It does matter if you’re second fiddle in your own state both prestige wise and for instate recruits. I was of the age to have high school teammates that were highly recruited by both Iowa and Iowa State programs during his tenure and it absolutely mattered to them as well.

If you lose 9/10 in-state 3 or 4-peat HS champions to your instate rival, you’re going to look for a new recruiting base if Tom Brands is beating you out. Two of the teammates I had went on to win 3 national titles (combined) for Brands rather than Sanderson.

I also don’t think you’re appreciating 1) how Important the Iowa v Iowa state wrestling rivalry is 2) how important geographic proximity is to recruiting 3) How much more population dense the east coast is compared to Iowa. Within 300 miles in Iowa it’s like 20m people vs 70m at PSU.