It took a pair of falls and a quintet of major decisions for the Iowa wrestling squad to push past No. 20 Rider Friday and move to 4-0 on the season. Yes, yes that’s what you expect against an inferior opponent like the Broncos, but success is success and we’ll take it — especially when the aforementioned falls bookend the dual.
After going 1-2 at last week’s Iowa City Duals, freshman Justin Stickley pinned Jonathan Tropea in the second period, marking his first win over a DI opponent while Sam Stoll stuck Mauro Correnti at the 1:27 mark for his 15th fall in the Iowa singlet.
The remainder of the weights Iowa won — 149, 157, 174, 184, and 197 — with the exception of Phil Laux at 133 came via major. No. 3 Michael Kemerer (157) and Mitch Bowman (184)’s majors were over ranked opponents.
A look at Friday evening's wrestling action inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Hawks at home again Friday against Illinois. pic.twitter.com/BUXzf6J3lP
— Hawkeye Wrestling (@Hawks_Wrestling) November 25, 2017
That leaves us with losses at 141 from Vince Turk and 165 from Kaleb Young. To be fair, these losses were against ranked opponents, and Young was only a point behind No. 4 Chad Walsh.
If you’re still waiting on the Alex Marinelli train to leave the station, well, you may be waiting a bit longer. Young picked up bonus points in two of his matches last week, and hasn’t been a bad grappler this season. That’s not to say he’ll keep Marinelli out of the lineup when whatever’s holding him back is resolved, but it’s an added layer in this continuing saga.
Iowa’s back on the mat this Friday (can you believe it’s already going to be December?!?) to open the Big Ten schedule against 14th-ranked Illinois. That dual begins at 7 p.m. central time.
No. 7 Iowa 35, No. 22 Rider 6
125 — Justin Stickley pinned Jonathan Tropea, 4:36
133 — Phil Laux dec. Anthony Cefolo, 5-1
141 — No. 17 Tyson Dippery dec. Vince Turk, 8-4
149 — No. 2 Brandon Sorensen major dec. Gary Dinmore, 14-4
157 — No. 3 Michael Kemerer major dec. No. 7 B.J. Clagon, 18-5
165 — No. 4 Chad Walsh dec. No. 16 Kaleb Young, 5-4
174 — Joey Gunther major dec. Wayne Stinson, 12-3
184 — Mitch Bowman major dec. No. 20 Michael Fagg-Daves, 15-3
197 — No. 10 Cash Wilcke major dec. Ethan Laird, 16-3
HWT — No. 7 Sam Stoll pinned Mauro Correnti