No. 4 Iowa 21, No. 2 Ohio State 13: Back on the right side!

It feels nice to be back on the winning side of things, doesn’t it?

This dual didn’t have the firepower of Iowa’s last two meetings with Oklahoma State and Penn State, but was entertaining with some fun matches — particularly at 141, 149, 174, and 184. The Hawkeyes managed a 2-2 record in those bouts with wins from Brandon Sorensen and Sammy Brooks (!!) — an encouraging sign with both grapplers coming off tough losses a week ago against Penn State.

Topher Carton and Alex Meyer came oh so close to wins, or at least overtime, against Luke Pletcher and top-ranked Bo Jordan. Both Hawkeyes allowed takedowns in the waning moments of the third period to lose the bouts, but their performances are encouraging nonetheless. Let’s just get over the hump, boys.

Outside of those four bouts, the highlight for the Hawkeyes came from, you guessed it, Thomas Gilman and Michael Kemerer. Gilman with the tech, Kemerer with the major. I thought Kemerer could’ve pushed the pace against Buckeye head coach Tom Ryan’s son, Jake, to get the tech fall, but at this point it is what it is. Kemerer’s the clear cut second-best 57 pounder in the country, he’s gotta push to close that gap between him and Jason Nolf.

To close things out, we had a BANGER at heavyweight. With both team’s usual heavies out of the lineup, Steven Holloway took it to Buckeye backup Josh Fox in a spirited match filled with blood time and energy. Between his and Brooks’ bouts, it was a fantastic way to close the evening in Iowa City.

Up next: seven days from now against Wisconsin in Carver Hawkeye Arena. We’ll talk soon, have a great weekend!

FULL RESULTS, Hawks in bold

125 / No. 1 Thomas Gilman tech fall Jose Rodriguez 23-8
133 / No. 1 Nathan Tomasello dec. Phil Laux, 10-3
141 / No. 13 Luke Pletcher dec. No. 19 Topher Carton, 5-4
149 / No. 3 Brandon Sorensen dec. No. 5 Micah Jordan, 2-0
157 / No. 2 Michael Kemerer dec. Jake Ryan, 14-3
165 / No. 19 Joey Gunther dec. Cody Burcher, 3-0
174 / No. 1 Bo Jordan dec. No. 10 Alex Meyer, 3-2
184 / No. 5 Sammy Brooks dec. No. 10 Myles Martin, 5-3
197 / No. 4 Kollin Moore major dec. Cash Wilcke, 19-7
HWT / Steven Holloway dec. Josh Fox, 6-1