Life without Cory Clark

In last week’s primer for Iowa’s dual against South Dakota State, yours truly wrote all about how excited he was for Cory Clark to wrestle former Hawkeye Seth Gross and get his first real test of the young Hawkeye season. Then, our friends over at IAWrestle did some good #journalism and let us know Clark wouldn’t wrestle Gross due to injury.

Dreams of an awesome bout, meet the drain.

Instead, we got to watch Phillip Laux get tossed around by Gross in a 15-0 tech fall, so that was exciting. If Clark’s injury (is it his wrist? He had a brace and/or tape on at the Luther Open) causes him to miss more than a dual or three, what can we expect from the other Hawkeyes listed at the weight?

The short answer: not a lot, probably. You’ll see Laux, a redshirt senior who’s usually the guy warming Clark up before his matches, and maybe redshirt freshman Paul Glynn give their best attempt at not having matches like the one against Gross. Perhaps Tom Brands will throw a bone to the Internet and let Perez Perez come up from 125.

While this is all unlikely as it sounds like Clark’s no-go was more precautionary than anything, you should know a bit more about Glynn and Laux. All you need to know about Perez is his name. He probably won’t grapple at 33 this year. Sad! Here he is wrestling in high school.

Laux is an Iowa City West product who has spent his entire Hawkeye career behind Clark and competed in small tournaments. His career record is 26-5 and wrestled in two duals in 2015-2016, losing both matches. Outside of that, well, we don’t know a whole lot because he hasn’t had to do anything due to the whole Clark and Tony Ramos thing.

Paul Glynn is the other Hawkeye listed at 133 on the team’s official site, but he wrestled 141 at the Luther Open, losing a 4-2 decision to Topher Carton in the finals of that bracket. That result isn’t bad, but it looks like the roster page could use some updating.

There are some other names from 125 that could theoretically move up, but it’s unlikely, as is the event Clark misses extended time.

In summation: it appears we’re riding the Phillip Laux train if need be.

And without any unwarranted disrespect to Laux, hopefully there is no need.