Iowa started off strong with three time national champion and #1 ranked 125 pound wrestler Spencer Lee. Lee beat Michigan’s #14 Jack Medley by a score of 11-2, earning a bonus point to kick the night off.

After Lee, the Hawkeyes rolled. #13 Brody Teske tech falled Wilfried Tanefeu 19-3 and 133 pounds, with three very impressive four point tilts throughout the match. Teske only needed 4:09 to finish Tanefeu off. #2 Real Woods also came out hot, beating Pat Nolan 15-1, just one point away from a second straight Hawkeye tech fall. #10 Max Murin kept his streak of wins going, beating Chance Lamer 10-4.

The most exciting match came at 157, with the #13 ranked junior Cobe Siebrecht upsetting Michigan’s #10 Will Lewan 3-1 in a sudden victory in the fourth period. Lewan had Siebrecht tied up less than a minute in, but Siebrecht remained calm. He rolled over Lewan and spun around the back for a two point takedown, accompanied by the loudest crowd cheers of the night in Carver. 

In the second half of the meet, Patrick Kennedy started off with a bang, pinning Alex Wesselman in the first period. While Kennedy expected #6 ranked Wolverine Cameron Amine to wrestle, he took care of business when he got red shirt freshman Wesselman instead. #16 Nelson Brands at 174 also got his fair share of Carver chants, winning 5-1 over Joseph Walker.

The Hawks took their first of two losses at 184, with Drake Rhodes being tech falled by #9 Matt Finesilver in the second period. It’s been a tough task for Rhodes all year to wrestle above his weight, especially in the absence of Abe Assad. Rhodes just used his last red shirt freshman match today, so it’ll be interesting to see if Brands burns it next week, or if another fresh face appears at 184 against Oklahoma State.

#11 Jacob Warner bounced back better than ever, pummeling Brendin Yatooma 16-1 for Iowa’s second tech fall of the night. And finally, #3 Tony Cassioppi took on Goliath, wrestling #1 Mason Parris who was 22-0 before the match. Cassioppi had never beaten Parris, and narrowly took home the underdog story. However Parris got a late takedown in the third to extend his career record against Cassioppi to 4-0, winning 9-7. 

Next week the Hawkeyes will have their final home meet against Oklahoma State on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 3:30pm. It’ll be more than just a regular match, as Sunday will be senior day and alumni day. A big showing is expected in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with hopes of a 15th win and a shot at the national championships.

The post Big Ten Beatdown: Iowa wrestling dominates Michigan 33-8 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

“Dynasty” is term loosely tossed around to describe successful teams after championship runs. In most modern sports, the talent pool has proven too deep to have a classic, 20^th-century, dynasty such as the 50s Yankees, 60s Celtics or 90s Cowboys. Those squads dominated and left little question as to which team was the best in their respective eras. While that same scenario may not exist in all major United States sports, we can garner at least a debate.

In this piece we will dive into the top dynasties since the first season post-2000 started of each major sport between the college and professional levels and decide which recent squad has had dominated its respective sport the most. There are rules that will be followed.

1. There will be a qualified team picked out of each individual sport before jumping to a final debate on who is the king of kings.
2. One team must be chosen out of each major sport – college football, men’s/women’s basketball, baseball, wrestling, volleyball, MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL.
3. Seasons that are currently in progress (2014-15 college hoops, NBA, NHL) are not included. For example, Kentucky’s current undefeated record in college hoops cannot be applied to their opportunity to be considered college basketball’s top dynasty on the men’s side.
4. Dynasty is a term used far too often. Are the Seahawks a dynasty because of how great their defense is in the past two years? No, because Seattle struggled through a lot of down seasons beforehand. In this piece, a dynasty will be defined as “Dominating a respective sport, while simultaneously competing for championships to the tune of being the greatest team in the discussed era.”
5. A team must consistently be in championship contention, but in order to be a dynasty in this span – a team must have won at least a single title.
6. I cannot compare teams between sports, as that will happen in the follow up article, where I will rank the selections from each league.

Let the games begin.

NBA

The NBA has always had a lack of parity.  We may no longer be limited to just the Lakers and Celtics, but the situation is still heavily lopsided.

Starting in the 2000-01 season, just three out of 14 Western Conference champions haven’t been named either the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs. The Dallas Mavericks made two Finals appearances, and the Oklahoma City Thunder briefly showed up before being ousted in five by the LeBron James-led Miami Heat.

The Eastern Conference has been more diverse, but less successful. Seven teams (Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Detroit, Miami, Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando) have won the conference, but just three (Detroit, Miami, Boston) have managed to end the postseason with a victory.

The Heat have an impressive five title appearances and three championships to make a case for a potential top-NBA dynasty in the last 14 seasons. However, they fall well short of the Western Conference rivals from California and Texas.

The Spurs have a cumulative regular season record of 804-328 (.710), a postseason tally of 129-80 (.617), and four championships in five appearances since 2000. Their worst record in that span is 50-32 in 2009, and yet they still made it to the Western Conference Semifinals. Gregg Popovich has led this team to being easily the most consistent of all NBA squads in this era.

Los Angeles, albeit currently in its lowest moment in franchise history, also has an argument to be the representative for professional hoops. While their 690-442 (.610) overall regular season mark is well below San Antonio’s, their post season record of 108-66 trumps the Spurs. In six Finals appearances, the Lakers have taken home four titles – equal to the Spurs. If the 1999-2000 season and the first third of the Shaq-Kobe three-peat were included, my final decision may not have been…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, led by a long-time coach and familiar players, have (somehow quietly) been one of the most consistent teams in all of American athletics. Their YMCA-style of play may not captivate casual audiences with oohs and awes, but their record says all that is needed. The Lakers have missed the playoffs as many times (two) as the Spurs have missed the second round. The ability to avoid down years is what makes the difference. San Antonio and Los Angeles have the same highs, but the Spurs have yet to hit a low this century.

Honorable mention: Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat

NFL

Baltimore, New England, Pittsburgh and the New York Giants have all won multiple titles since Super Bowl XXXV, thus obviously deserving of recognition in this analysis. Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Green Bay and Seattle will also be included as to compare all Super Bowl victors.

Looking based simply off of this, the answer is penciled in. Let’s engrave it in stone with this next chart. I gave every team a point total for each category – the top team receiving nine points and the bottom receiving one – (regular season win percentage, total postseason wins, postseason win percentage, division titles and Super Bowls). The point total depended on where a team finished in each respective section.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: New England Patriots. New England swept the board in each measurable category. It’s hard to tell if they’re farther ahead of the pack than Tampa Bay is behind. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have created a dynasty and are two absurd catches from having six Super Bowls in this span, including the Brady-Randy Moss 2007 combination that was the best team in NFL history to not win it all.

NHL

The NHL has experienced more parity than its professional counterparts this century. Ten teams have won a Stanley Cup in the last 13 occurrences (plus the 2005 lockout season). The Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche have all taken home one championship, while the Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings all have a pair of titles. To avoid confusion in the following chart, the NHL did away with ties during this span and therefore the records will be Win-Loss-Overtime Losses-Ties.

  We have seven categories (Stanley Cups, playoff appearances, playoff series victories, postseason wins, postseason win percentage and regular season win percentage and points). The best team in each category will receive 10 points and the worst will pick up just one. In order to put a stronger emphasis on advancing in the postseason, playoff series victories will count as a point for each accumulated. This should counteract disciplining teams for advancing on to tougher rounds just to be swept.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Detroit Red Wings. Outside of postseason win percentage, Detroit swept the board since 2000. Its 17 postseason series victories is even more impressive when factoring in the lockout season and the fact that no other franchise has more than a dozen. Despite parity among Stanley Cup victors, Detroit has easily been the most consistently dominant in all of professional hockey. Not much of an argument can be made for any other squad from this chart, and therefore none are honorable mention worthy.

Men’s college basketball:

After a relatively easy start, we reach what might be the most complicated of all sports we list. College basketball is about as random as they come (see odds of making a perfect bracket). Of course, Kentucky seems like an obvious choice after winning a national title in 2013-14 and going undefeated so far in 2014-15 (void). Don’t let fresh tastes discount distant memories.

Recent impressions can’t influence this decision, but the Wildcats have enough beyond that to make a pretty decisive statement. A 369-124 overall record is tough to argue with. What’s even harder? Twelve NCAA Tournament appearances, eight Sweet Sixteens, three Final Fours and a 1-1 record in the championship. Take away the two seasons Billy Gillispie coached Kentucky to a 40-27 overall record with zero NCAA Tournament victories and an NIT berth, and the Wildcats may blow the competition out of the water.

One team has been so remarkably consistent in its conference that it’s impossible to leave off this list: The Kansas Jayhawks.

After transitioning from a Hall of Fame coach, Kansas found a fate much simpler than Kentucky. Bill Self took over Roy Williams’ squad and didn’t miss a beat.

Williams’ last three seasons resulted in a 42-6 conference record that was overshadowed by a Sweet Sixteen, Final Four and a championship appearance. Since? Self has given the Jayhawks a 325-69 mark with a 151-31 stretch in the Big 12.

Self’s initial tournament resume left much to be desired with two first round exits sandwiched between a pair of Elite Eight showings. That turned around quickly with Kansas’ lone national title during this span in 2008.

Kansas boasts similar marks to Kentucky, with one extra championship loss thrown in, and its down years were first round exits over being completely left out.

So how about ex-Jayhawk coach Williams’ new squad – North Carolina? The Tar Heels have two national titles and another Final Four on their record and they may not even be the best dynasty in their own state.

Recent 1,000 game winner Mike Kryzewski’s Duke Blue Devils are.

Duke has a pair of national titles, has appeared in the tournament in each covered year, and has lost in their opening matchup just three times. Their conference dominance may not be as high as a team such as Kansas, but the competition is relatively stellar each season.

The Blue Devils hold an absurd 412-87 (.826) record in this span. So it has to be them, right?111

Let’s head over to Big Ten country where Tom Izzo is standing by for a quick lecture on postseason play. Michigan State, although missing its 1999-2000 national championship by just one season, has made nine Sweet Sixteens, five Elite Eights, four Final Fours, and has won one title. They haven’t missed the tournament a single time, and have been eliminated before the Round of 32 just four times.

What about UConn’s three title runs? Florida’s star-studded squads? Kentucky’s heated-rival Louisville? We need a way to rank these teams accordingly as to put all bias aside and assign an overall score. Postseason play in college basketball has always taken precedence over any other measurement of success. Here is the scoring chart to decide the top NCAA Tournament team since 2001’s tournament when solely considering those whom have a title to their name in this span:

Round of 64 loss: 0 points
Round of 32 loss: 1 point
Sweet 16 loss: 2 points
Elite Eight loss: 4 points
Final Four Loss: 8 points
Championship loss: 12 points
Championship: 16 points

NCAA Tournament champions results since 2000-01 March Madness: Kansas 68, UConn 67, Duke 59, North Carolina 56, Florida 55, Kentucky 55, Michigan State 51, Louisville 44, Syracuse 37, Maryland 30.

Shockingly, outside of its three titles runs, UConn only scored 19 points on this scale. The Huskies fell just a point shy of claiming this all important statistic in pushing forward to choosing men’s college hoops’ most dominant dynasty of the 21^st century. Despite just one title, consistency overcame roller coaster levels of postseason success and your winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Kansas Jayhawks. Not only has Kansas (almost surprisingly) performed as the top overall team in March Madness, but it also has the most eye-popping accomplishment. I’m going to type this out to make it even more drastic: Kansas has won at least a share of (ahem) back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back regular season Big 12 championships. That’s 10. Read that out loud and you’re likely to need to catch your breath. This isn’t Kansas playing in the Summit League or intramural athletics – this is a major conference with a tough road to the top every season. Ten?! In a row? And just for the record, it’s also 12 of 13, but who’s counting? The Huskies have a legitimate argument when it comes to this discussion due to three incredible runs to the championship, but Kansas has been a more consistently feared team. Welcome to a new postseason tournament, Jayhawks. Let’s see who else is joining you.

Honorable mention: Duke, UConn

Women’s College Basketball

I went from one of the more difficult sports to choose to what might be the easiest. UConn women’s hoops is out of this world. Seven championships since the turn of the century. Average margin of victory in those title-winning contests? 15.4 points. That’s 15 points better than the second best team in the country. Talk about a talent gap. I can’t put into words how unbelievably incredible the Huskies’ overall record has been, so I’ll leave two simple numbers on its own.

486-38.

That’s a .927 winning percentage.

I could play myself in checkers and not win 93 percent of the time.

Connecticut has missed out on the Sweet Sixteen in this span only…well, they haven’t. And just once were they limited to that. On top of the Sweet Sixteen and seven titles, the Huskies have made two Elite Eight appearances along with four Final Fours. Therefore, your clear cut winner without any hesitation is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Connecticut Huskies.

College Wrestling

If the 70s, 80s and 90s were included, this wouldn’t even be a competition. The Iowa Hawkeyes took home 20 titles from 1975-2000. Despite those all being out of the picture, Iowa is still in contention for the 21^st century title post-Dan Gable. The Hawkeyes have three titles to their name, which comes shy of Penn State and Oklahoma State, who put together four each. With the overall team title competition so close, our answer comes from individual championships. The Nittany Lions have nine, Hawkeyes 13 and Cowboys 18.

Oklahoma State’s 2005 season was the best of the era, fielding five individual champions in 10 weight classes, and scoring 153 points – best since the 1997 Hawkeyes scored 170. Therefore the winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys are tied for the lead in titles, have the best overall team of the era and can claim having the most individual titles. They may be fortunate to wrestle outside the Big Ten, but national titles don’t lie.

Honorable Mention: Iowa Hawkeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions

MLB

Four teams have won multiple titles since 2000 – the Red Sox (three), Giants (three), Yankees (two) and Cardinals (two) – to give a clear starting point when trying to declare the top 21^st century dynasty of professional baseball.

It’s clearly visible that this is a dead heat. You know the drill. In order to decide, I assigned a point total to each stat category. The top finisher in each category – World Series victories, division titles, regular season winning percentage, playoff appearances, total playoff wins and postseason playoff winning percentage – receives four points, followed by three for second place and so on. I also gave teams an extra point for each playoff series they won. The final tally came out as followed:

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: St. Louis Cardinals. Any fan of one the final four teams can state a statistic on how their team deserved to be the one represented. New York dominated the AL East. Boston and San Francisco won a third World Series and were more efficient in the postseason when they did make it. None of that jumped out the way this did:

The Cardinals took the cake with 16 postseason series victories.

That’s out of this world consistent. The Yankees came close, carried by consistently owning the division crown, whereas the two teams that take advantage of playoff appearances the most, Boston and San Francisco, found themselves looking up.

Honorable Mention: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants

College Volleyball

Some of these don’t take much time. Penn State has six championships, including two 38-0 seasons. USC, Stanford, Nebraska, Texas and UCLA have had strong programs, but none have approached the dominance by the Nittany Lions. Let’s just get to the point. Without a hint of doubt, your winner is…

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Penn State Nittany Lions.

College Baseball

Unlike most of the other sports in the discussion, the full 2000 season is included since it began post-millennium. Texas, South Carolina and Oregon State all have a pair of titles, with nobody else claiming more than one. Naturally, only those three are in consideration. However, the Beavers have only made four CWS appearances compared to six for South Carolina and eight for Texas. Typically that would lead one to believe that the answer is obviously the Longhorns.

Take a look at overall winning percentage: Texas is 661-294 (.664) in this millennium, lagging considerably behind the Gamecocks at 713-289 (.712). So what do we value? Winning more regular season games against what is typically stronger competition, or taking overall postseason play? The latter carries more weight. Here is how each team fared in NCAA Tournament play with its overall statistics tallied at the bottom.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: Texas Longhorns. In what ended up being the closest contest of any sport so far, Texas prevailed because of one statistic: CWS appearances. South Carolina may hold a relatively significant advantage in regular season record and have a slim lead in postseason record, but they couldn’t get the job done in enough Super Regionals. One could argue that Texas’ lows were below South Carolina’s, but they consistently made the trip to Omaha and that familiarity with getting to the final eight put them over the edge.

College Football

Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, and Florida all have multiple FBS championships to their names, while Appalachian State and North Dakota State have dominated the FCS level well enough to be included in the discussion. USC vacated one of its two national championships and will not be considered. As we’ve come to find out, tables can be really useful when measuring statistics of multiple teams. Unfortunately, college football has more variables than most so let’s compare like it is 2000 (and we’re using WordPad).

Alabama: The Crimson Tide are the only team in this span with three FBS national title victories. Their overall record takes a hit because of 21 vacated wins, but stands at 116-57, including a 6-5 bowl mark – which is also hindered by one vacated victory and two seasons in which ‘Bama was ineligible for the postseason. They have garnered three SEC titles and five SEC West crowns – most of which have come under Nick Saban. The pre-Saban era was somewhat dark for Alabama, which had a (now shocking) 3-8 season in 2000. The loss of 21 victories could really come back to bite the team that is likely the first one on everybody’s college football power shortlist.

Florida: Florida boasts two national titles (thanks, Tebow) complemented by a 137-56 overall record. If Alabama had kept its wins, Florida would be one game ahead in the loss column and tied with the Tide for overall victories. In bowl play, Florida has a lackadaisical 7-6 mark. They have picked up three SEC Titles and have headed the SEC East four times.

LSU: Consistency in a more than tough conference is what could separate LSU from the group. Like every team on this list besides Alabama, the Tigers have a pair of national championships. Their overall record of 151-45 is only topped by Ohio State. They’ve won nine bowl games compared to six losses and have not missed out on the postseason. They’ve picked up four conference titles and five SEC West titles along the way to top both Florida and Alabama in those areas.

Ohio State: Surprised to see a Big Ten team here? You shouldn’t be. Despite a negative stigma built around the conference in recent years, Ohio State has been among the most dominant teams lately. The Buckeyes’ 157-36 overall record is hard to argue with. An 8-7 bowl record with a few postseason embarrassments could be improved on. What really couldn’t be is a sensational seven conference titles – which reasonably would be eight if not for a postseason ban on a 12-0 squad in 2012. The Buckeyes may not have the numbers to claim best of this century now, but with Urban Meyer pulling the strings, it might not be too long until they do.

North Dakota State: If we were only talking about the last four years, the Bison would breeze through the competition. Their 63-3 record with four national titles is, well, absurd. Before that? North Dakota State swiftly comes back to Earth with a more reasonable, but still strong, 74-40 mark. Did you already do the math? That’s an overall record of 137-43

…and I should probably mention they have a 20-2 postseason record.

20 wins. Two losses.

The Bison made the move from Division II to FCS in this time period and were ineligible for postseason play in multiple 10-1 seasons, otherwise they very well could have added to that title total. Which, quite frankly, is a little scary. One thing that isn’t as scary is this game. And this one in the same season. Sometimes you find things while researching that you wish you never did. Those qualify.

Appalachian State: While the Bison were fiddling around with moving up from Division II, another squad was busy winning national championships and knocking off the winningest-program in FBS history. That was the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. Their record of 131-52 is a modest amount below North Dakota State’s. It isn’t the regular season that separates these two FCS programs. The Mountaineers postseason mark, despite a three-peat from 2005-2007, is 19-8, considerably worse than the Bison’s…let me say it again…20-2.

Top Dynasty of the 21^st century: North Dakota State Bison. I get it. Strength of schedule for the Bison isn’t anywhere near what Ohio State, let alone Alabama, Florida and LSU, face on a week-to-week basis. Their national titles are much less publicized and viewed. They don’t have NFL prospects filling up the first round. They weren’t even in the FCS for part of this era. There are a lot of reasons not to pick them.

Go ahead, write an article on why LSU’s consistency in the SEC makes them the best dynasty of this century, or why Alabama’s three titles set it apart, or how Ohio State’s conference dominance make them the frontrunner. They all have strong cases to disprove my choice.

To me, these issues have to be made relative, not directly compared. Of course North Dakota State doesn’t have to play the LSU defense, the Tim Tebow offense or Nick Saban’s game plan on an annual basis, but they ought to be held to the standards of their competition, not of a league above them. North Dakota State has simply dominated about as much as a modern college football team can in this span. 137-43 in the regular season? Incredible – just as incredible as the others on this list, especially considering transition seasons. That doesn’t set them apart.

A .909 winning percentage in the postseason will. When the Bison play the best competition, they don’t just compete – they absolutely own everyone. Alabama doesn’t. Florida doesn’t. LSU and Ohio State don’t. They’re all tremendous teams, but have not set themselves apart at any part this century the way the Bison have.

Conclusion

The aforementioned follow-up article will now include the St. Louis Cardinals, San Antonio Spurs, New England Patriots, Detroit Red Wings, Kansas Jayhawks men’s hoops, UConn Huskies women’s basketball, Oklahoma State wrestling, Penn State volleyball, Texas baseball and North Dakota State football. Those ten dominant teams will be ranked to determine an ultimate “dynasty of the 21^st century.”

Be sure to check out Night Stuff on KRUI at the stroke of midnight Wednesday mornings as we discuss topics such as this, other sporting news and a few outrageous topics mixed in with a phone always ready to hear your takes. Did you like the article or happen to disagree with some of the choices? Tweet @TheMainStevent or @KRUISports to share your opinion.

The post The 21st Century’s Best Dynasty appeared first on KRUI Radio.

As a whole the Northwestern wrestling team only has those four ranked wrestlers while the Hawkeyes have a ranked wrestler at every weight class and a wrestler ranked in the top ten in all but one weight class (#17 Michael Kelly being the exception). So according to rankings Iowa was predicted to win all but two matches, but at the end of the meet the Hawks walked away winning every match they were supposed to except one but picked up the two they were not supposed to win.

Starting off the night was the 125 lb sophomore Thomas Gilman who was consistant as ever. He set the tone of the meet by going up 17-5 by the end of the first period. Needless to say it was not long into the second period when he put Northwestern’s Garrison White away for good.

Next at 133 Cory Clark sent a message of his own to the wildcats when he pinned his opponent, Dominick Malone, in the first period. Dziewa kept the ball rolling for the Hawks with a 5-0 decision over Jameson Oster, but it was Brandon Sorensen that really ignited Carver-Hawkeye this evening.

Just to get one thing clear, Brandon Sorensen is on fire. He has now won his last seven straight matches with four being against ranked opponents. Tonight he really kept that streak alive with a win against the number one ranked wrestler in the nation at 149, Jason Tsirtsis, whose streak had reached all the way up to fourty straight wins until he met Sorensen for the first time tonight in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The match was a contest between two incredibly disciplined individuals and it turned into a match of attrition as the competition extended all the way into the seventh period. The first scoring of the match came in the second period when Tsirtsis escaped and then again in the third when Sorensen answered with an escape of his own. Then during the tie breaker in the first overtime the same was the case when Tsirtsis escaped and then was answered by Sorensen’s own escape during his choice. It was not until after another scoreless overtime and in the 2nd tie breaker that Sorensen escaped first and then managed to keep Tsirtsis down during his choice for the win.

Yet another big match came at 165 where Iowa Senior, #9 Nick Moore, defeated Northwestern’s #6 Pierce Harger. This was another heated battle that drew itself out all the way until overtime just like the match at 149; only in this one Moore struck with a high crotch to win it in the only the first overtime.

The next ranked matchup was at 197 where Iowa’s #4 Nathan Burak took on the Wildcat’s #13 Alex Polizzi. Burak shot early and often bet kept being foiled by a mat-evading Polizzi. After looking so dominant for the majority of the first period Burak faltered, giving up a takedown to Polizzi but managed to escape before the end of the period. When Polizzi escaped in the second period after choosing down Burak answered with an escape of his own in the third but still remained down by one point. Finally with mere seconds left Burak finished on a deep high crotch consummating the win.

The final match of the night was between the Hawk’s #1 Bobby Telford and #4 Mike McMullan of Northwestern. This was their seventh time meeting with a career record between the two tied at 3-3. The match was another low scorer that ended up going into overtime tied at 1-1. It was not until a nailbiting second overtime when Telford was about to finish on a match winning shot that McMullan scrambled his way to a takedown and a victory.

After the meet head coach Tom Brands said that he thought that the score was indicative of the way that his team wrestled. He continued, “There were probably some mismatches in the rankings there, but you’re supposed to roll like that” speaking about the lopsided team rankings (Hawekeys are currently the top ranked team whereas the Wildcats are only #24). When asked about Telford’s loss Brands simply said, “We’ve got a guy upstairs (Telford) that’s not taking it well. He shouldn’t; I’m not taking it well either, but that’s a lesson.”

Even though it was a good night overall the Hawkeyes will need to have every wrestler at the top of their game next Friday because next up the the Iowa Wrestling team is a meet against the #2 team in the nation, Minnesota. The meet will be at Minnesota nonetheless so the Hawkeyes will need to execute at every weight class if they expect to win.

The post Upset Fever in Carver-Hawkeye Arena appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Sitting in the KRUI office last Friday afternoon; somehow, some way, Pat Quinn, Lars Headington, and Ryan Murphy convinced me to go out for intramural wrestling.

You know; the intramural wrestling at The University of Iowa where all the former high school studs hit the mat in an attempt to relive some of their former glory. 

The intramural wrestling where you’re just as likely to face a former Iowa place winner as you are to face a guy who never smelled a mat in his life.  I didn’t wrestle in high school, but I did wrestle in junior high!

That was 13 years ago…

Oh, and I weigh in around 225, which means I would be rolling with the heavyweights. You know; the heavyweights that range from about 200 to 285 lbs.    

But after Pat and Lars put up the entry fee, (all of $3) there was no turning back. On Friday night and I had three days to prepare for an event that most of the competitors have poured months into.  Luckily I was able to recruit the expertise of Alex Sullivan, a young coworker and former City High wrestler. After the KRUI baseball show on Saturday, Alex met me at the Fitness Loft to give me a briefing on heavyweight wrestling.   What to expect, how to combat it, and what I can do to give myself an advantage. 

After a run in the cold on Sunday and a good workout on Monday, I was as ready as I could hope to be. 

I also watched Rocky on AMC Monday night, and I think that helped more than anything. “You’re gonna eat lightnin’ and you’re gonna crap thunder!”- Micky

I went into the single elimination tournament with two goals: win one match and don’t get pinned. 

Ryan Murphy gave me the scouting report on Tuesday:  my first match would be against Lee Przybylski, who is on the UI rowing club and listed at 205 lbs,  meaning he would be a lot lighter; but he would also be in much better shape and probably be  stronger than me too.I knew I had to go after him hard and use my size advantage to pin him in the first period. If I let the match drag on, his endurance would get the best of me.

So I attacked, and after a couple takedowns I used a half nelson to roll him over and get the 1^st period pin in about 1:30. 

The next match would be the tough battle I anticipated.

My opponent would be Josh Keller, a former Iowa place winner from City High. This would be the tough match up I expected.  He was stronger, at least 20 lbs bigger and had much better technique.  His experience advantage was evident when he came to the mat in a shiny red and white singlet.  Then he did what was expected, and after taking me down with a single-leg, he got my arm behind my back, under-hooked me rolled me over for a fall.

I never made it to the 2^nd period.   

While I was disappointed to loose, I’m not hanging my head too much. Winning the first match, I met one of my goals, but unfortunatly I failed the other.

Hey, I’m batting .500!  

Before you say it: no, I’m not about to try my hand at MMA!

(I like my face the way it is.)

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