The Iowa wrestling team took care of business against their in-state rivals, the Iowa State Cyclones, in their dual match at Carver-Hawkeye Arena 32-3. The Hawkeyes made it look easy by winning all but one matchup.
Iowa came into the dual 6-0 and looking for a final tune-up before taking on a ranked opponent. It proved to be a successful one, and the night was dominated by the Hawkeyes, not letting up on the Cyclones and embarrassing the in-state rival who has seen a significant drop off since losing Cael Sanderson as their head coach.
Iowa head coach Tom Brands still said the team, “had room for improvement.”
He also commented that “It felt like we left points off the board in individual matches. We never really turned it up sometimes, and that was reflected on the board.”
Brands may have been harsh, but the Hawkeyes have been very solid this year and are currently No. 4 in the USA Today poll, and can only be on the rise after their domination of the Cyclones. There were little to no technique issues for the Hawkeyes, except setting up in beginning of period situations in which Iowa was cautioned in almost every match.
The marquee matchup of the night was Iowa heavyweight Bobby Telford against Iowa State’s Matt Gibson. Telford had a reversal with a minute to go in the final period and held on to win by a final score of 3-2. That matchup was a battle of two top 15 heavyweights, with Telford moving to 6-0 on the year.
Major decisions propelled the Hawkeye’s to such a large margin of victory in the dual, they got major decisions from Ethen Lofthouse at 184 pounds, Matt McDonough at 125 pounds, Tony Ramos at 133 pounds, Michael Kelly at 149 pounds, and Derek St. John at 157 pounds.
The Hawkeyes only loss came from No. 15 Kyven Gadson over freshman Nathan Burak at 197 pounds in a close 5-3 nail biter.
Tonight marked the 4th win for Iowa in the 2012-2013 CyHawk series, Iowa State leads the series this year with a 9-4 record.
The Hawkeyes will wrestle No. 21 Lehigh in their next dual meet Thursday December 6. They will be looking for their 200th dual meet victory at Carver Hawkeye Arena and their second over a ranked opponent this season.