Iowa Wrestling Does South Dakota State: The Primer

Are you guys ready to be able to actually watch the Iowa wrestling team take on some respectable competition? Good! Me too.

And you’re in luck, because that’s scheduled to happen Friday evening in scenic Brookings, South Dakota when the No. 2 Hawkeyes take on the No. 19 Jack Rabbits in Frost Arena at 7:30 p.m.

Head coach Tom Brands, who is going for his 200th dual win as Iowa’s head coach, is looking forward to this one. You should too.

Via The Gazette:

I said we weren’t looking ahead past Purdue, but had one eye on this dual meet. The environment is going to be fun. We have competitors here that are about that anyway, going into enemy arenas.

What to look for

The marquee match of the evening will be at 133 pounds, where No. 1 Cory Clark is scheduled to square off with No. 6 Seth Gross, a former Hawkeye. Gross, along with Logan Ryan and Ross Lembeck, were dismissed from the Iowa program after facing legal charges stemming from a March 2015 burglary in Marion. Brands said this week there were other factors at play in Gross’ departure.

Ryan later worked his way back onto the roster and saw time at 141 for the Hawkeyes last season. He’s listed as a 157-pound sophomore on this year’s Iowa roster.

Anyways, in his first year at SDSU last season, he went 26-14, was the Big 12 runner up, and an NCAA qualifier. It’s an early-season test for Clark, who got the job done with a 6-0 decision Sunday against Purdue, but failed to record bonus points, which was somewhat surprising.

Expect some fireworks there.

The other big match for the Hawkeyes comes at 197, where redshirt freshman Cash Wilcke will have his hands full against No. 5 Nate Rotert. Wilcke’s first matches as a Hawkeye have been successful, but not earth-shattering. He’s 7-0 while his opponent is off to a 3-2 start. Insert litmus test comment here.

How to watch, follow, and probable lineups

If you’re a Flowrestling subscriber, this dual will be available for you to stream. If not, you’ll be listening to Grace and Ironside on the radio, following along with live stats from hawkeyesports.com, or following the usual host of Twitter accounts.

@IowaWrLive, @Hawks_Wrestling, @Andy_Hamilton, @kjpilcher, @IAwrestle,@hagertony, @RossWB, @rossbcheck, and, as always, @BHGP.

Iowa Probables

125 / No. 1 Thomas Gilman, 6-0
133 / No. 1 Cory Clark, 7-0
141 / Topher Carton, 8-0
149 / No. 2 Brandon Sorensen, 8-0
157 / No. 6 Michael Kemerer, 8-0
165 / Joey Gunther, 8-0
174 / No. 6 Alex Meyer, 7-0
184 / No. 7 Sammy Brooks, 5-0
197 / Cash Wilcke, 7-0
HWT / Steven Holloway, 4-2/Sam Stoll, 0-0

South Dakota State Probables

125 / Ben Gillette, 4-4
133 / No. 6 Seth Gross, 6-0
141 / Henry Prohlmeyer, 4-4/Issac Andrade, 3-4
149 / Alex Kocer, 6-1
157 / Colin Holler, 6-2
165 / Luke Zilverberg, 6-1
174 / No. 18 David Kocer, 4-2
184 / Martin Mueller, 3-2
197 / No. 5 Nate Rotert, 3-2
HWT / Alex Macki, 1-1