AMES — ISU wrestling hosted instate rival the Iowa Hawkeyes Sunday in Hilton Coliseum and the result was a dominant performance by the Hawkeyes.
The duel began with the marquee matchup between two of the top 133-pound wrestlers in the nation, Iowa State’s fourth-ranked Earl Hall and Iowa’s second-ranked Corey Clark. Entering this match, Hall was previously 0-4 against Clark.
Hall started out quickly by securing a quick takedown in the first period but those were the only points he would score.
“Hall had a good chance to compete against Clark,” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson. “But if you don’t utilize your offense and don’t get up on your feet you are going to lose.”
That is exactly what happened to Hall as he lost by a 9-2 decision.
Following the marquee and opening matchup it was the battle of the 141-pounders. This matchup pitted Iowa State’s Dante Rodriguez against Iowa’s Logan Ryan. This result fell to the Cyclones’ favor.
After going scoreless in the first period, Rodriguez captured three points in the second to go up 3-0. Rodriguez would then capture three more points in the third period and gain a 6-2 decision over Ryan.
That decision tied the score up at three apiece.
The Hawkeyes claimed the next two matches, 149 and 157, and went up 10-3 in the duel. But Iowa State’s 165-pound grappler Tanner Weatherman defeated Iowa’s Patrick Rhoads by a 10-9 decision.
The score was 10-6 in Iowa’s favor going into intermission.
Once that ended is when the wheels fell off for Iowa State.
“I am so disappointed in the effort that some of our guys gave out there, that I can hardly speak,” Jackson said.
The Hawkeyes won the final five matches after intermission.
Iowa coach Tom Brands said that Iowa was consistent in its dialogue between wrestler and coach and that they didn’t allow Iowa State to dictate the pace of the matches.
In those last five matches, each Hawkeye wrestler tallied double-digit points with the lowest point score at 13.
Iowa ultimately defeated Iowa State 33-6.
Observational Takedowns
Third period scoring
A big stat that stands out in this duel was how much Iowa outscored Iowa State in the third period, 52-16 to be exact.
“It shows that we are strong in the third period,” Brands said. “But I want us to outscore opponents in the first and second period, which would make the result more lopsided."
Those 52 points scored in the third period accounted for 46.4 percent of Iowa’s total points scored as they tallied 112 points and one fall compared to Iowa State’s 46 points throughout the match.
Stalling and Takedowns
The Cyclones are the wrong side of the spectrum on two statistics: stalling warning points and takedowns.
Iowa State was called for 15 stalling warnings with seven of them being stalling warning points, which were awarded to Iowa.
Dane Pestano, Iowa State’s 184-pound grappler, received five stalling warnings which disqualified him from his match against Sammy Brooks.
“Good thing he got disqualified because [Pestano] got pinned a couple seconds later,” Jackson said.
As mentioned above, the Cyclones’ lost the takedown battle against the Hawkeyes.
Iowa claimed 32 takedowns compared to Iowa State’s 10 takedowns.
In the 197 match, the Cyclones claimed no takedowns against the Hawkeyes.
It is only November
During the post-duel wrestler press conference, Iowa State’s 165-pound gladiator Tanner Weatherman made a bold statement.
“Iowa is not that much better than us,” Weatherman said.
Weatherman sited that it is only November and that there is time to grow.
“Remember you have to win five matches in March to be name the best,” Weatherman said.
What is next for Iowa State?
After getting crushed 33-6 to Iowa, Iowa State will travel to Las Vegas to participate in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on December 4 -5.
