The red of the singlets really does a nice job of hiding the blood from the ass-kicking.
Described as "The New York Yankees of college wrestling" by The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday, the #1-ranked Iowa wrestling team lived up to the dominance of that moniker by steamrolling the Utah Valley Wolverines, 38-0. It was a slightly odd detour for Iowa, which is in the midst of the conference dual season, but as Friday's post suggested (and the aforementioned SLT story confirmed) this trip was a big "thank you" to Iowa's Rocky Mountain area wrestling contingent. The meet took place in Vernal, UT, Phillip Keddy's hometown, but was also relatively close to Luke and Ethen Lofthouse (from Avon, UT) and Dan Erekson (from Eagle, ID). Kudos to Tom Brands and the Iowa athletic department for making this happen; the family and friends of these wrestlers certainly appreciated being able to see them wrestle without having to make a grueling trip to Iowa City.
As for the meet itself.. I'll just do a quick and dirty overview, since BHGP commenter shada's revenge has a more thorough recap in his FanPost. The Hawks won big again, scoring their second straight shutout of the season (and seventh shutout overall, extending their school record), but Utah Valley proved to be a scrappy bunch. They knocked off #8 Boise State on Friday night and while the final score doesn't indicate it, they did make Iowa work for the win, especially at some of the lower weights.
125: #4 Matt McDonough dec. #12 Ben Kjar, 7-4 (Iowa 3-0)
133: #3 Dan Dennis dec. Clint Ray, 6-5 (Iowa 6-0)
141: #7 Montell Marion maj dec. Jeff Newby, 20-7 (Iowa 10-0)
149: #1 Brent Metcalf PIN Justin Morrill, 1:43 (Iowa 16-0)
157: Jake Kerr maj dec. Clay Frost, 12-4 (Iowa 20-0)
165: #4 Ryan Morningstar dec. Jeb Clark, 3-1 (Iowa 23-0)
174: #2 Jay Borschel dec. Brad Darrington, 8-2 (Iowa 26-0)
184: #12 Phil Keddy dec. Casen Eldredge, 9-3 (Iowa 29-0)
197: Luke Lofthouse dec. Josh Wood, 12-5 (Iowa 32-0)
Hwt: #10 Dan Erekson wins by forfeit (Iowa 38-0)
QUICK HITZ:
- The SLT story noted that this was "technically a home date" for Iowa (perhaps because the meet was scheduled for Keddy's benefit and took place at his high school gym, rather than Uah Valley's own gym), but the Hawkeye Sports recap calls it a road win. No matter what, it was Iowa's 57th straight dual meet win. Incidentally, if it was a road meet, then Matt McDonough's victory was the first home loss ever for Ben Kjar, who had apparently been undefeated in matches at home going back through college, high school, and junior high.
- Dennis and McD both had to scrap a bit to win their bouts, especially Dennis who needed a takedown with three seconds left in the third period to secure the win. A little odd to go from knocking off the former #1 ranked guy at 133 to struggling with an unranked guy; hopefully this was just a one-match funk for Dennis.
- On the other hand, very nice to see Marion really take it to an overmatched opponent and just hammer him for a big win. He failed to do that last weekend and got upset by an unranked guy; nice to see him learning from his mistakes.
- Metcalf went into BEAST MODE again last night and scored a pin in under two minutes; he would have done more but he was bummed that Amanda Seyfried didn't show.
- Kerr was winning his match in ho-hum 3-0 fashion going into the third period... and then he exploded for four takedowns and a major decision victory. Now that's what we like to see and that's how you argue that the spot at 157 lbs. should be yours. Mr. Janssen, the ball is in your court.
- It's beyond passe to complain about Morningstar's matches at this point, so we'll simply say: no takedowns, Ryan? Really? Really?
- No bonus points for JayBo, but it was a thoroughly dominating win; he was never in jeopardy and he just couldn't get him turned for possible nearfall (or more) points. It might be nice to see him cut a guy and go for more takedowns if that's the case, but we're not going to quibble too much.
- Nice showing by the hometown hero at 184 lbs., too; he may have been able to secure a major decision if his opponent hadn't decided to turn the third period into a track meet. Iowa's other Beehive State native, Luke Lofthouse, picked up a nice victory of his own at 197 lbs.; he's really provided some solid depth there with Beatty out.
- It's a shame Utah Valley didn't have anyone to go at heavyweight; the six points Iowa got for the forfeit was absolutely meaningless for the dual result and Dan (and his family/friends) would have much rather have actually wrestled a dude.
- CHEAP PLUG: We now have a proper Wrestling section here at BHGP, so you can go there if you need quick access to all of our wrestling-related coverage. All of the 2010 content is there now; older content will hopefully be added there soon.
NEXT UP: Iowa entertains just Northwestern at 7pm CST on Friday, February 12 (live streaming on BTN.com for $2.99) and heads up to MSP to take on #5 Minnesota at 6pm CST on Sunday, February 14 (live on BTN).