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[Article below courtesy of Intermat.com, photos courtesy of Mark Lundy.]
IOWA CITY, Iowa — In front of an NCAA-record crowd of 42,287 fans, No. 3 Iowa edged No. 2 Oklahoma State 18-16 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on Saturday. It was the 50th meeting between the two storied college wrestling programs, and the third straight win for the Hawkeyes in the series.
“I think the biggest message for a program like the University of Iowa, that is still trying to set the bar higher and higher, I think it’s a mentality and commitment to the program and administration,” said Iowa coach Tom Brands. “It goes with what we want to do; we want to get better every day and want to have better events every year.”
Both teams won five matches, but the Hawkeyes won the bonus-point battle, which proved to be the difference in the dual meet.
With Oklahoma State leading 13-11, Sammy Brooks gave the Hawkeyes a major boost at 184 pounds with a 17-2 technical fall victory over 15th-ranked Jordan Rogers.
Brooks took a 12-1 lead into the second period after two takedowns and two sets of four-point nearfalls. Brooks then put the match away in the second period.
“Brooks gave us some bonus points, a five-point win team wise, that’s big,” said Brands. “The way that he was wrestling, hitting those holds, that’s what we want. He can do that against anybody, his consistency is that good. I’ve said that for a long time.”
The dual meet started at 125 pounds, with Thomas Gilman picking up a 9-1 major decision over Eddie Klimara in a battle of returning All-Americans. Gilman scored a takedown in the first period, added two more in the second period, and scored the final takedown with 20 seconds left to help secure the major decision.
“When I stepped on that mat, those fans were electric,” said Gilman. “I keep saying electric and I’m maybe being redundant but it really was electric out there. I started us off right. The pace was high but maybe not where it needed to be. But I was able to get that major decision and help set the tone for the rest of the dual.”
Cory Clark kept the momentum on Iowa’s side with a convincing 7-2 victory over Gary Wayne Harding at 133 pounds.
Top-ranked Dean Heil put the Cowboys on the scoreboard with a 7-1 decision over Logan Ryan at 141 pounds. Heil scored a takedown inside of the first minute of the match and after a Ryan escape the first period ended 2-1. Heil was able to ride out Ryan the entire second period and accumulate 2:25 of riding time heading into the final period. Heil built on his lead in the third with an escape, takedown and riding-time point to win 7-1.
The Hawkeyes picked up a key win at 149 pounds as third-ranked Brandon Sorensen topped eighth-ranked Anthony Collica 6-1. Sorensen controlled the action throughout the match, earning a takedown and two nearfall points to lead 4-0 after the opening period. Sorensen added to his lead with an escape in the second. Collica would get on the board in the third period with an escape, but came up short
At 157 pounds, 15th-ranked Chance Marsteller held on for a 14-11 victory over Edwin Cooper to cut the deficit to 10-6 in favor of the Hawkeyes heading into intermission. Marsteller, a four-time undefeated state champion from Pennsylvania, jumped out to a 6-0 lead early with a takedown and four nearfall points. Cooper would battle back with an escape and takedown off a double leg to make it 6-3 after the first period. In the second Cooper inched closer after earning a point off a stall call against Marsteller. Marsteller then used a reversal and nearfall points to go up 12-4 and appeared to be in control of the match. Cooper, though, battled back in the third against a physically exhausted Marsteller. Cooper was able to get within two points with 11 seconds remaining but couldn’t get the go-ahead points needed to win.
In the first match after intermission, two-time NCAA champion Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State evened the dual meet score at 10-10 with a dominating 17-5 major decision over Patrick Rhoads. Dieringer used three takedowns in the first period to jump out to a 6-2 lead, and added a second-period escape and takedown to go up 10-2. Dieringer kept the pressure on, scoring three more takedowns in the final period to win by 12.
At 174 pounds, All-American Kyle Crutchmer won a hard-fought battle over sixth-ranked Alex Meyer 11-10. Crutcher raced out to a 6-0 lead after an early throw and nearly recorded a pin. Meyer, though, fought off his back and worked his way back into the match, tying it 8-8 heading into the final period. With the score tied 9-9 in the final period, Crutchmer earned a takedown with 35 seconds remaining and held on for a one-point win.
After Sammy Brooks’ technical fall at 184 pounds, Nathan Burak claimed a 5-3 victory over Nolan Boyd at 197 pounds to give the Hawkeyes an 18-13 with one match remaining. Burak earned takedowns in each of the first two periods to pace him to the victory.
At heavyweight, Oklahoma State’s Austin Marsden topped Sam Stoll 6-1 in the final match of the dual meet.
“It was a tough match, there were certain things that we appeared to not have today, it seemed like we let people in the match,” said Oklahoma State coach John Smith. “We just didn’t push the pace enough.”
Results:
125: No. 4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 7 Eddie Klimara (OSU), 9-1
133: No. 2 Cory Clark (Iowa) dec. Gary Wayne Harding (OSU), 7-2
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. Logan Ryan (Iowa), 7-1
149: No. 3 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) dec. No. 8 Anthony Collica (OSU), 6-1
157: No. 15 Chance Marsteller (OSU) dec. Edwin Cooper (Iowa), 14-11
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (OSU) maj. dec. Patrick Rhoads (Iowa), 17-5
174: No. 4 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) dec. No. 6 Alex Meyer (Iowa), 11-10
184: No. 12 Sammy Brooks (Iowa) tech. fall No. 15 Jordan Rogers (OSU), 17-2
197: No. 4 Nathan Burak (Iowa) dec. Nolan Boyd (OSU), 5-3
285: No. 5 Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State) dec. Sam Stoll (Iowa), 6-1
