Mar. 22, 2003
KANSAS CITY, MO – University of Iowa sophomore heavyweight Steve Mocco wonhis first national title Saturday afternoon, defeating Air Force’s Kevin Hoy, 8-3, at the 2003NCAA Championships in Kansas City, MO. With the win, Mocco became Iowa’s firstheavyweight national champion since Lou Banach in 1983. Mocco finishes the seasonundefeated at 35-0, improving his career mark to 72-3.
In the finals, Mocco scored two takedowns in the first period – one with two secondsremaining – and an escape in the second period to take a 5-1 lead. Hoy escaped from the downposition, but Mocco took him down with 1:13 left in the match to take a 7-2 lead. Hoy escaped,but could not create any offense, and Mocco added a riding time point to make the final 8-3.
Iowa placed eighth in the tournament with 57.5 points – its lowest finish since 1972 whenthe Hawkeyes placed 11th. Oklahoma State won the team race with 143 points, winning its firstteam title since 1994. Defending champion Minnesota placed second with 104.5 points.
In Saturday morning’s consolation matches, Hawkeye senior Jessman Smith and juniorCliff Moore each earned their second all-America honor. Smith avenged an earlier season lossto Cornell’s Clint Wattenberg in the semifinals with a 6-3 win at 184. He then lost a 5-2 decisionto Josh Lambrect of Oklahoma in the third-place match. Smith led the match 2-1 going into thefinal period, but was ridden the entire two minutes and turned for three nearfall points near theend of regulation to lose the match and place fourth. Smith ends his Hawkeye career with a 115-36 record, going 37-3 this season. Moore lost a 14-8 decision to Iowa State’s Zach Roberson inthe consolation semifinals, and lost a 4-0 decision to Rad Martinez of Clarion to place sixth.Moore ends the year with a 31-9 season record and 76-22 career mark.
