the 2027-28 season at a to-be-determined date.

“We are fired up to wrestle UNI again,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands.

“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.”