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Dec. 8, 2003
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THIS WEEK
Iowa (4-1) will open its 2003-04 home dual meet season hosting Northern Iowa (1-1) Thursday at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Hawkeye Head Coach Jim Zalesky is looking for his 100th career coaching victory.
ON THE AIR
Radio – Morrie Adams and four-time Iowa all-American Mark Ironside will call the action live on AM-800 KXIC. To listen to the broadcast online, go to the wrestling schedule page on www.hawkeyesports.com. Click on the match you want to hear using Real One Player software. Broadcasts are available using the College Sports Pass, which can be purchased for $6.95 per month or $44.95 per year, or the College Sports Superpass for $13.95 per month.
Television – Iowa Public Television, which is in its 28th season of televising college wrestling, will air a same-day, tape-delayed telecast of the dual at 9 p.m. Announcers Tim Johnson, Jim Gibbons and former Iowa Wrestling Coach Dan Gable will call the action.
HEAD COACH Jim Zalesky
Jim Zalesky is in his seventh season as head coach at the University of Iowa. He has a school and career record of 99-19 (.839). Named National Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999, and Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2000, he has led the Hawkeyes to three NCAA (1998-00) and two Big Ten titles (1998, 2000). Zalesky has coached nine NCAA Champions, 19 Big Ten Champions and 32 all-Americans at Iowa. A three-time national champion and one of Iowa’s 15 four-time all-Americans, Zalesky was an assistant coach and head recruiter at Iowa under Dan Gable for seven seasons (1991-97). He was named Assistant Coach of the Year by the N.W.C.A. in 1992 and 1997. Undefeated his junior and senior seasons, Zalesky ended his career on an 89-match winning streak.
HAWK TALK WITH Jim Zalesky
Hawk Talk with Head Coach Jim Zalesky and host Mark Allen will air Wednesday from 7-8 p.m.on KXIC Radio in Iowa City and WMT Radio in Cedar Rapids. The broadcast is live from LaCasa in Iowa City.
NORTHERN IOWA PANTHERS
Northern Iowa is 1-1 on the season with a win over South Dakota State (32-9) and a loss to Wisconsin (24-13). Panther Head Coach Brad Penrith is 31-23 in four seasons at Northern Iowa, after serving as an assistant coach there for three years. Penrith was a three-time all-American at Iowa, winning an NCAA title at 126 pounds in 1986 and three Big Ten titles. Northern Iowa is led by Dylan Long at 141 pounds.
THE SERIES & LAST MEETING
Iowa leads the series, 35-8-2, and has won the last 27 meetings with Northern Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 17-3-1 against the Panthers in Iowa City. Iowa won the last meeting, 30-7, on December 13, 2002, in Cedar Falls. Here are the results from that dual:
Iowa 30, Northern Iowa 7
Hwt. Steve Mocco (I) pinned Michael Shedek (NI), 1:36
125 Luke Eustice (I) tech. fall Chad Davis (NI), 16-1 in 5:28
133 Cliff Moore (I) maj. dec. Mark Manchio (NI), 22-9
141 Dylan Long (NI) maj. dec. Luke Moffitt (I), 14-6
149 Ty Eustice (I) dec. Jeff Harrison (NI), 3-1
157 Matt Anderson (I) dec. Chris Bitetto (NI), 6-1
165 Drew Kelly (NI) dec. Jason D’Agata (I), 11-9
174 Tyler Nixt (I) dec. Eric Hauan (NI), 6-5
184 Jessman Smith (I) dec. Jordan Holm (NI), 7-3
197 Ryan Fulsaas (I) dec. Sean Stender (NI), 6-5
MATCHES TO WATCH
Two of the top match-ups in Thursday’s dual will be Iowa’s Cliff Moore vs. Northern Iowa’s Dylan Long at 141 pounds and Iowa’s Tyler Nixt vs. Eric Hauan at 174.
Moore and Long have met twice in their careers, with Moore winning a 7-3 decision at the 2000 Kaufman-Brand Open and a 17-7 major decision at the 2000 Northern Open. Moore is a two-time all-American at 133 pounds, and has moved up to 141 for the 2003-04 season. Long placed second at the 2003 NCAA meet at 141, and is undefeated (6-0) on the season.
Nixt and Hauan have met six times, with Nixt holding a 4-2 advantage in the series and winning the last four matches. Each match has been close with the victory margin at two points or less. The most recent meeting was Nixt’s 6-4 win at the 2003 Kaufman-Brand Open last month.
NIXT EARNS BIG TEN HONOR
Hawkeye 174-pounder Tyler Nixt was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week Dec. 3. Nixt, a senior from Greene, IA, was honored for pinning three opponents in Iowa’s four dual victories last week. He scored pins against Tim Johns of Southwest Minnesota State (1:09), Arizona State’s Ron Renzi (4:15) and Embry-Riddle’s David Riveria (5:18). He also recorded a 14-5 major decision against Minnesota State Mankato’s Jon Dierks. Nixt is undefeated at 14-0 overall and 4-0 in dual competition this season.
BRANDS NAMED TO OLYMPIC STAFF
University of Iowa Assistant Coach Tom Brands has been selected by USA Wrestling as one of the coaches for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Freestyle Team that will participate in Athens, Greece. Brands joins USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach Kevin Jackson and Zeke Jones on the staff. This selection has been forwarded, for final approval, to the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Brands served as the Assistant Coach of the 2003 U.S. Freestyle World Team, which placed second in the World Championships. He was also the Assistant Coach of the 2002 U.S. Freestyle World Team, which did not compete in the World Championships in Iran due to a threat of violence. All three Olympic Coaches were teammates on the only U.S. Men’s Freestyle World Teams to win the World Team title (1993 in Toronto, Canada and 1995 in Atlanta, GA).
“It is a big job,” said Brands. “It takes a lot of energy and commitment from the national governing body, the coaching staff and the athletes. When they all come together, great things can happen. The framework is in place.”
LAST WEEK
Iowa lost its first dual of the season, 21-13, to Iowa State Sunday in Ames. A crowd of 5,149 saw the loss that snapped Iowa’s 30-match winning streak against the Cyclones.
Senior Tyler Nixt started things off with a 19-8 major decision over Nels Matson at 174. The win was the 95th of his career, and he improves to 15-0 on the season. Iowa State’s Kurt Backes put the Cyclones on the board with a late takedown to defeat Hawkeye sophomore Paul Bradley, 4-3, at 184.
The Hawkeyes won the next three matches, starting with Hawkeye senior Ryan Fulsaas’ 3-2 win over Cyclone Trevor Smith at 197, making the team score 7-3. At heavyweight, Hawkeye redshirt freshman Ryan Fuller added three more team points with his 10-5 decision over Iowa State’s Richard Schopf. Hawkeye senior Luke Eustice improved to 7-0 on the season with a 7-5 win over Cyclone Grant Nakamura at 125 to make the team score 13-3.
The Cyclones started a roll of their own at 133, when senior Zach Roberson scored a 10-5 decision over Iowa redshirt freshman Todd Meneely. At 141, Iowa State sophomore Nate Gallick defeated Hawkeye senior Cliff Moore, 6-3. Hawkeye sophomore Ty Eustice scored a late escape in regulation at 149 to take Cyclone redshirt freshman Trent Paulson to sudden victory, but Paulson scored a takedown and backpoints in the overtime to win the match 5-1. Iowa State took a two-point team lead at 157 when Cyclone redshirt freshman Travis Paulson held off a late comeback from Iowa sophomore Joe Johnston to win, 7-4. Cyclone senior Nick Passolano sealed the streak-snapping win with his 36-second pin of Hawkeye redshirt freshman Cole Pape at 165.
In other competition, Hawkeye freshman Mark Perry won the 165-pound title and sophomore Lucas Magnani placed third at 125 at the Northern Iowa Open Saturday in Cedar Falls.
IOWA WRESTLING HISTORY
Iowa’s overall dual meet record is 767-194-30 (.789) in 92 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 20 national titles, including nine of the last 13, and 30 Big Ten titles. Iowa’s 46 NCAA Champions have won a total of 71 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 13 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes’ 98 Big Ten Champions have won a total of 179 conference individual titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 24 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa’s 124 all-Americans have earned all-America status 250 times, including 16 four-time, 26 three-time and 30 two-time honorees.
OH BROTHER
Brothers Luke and Ty Eustice are the 10th set of brothers to wrestle together in the Hawkeye varsity lineup since the 1950s. The 10 other brother pairs were Don and Tom Huff (1961), Mark and Scott Trizzino (1981), Lenny, Larry and Jim Zalesky (1981-82), Ed and Lou Banach (1981-83), Marty and Lindley Kistler (1984-85), Jim and John Heffernan (1987), Tom and Terry Brands (1989-92), Troy and Terry Steiner (1991-93), and Ryan and Randy Fulsaas (2001).
Freshmen Ben and Brett Stedman are the fifth set of twins to wrestle for the University of Iowa. Ed and Lou Banach, Tom and Terry Brands, Troy and Terry Steiner and Randy and Ryan Fulsaas are the other four.
Several brother pairs have also had wrestling success at Iowa. The Banach’s and Brands’ each won Big Ten and NCAA titles the same year twice in their careers, and earned all-America honors three times. The Zalesky’s, Kistler’s and Steiner’s each earned all-America honors twice in their careers, with the Kistler’s winning Big Ten titles the same year twice and the Zalesky’s winning conference titles once. The Heffernan’s earned all-America honors in 1987.
CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
The Hawkeye wrestling staff of Jim Zalesky, Tom Brands, Joe Williams, Royce Alger and Bill Zadick all wrestled at the University of Iowa. They earned a total of 12 NCAA titles, 12 Big Ten titles and 17 all-America honors. Their combined college career wrestling record is 637-48-6 (.926), including five undefeated seasons.
WE’RE GOIN’ STREAKIN’
Iowa has won its last nine home duals, dating back to the 20-15 loss to Michigan on Feb. 15, 2002. Iowa’s longest home winning streak is 55 duals (Jan. 9, 1977-December 18, 1983 against Oklahoma State).
CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
Carver-Hawkeye Arena has been the home for Iowa wrestling since 1983. The Hawkeyes have a record of 136-9 (.938) in the arena, which includes a record 10 victories during the 1986 season. Iowa has recorded 16 undefeated seasons in the arena, with the most recent (8-0) occurring last year.The dual wrestling attendance record for Carver-Hawkeye Arena is 15,291, which was set when Iowa defeated Iowa State on February 22, 1992. The arena seats 15,500 for a dual wrestling meet. The Hawkeyes are scheduled to host the 2005 Big Ten Championships in Carver-Hawkeye.
TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets and tickets for each of Iowa’s six home duals are available at the University of Iowa Athletic Ticket Office. Season tickets are $42 for general public and $36 for University faculty and staff. Tickets for each home dual are $8 for adults and $4 for students if purchased in advance; $10 for adults and $5 for students if purchased at the gate. Group tickets are available for all duals except Oklahoma State. They are $6 each for groups of 20-39 and $4 each for groups of 40 or more. Call 1-800-IA-HAWKS or 319-335-9327, or go online at http://hawkeyesports.ocsn. com/tickets/iowa-tickets.html to order.