Iowa Wrestling: No. 1 Iowa vs Army: Dual Preview, HTW Guide & Thread

Due to unforeseen difficulty with their air travel, Oregon State is no longer in line for a good Hawkeye tune-up. It’s a rough go for Oregon State and I’m sure their beyond disappointed, as we are, because we’re missing out on some good quality wrestling. However, we pickup a new opponent, who just so happened to be in Ames yesterday: ARMY!

Let’s tip our hats to Army for bailing out our weekend and still giving us a dual in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Without them stepping up to the plate, we’d be matchless, dual-less, and completely devastated. Though I would be remiss to add that Tom and Terry Brands agreed to a bout next year in West Point in recompense for today’s action. AWESOME!

Needless to say, this is a big last minute adjustment so this will be a quick and dirty preview.

ARMY (0-2)

The Black Knights are entering into the frey 0-2 on the short season after dropping to #2 Penn State (32-7) last week and Iowa State (25-9) yesterday.

They’ve faced stiff competition so far and that’s not changing this week as they turn around on short notice to face the top team in the land, US.

Regardless of their winless start, Head Coach Kevin Ward always seems to be game for anyone and everyone, anywhere, at any time. The West Point Cadets may be out matched and out-gunned from time to time, but that doesn’t mean that don’t like to scrap.

The one thing I’ve noticed throughout the years is for anyone that steps onto the mat for Army loves the battle and we’re going to get one today.

They have four guys appearing on Intermat’s rankings: #26 Corey Shie (141), PJ Ogunsanya (149), #29 Markus Hartman (157), and #20 JT Brown (197)

IOWA (1-0)

We’re coming off a 32-12 pounding over Princeton last weekend, although it was a bit of a lackluster outing in my opinion. Perhaps that’s heavily swayed by Tony Cassioppi’s blunder in the final match of the night where he was a bit overzealous on his pinning move that resulted in him counting the lights instead.

Either way, we took 7 of 10 matches, but outside of DeSanto and the surprising arrival of backups Cobe Siebrecht (149) and Myles Wilson (184), the Hawks just... seemed... arrogant.

I hate to say that because Hawkeye wrestling typically walks a fine line between swagger and arrogance and this is THE FIRST TIME I’ve ever even though that about this group, but they wrestled with some entitlement and had trouble matching Princeton’s aggression when they realized the Tigers weren’t going to roll over.

I’m writing this a week later, so obviously I’m still fired up over their previous effort. So here’s to hoping our outing this time around goes with more focus and patience.

Also, it should be noted that due to former champ Shane Griffin (Stanford) falling last week, Alex Marinelli reclaims the #1 ranking at 165lbs.

Due to Big Cass losing his cool and finding humility, he tumbles from #3 to #7. Thankfully, there’s plenty of time and opportunity for him to climb back up the rankings.

And last but not least, don’t expect Spencer Lee to make his season debut, at least not yet. Personally, I’m eyeing our matchup next weekend against Iowa State to Free the Lee was again.

KEY MATCHUPS:

125lbs: Jesse Ybarra vs Ryan Chauvin

This is a match I fully expect Ybarra to win in his CHA debut (last week’s forfeit doesn’t count!), but I want to see how he responds to the blood-thirsty crowd and if that lights a fire and pushes him to bonus points.

149lbs: Cobe Siebrecht vs #22 PJ Ogunsanya

Siebrecht gets another crack in the starting lineup this weekend as Mad Max Murin is still recovering from an undisclosed ailment. The backup roll is clearly Cobe’s to lose at Bretli Reyna and Vince Turk are both currently in Ames at grappling at the Harold Nichols Open.

However, Ol’ Cobe has stiff competition as he takes on Ogunsanya, who just knocked off Iowa State’s former All-American Jarrett Degen.

Siebrecht had quite the coming out party last weekend against Princeston’s Josh Breeding, racking him up for 16-1 tech, but this will be his first collegiate match against a legit NCAA tourney threat. Can he keep that aggression and focus going? Can he keep churning up those points? These are questions every Hawk was was asking themselves following last weekend.

If Cobe pulls off a convincing upset here, we very well could have ourselves a true 149lb wrestle-off heading into the Midlands in late December. But... let’s get through this match first!

PROBABLE LINEUPS:

125lbs: Jesse Ybarra vs Ryan Chauvin

133lbs: #3 Austin DeSanto vs Dominc Carone

141lbs: #2 Jaydin Eierman vs #26 Corey Shie

149lbs: Cobe Siebrecht vs #22 PJ Ogunsanya

157lbs: #8 Kaleb Young vs #29 Markus Hartman

165lbs: #1 Alex Marinelli vs Christian Hunt

174lbs: #2 Michael Kemerer // #13 Nelson Brands vs Clayton Fielden

184lbs: #18 Abe Assad // Myles Wilson vs Brad Laughlin

197lbs: #3 Jacob Warner // Zach Glazier vs #20 JT Brown

285: #7 Tony Cassioppi vs Brandon Phillips

Broadcast Info

Opponent: Army West Point Black Knights

Dual time: 2:00PM GT (Central) // Sunday, Nov. 28 2021

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena // Iowa City, IA

TV/ Online: BTN+