Iowa Wrestling Paddles Purdue 26-9

Saturday’s dual was anything but typical, even though we had the typical results that ended in a Hawkeye beat down and a large margin of victory. But what was atypical was the five, yes FIVE backups that were called upon to get the job done. I’ve been a stalwart Hawk fan my whole life, but I don’t recall a time when we sat out so many starters, let alone sitting them and coming away with a win. Perhaps some of the older fans can shed some light if this has happened before?

Despite the win, social media exploded over the weekend with a large portion of fans being upset about the lack of star power. The usual suspects were still out in Jacob Warner, Michael Kememer, and Sam Stoll, but what put things over the edge was the late and unexpected additions of Spencer Lee and Pat Lugo.

Perhaps what made matters worse was the firm belief that Warner was going to make his debut, obviously that didn’t happen. Anyways, onto the box scores. Mat scores?

Iowa 26, Purdue 9

197: Mitch Bowman dec. # 12 Christian Brunner, 7-5. Iowa 3-0

285: Jacob Aven dec. Aaron Costello, 3-1 (SV1). Tied 3-3

125: #13 Devin Schroder dec. Perez Perez, 4-2. Purdue 6-3

133: #9 Austin DeSanto dec. Ben Thornton, 5-2. Tied 6-6

141: #18 Max Murin dec. #17 Nate Limmex (P), 5-0. Iowa 9-6

149: Carter Happel dec. Parker Filius, 2-0. Iowa 12-6

157: #15 Kaleb Young pin #18 Griffin Parriott, 3:32. Iowa 18-6

165: #4 Alex Marinelli major dec. Cole Wysocki, 14-3. Iowa 22-6

174: #15 Dylan Lydy dec. Myles Wilson, 7-3. Iowa 22-9

184: #12 Cash Wilcke maj. dec. Max Lyon, 12-4. Iowa 26-9

Match Notes:

The dual started at 197*

#12 Jacob Warner was supposed to come out of the tunnel. Warner was supposed to make his debut leading off. Warner was supposed to get the crowd cranked up to level 12 by knocking off #10 Christian Brunner. Instead, the lanky and stoic Bowman strolled out. So confused was the audience that even the TV graphic showed little 125lber Perez Perez. Then BTN announcers were oblivious to the switch and proceeded to call him Warner until midway through the 2^nd period when they thankfully wised up. That’s 4 min of them rambling on about Warner’s accolades and pedigree all the while the backup was working on a major upset…

197 Match of the Day: The Bow-Man was once again called upon and bumped a weight. Bowman burst out of the gate with two slick TD’s in the 1st followed quickly by another in the 2^nd. This pushed his lead to 4-1 before an insane scramble resulted in 2 near fall for Brunner, but ultimately another TD for the Bowman. By the 3^rd we pushed our lead to 7-4 and went down to start the final frame. Here Brunner showed why he’s a top 10 guy and rode Bowman like a broke horse. With legs laced in, Bowman wouldn’t escape, would give up a point in riding time, but thankfully held tough by not getting turned despite the insane ride from Brunner. Bowman continues to impress in his spot starts up a weight. If he continues to mess around he’s going to find himself in the rankings. And if we had 20 more Bowman’s in our room we’d be ranked #1 as a team. I love this kid.

285: Costello had no business losing this match and it was disappointing to see his first loss on the season come at the hands of a very, very beatable Aven. All match Costello was looking for the double-unders and a big throw and that never materialized. If you live by the throw, you die by the throw and that’s what happened in sudden victory. Death. On the edge of the mat Costello went for the homerun and slipped off, fell down, and Aven virtually fell on top of him to win. It should be noted that Costello was wearing a bulking knee brace so perhaps that limited his mobility/ confidence. Either way, this is one that slipped away.

125: With Spencer Lee allegedly recovering from illness (somebody screwed up that turkey) our senior, Perez Perez made his varsity debut. It’s hard making your debut in an unexpected spot start, it’s harder doing it in CHA, and it’s even double-harder doing it against a ranked opponent. But Perez came out firing and being aggressive through the first two periods. He was able to get in deep several times, but was unable to finish a shot. He found himself down 3-2 in the 3^rd, but that’s were his aggressiveness halted. For the final two minutes he didn’t take a single shot. If you’re behind you can’t win if you don’t shoot and that’s what happened. But I will say he held his own and was incredibly competitive, despite the odds. He’s also vastly improved over the years and it’s nice to see him grow. Also, I couldn’t be happier that he finally got his first and probably only start in front of his home crowd.

133: Austin DeSanto did what Austin DeSanto do: push them to the breaking point and snap them. ADS deployed his heavy hands technique to perfection all the while mixing in several shot attempts. For his pressure he was award a stall call against Thornton to end the 1^st. Though ADS was able to secure a couple nice TD’s to secure the win he needs to improve greatly in the bottom position. Thornton is no push over and I’m positive he’ll be ranked by seasons end, but if ADS wants to beat the big guns he needs to explode from the bottom and escape much faster. On the flipside, it’s great seeing him wrestle this well knowing he’s only going to get better. Way better.

141: #18 Maximum Murin is going to steadily climb the rankings and it started against #17 Limmex. Limmex was the aggressor in the 1^st with several shots and lots of hand fighting. So much so that he got dinged for hands to the face which started Max off with a one point lead. Max had to ride out the Limmex storm in the 1^st then turned on his own. He rode the Boilermaker like a conductor for the entire 2^nd period with several great mat returns that shook CHA. After a TD in the 3^rd he ended up amassing 2:10 of riding time to cap off a shutout. As impressive as it was, Murin needs to improve on finishing his shots. Several times he got in deep, which Limmex was able to hold to a stalemate. Either way he’ll get his offense ironed out and he’s going to be a force to reckon with as the season goes on.

149: Carter Happel was called upon to dispel a banged-up Pat Lugo. This was a battle of two 4x state champions between him and Parker Filius and Happel showed him who was the king of the four-timers. This was a battle from the neutral position as both wrestler failed to complete a TD. But it was Happel who proved to be a far superior rider. Happel got the escape in the 2^nd and rode Filius for the entire 3^rd, snagging the riding time point, and mixing in several Murin-esque mat returns.

157: Kaleb Young gave the crowd what they were craving: the intense ass beating. Young had to weather strong hand fighting/ head snaps from Parriott, but worked to a tie to end the 1^st period. Parriott made the mistake by going down to start the 2^nd and even a bigger mistake by constantly reaching behind. Young would throw in a cattle catcher, load it up, and flip him. From here things felt much more comfortable as we extended the lead to 18-6.

165: The Bull rushed the entire match and worked it to a major. He seemed far more concerned with the pin than he did with the tech fall. Wysocki was far too savvy and just strong enough he was able hold off the non-stop power half attempts. All is fine and dandy when this is the approach against Purdue, but I hope against better overall teams Marinelli works for the tech fall and if he pushes for the fall for the entire match then he needs to get it. I’m not ragging on him because he was dominate and had 4+ min of riding time, but I would’ve liked to see some better situational wrestling.

174: Wilson was outmatched throughout. He seemed more concerned with his ties and fighting for inside position that he eventually stopped moving his feet and fell right into Lydy’s plan and got taken down twice. Though he was only down 4-3 to start the 3^rd, similar to Perez, he never attempted another shot for the entire period and ultimately got TD’d again and fell 7-3. Wilson has done a decent job in the lineup, but it’s evident he has a lot to learn and improve on. Though he did what he needed to do: hold it to a decision.

184: No joke, this is the best I have ever seen Cash Wilcke. Lyon is solid and a borderline top 20 guy, but Cash Money thoroughly controlled this match from start to finish. He was only up 2-1 to close the 1^st which made his major all the more impressive. Unlike against Princeton when he coasted to the finish, this time he stayed full throttle, wide open. After an explosive escape in the 2^nd he had a beautiful misdirection shot where he joked right and dove to the far left ankle, which ended in a TD. In the 3^rd you could hear Brands yelling, “Go for the major!” With a cut and release he snagged two more TD’s in the final 45 seconds and with 2:30+ in riding time was able to lock up the coveted major. Wilcke is starting to starting to take the “wolf on the prowl” philosophy to heart, as he should. If wrestles like this all year he’s an All-American for sure.

• The Hawks found themselves in a serious battle at the break going 3-2 only up 9-6. They would go 4-1 in the back half and pull away late.
• The backups were 2-3 but more importantly held all their losses to decisions.
• At one point you could hear Brands yelling to Purdue’s headcoach Tony Ersland mid-match, “Quiet over there Ersland!” as he was giving his own guy directions. Ersland was seen laughing back at him. It was a really fun moment between the two.

---

All in all, the team wrestled well, but Brands has his reasons for holding his guys out and I will never question him. I will never question his loyalty, nor will I question his dedication to his team. He will always do what’s best for his team, but we do have every right to be disappointed. We’re now 4 duals in and we have yet to see this team at full strength. In fact, we’re regressing, and this may not end anytime soon.

I know several Hawk fans are angry that they’re paying for a product they aren’t receiving, I get it. I’m flying 800 miles next week to see the dual against Iowa State. 800 miles plus 6 hours in a car. If our stars don’t go you may not find an angrier Hawk than me, but I’m angry at the situation, not at Brands, and certainly not at the wrestlers. This is a shitty situation that will end eventually.

We have to remember that November is not the endgame here. March is. Remember how an injured Cory Clark was held out most of the season and went on one of the most improbable runs to claim an NCAA title? I do.

The situation sucks right now and it definitely dampens the excitement and jeopardizes our lofty expectations, but these guys need to get healthy. We need them for a postseason run and we may not have them at all if they go before they’re ready. So let’s ride out this storm together, get this team healthy, and really kick ass when counts.

---

Up next we take on Iowa State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday, December 1. The bodies hit the floor at 2 pm CT.

We’re 4-0!!! GO HAWKS!!!