Hawkeyes Head To National Duals

Jan. 9, 2007

IOWA CITY, IA –

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THIS WEEK
Fifth-seed Iowa (5-0) will face Cal-Davis (2-3) in the first round of the N.W.C.A./Cliff Keen National Duals Saturday at 9 a.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. The two-day annual tournament features 16 teams each from NCAA Divisions I, II and III and NAIA, eight NJCAA teams, four NCWA teams and three women’s wrestling teams.

The Division I field includes nine of the top 10 ranked teams in the most recent USA Today/Intermat/N.W.C.A. coaches poll. Cal-Davis, Central Michigan, Cornell, #3 Hofstra, #6 Iowa State, Michigan, #2 Minnesota, #1 Missouri, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, #8 Northwestern, #7 Oklahoma, #4 Oklahoma State, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will all battle the Hawkeyes for the title. Results will be available at www.unipanthers.com throughout the tournament.

Depending on the outcome of the Iowa-Cal-Davis dual, the Hawkeyes will face either the winner or loser of the #4 Oklahoma State-Northern Iowa dual Saturday at 1 p.m.

NATIONAL DUALS SCHEDULE
The following is the Division I tournament schedule for this weekend’s N.W.C.A./Cliff Keen National Duals:

Saturday, January 13
9-11 a.m. Championship Preliminary Round
11 a.m.-1 p.m. Championship Preliminary Round
1-3 p.m. Championship Quarterfinals/Consolation First Round
3-5 p.m. Championship Quarterfinals/Consolations First Round
5-7 p.m. Consolation Second Round
7-9 p.m. Consolation Third Round

Sunday, January 14
9-11 a.m. Seventh-Place Match
11 a.m.-1 p.m. Championship Semifinals
1-2:45 p.m. Third and Fifth-Place Matches
3-5 p.m. Championship Finals

NATIONAL DUALS TICKET INFORMATION
All-session tickets are $30 for adults and $22 for seniors and students. Individual session tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and students. Tickets may be purchased by contacting the UNI-Dome box office at 1-877-216-3663.

ON THE AIR
Takedown Wrestling Radio will also broadcast portions of the National Duals free of charge at Takedownradio.com and KXNO.com. J. Carl Guymon, Scott Casber and Steve Foster will call the action. Broadcasts will run Saturday from 9:06-11 a.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. through the tournament finals.

Online Video – LiveSportsVideo.com will present a free web cast of Sunday’s championship semifinals (11 a.m.), third and fifth-place matches (1 p.m.) and championship finals (3 p.m.).

The Internet – Press releases, meet results, audio broadcasts and home dual livestats are available on the University of Iowa’s website, www.hawkeyesports.com. To access the live home dual scoring, go to the wrestling schedule page, select the event and click on the Livestats link. Current staff and student-athlete head shots can be found at pics.hawkeyesports.com.

LAST TIME AT THE DUALS
Iowa placed sixth at the 2006 N.W.C.A./Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls. The fifth-seeded Hawkeyes opened the tournament with a 24-13 loss to Nebraska, but fought back in the consolations to defeat Northern Illinois (24-6), third-seed Oklahoma (21-15) and eighth-seed Missouri (31-12) on Saturday. Iowa dropped the fifth-place match to fourth-seeded Michigan (19-15) on Sunday to place sixth.

HAWKEYE HISTORY AT THE DUALS
Iowa has wrestled in 14 National Duals and has a 50-9-3 all time record in the tournament. Iowa has won the title three times (1992, 1995, 1996), placed second three times (1994, 1997, 1998), third six times (1990, 1991, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003) and sixth once (2006).

SCOUTING THE AGGIES
California-Davis is 2-3, 1-0 in the Pac-10, with wins over San Francisco State (35-6) and Stanford (29-12), and losses to Oklahoma State (22-9), Lehigh (33-8) and Columbia (22-16). Head Coach Lennie Zalesky, who was a three-time all-Americans and Big Ten Champion at Iowa from 1979-82, is in his sixth season with the Aggies. He is assisted by former Oklahoma State wrestler Mark Munoz and former California-Bakersfield wrestler Matt Sanchez.

The Aggies are led by returning NCAA qualifiers Omar Gaitan (133), Derek Moore (141) and Ken Cook (174). Moore is 12-0, Cook is 13-3 and senior 197-pounder Eliot Kelly is 15-6 this season.

THE SERIES
Following are Iowa’s series records with each Division I N.W.C.A./Cliff Keen National Duals comepting team:

Opponent – Series Record – Last Meeting Results (Yr.)
California-Davis – 2-0 – W, 26-9 (2005)
Central Michigan – 2-0 – W, 28-8 (2003)
Cornell – 0-1 – L, 24-6 (1965)
Hofstra – 5-0 – W, 24-15 (2002)
Iowa State – 54-16-2 – W, 24-6 (2006)
Michigan – 23-25-1 – L, 19-15 (2006)
Minnesota – 62-23-1 – L, 25-9 (2006)
Missouri – 3-0 – W, 31-12 (2006)
Nebraska – 22-10-2 – L, 24-13 (2006)
Northern Iowa – 39-8-2 – W, 18-15 (2006)
Northwestern – 61-7-1 – W, 20-16 (2006)
Oklahoma – 16-17-1 – W, 21-15 (2006)
Oklahoma State – 16-22-1 – L, 18-14 (2006)
Pennsylvania – 3-0 – W, 17-15 (2002)
West Virginia – 0-0 – The two teams have never met.

HAVEN’T WE MET?
Hawkeye junior Matt Fields is 1-0 vs. California-Davis’ Broc Maffia at heavyweight. Fields won a 15-6 major decision in the 2005 dual in Davis, CA.

IOWA PLACES SECOND AT 2006 MIDLANDS
The Hawkeyes crowned one champion, two runners-up and four other placewinners at the 44th annual Midlands Championships in Evanston, IL, December 29-30. Iowa placed second in the team race with 107 points. Iowa State won its first team title since 1981 with 154.5.

Hawkeye senior 174-pounder Eric Luedke won his first Midlands title and picked up his 35th career victory, defeating Rider’s Doug Umbehauer, 6-4, in the finals. Juniors Alex Tsirtsis and Mark Perry both placed second with second-seed Tsirtsis losing an 8-5 decision to top-seed Ryan Lang of Northwestern at 141 and top-seed Perry losing a 5-2 decision to second-seed Travis Paulson of Iowa State at 165. Also placing for the Hawkeyes were senior Mario Galanakis (8th-133), junior Matt Fields (6th-Hwt.), sophomore Charlie Falck (7th-125) and redshirt freshman Ryan Morningstar (7th-157).

HAWKEYES SIGN TWO
Iowa signed two student-athletes to national letters of intent in the early signing period. Jordan Johnson of Bettendorf, IA and Brodie Ambrose of Eldridge, IA, are Tom Brands’ first signings as Iowa’s head coach.

Johnson won the 2006 Class AA Illinois state heavyweight state title at Naperville North High School. He moved to Bettendorf, IA, and will be competing for Bettendorf High School this season.

Ambrose placed third at 171 pounds at the 2006 Class 3A state tournament for North Scott Eldridge High School. He will compete at 189 pounds this season and is a projected 197-pounder for the Hawkeyes. Ambrose also is a 189-pound Fargo freestyle all-American.

IOWA WRESTLING ON JEOPARDY!
Former Hawkeye wrestlers Luke and Ty Eustice were featured in a clue of the category “Iowa” December 8, and in several clues of the category “Wrestling” January 8 on the TV game show JEOPARDY! Jimmy McGuire and Kelly Miyahara of the JEOPARDY! Clue Crew taped clues at Carver-Hawkeye Arena featuring the Eustice brothers in August.

The Eustice brothers are natives of Blue Earth, MN. Luke was an all-American and NCAA finalist at 125 pounds in 2002, lettering for the Hawkeyes from 2001-04. Ty was a two-time all-American at 149 pounds, competing in the NCAA finals in 2006. He lettered for the Hawkeyes from 2003-06. They are the 10th set of brothers to wrestle together in the Hawkeye varsity lineup since the 1950s.

IOWA WRESTLING HISTORY
Iowa’s overall dual meet record is 800-209-30 (.785) in 95 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 20 national titles, including nine of the last 16, and 31 Big Ten titles. Iowa’s 47 NCAA champions have won a total of 73 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 13 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes’ 99 Big Ten Champions have won a total of 180 conference titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 24 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa’s 129 all-Americans have earned all-America status 263 times, including 16 four-time, 27 three-time and 32 two-time honorees.

CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
Carver-Hawkeye Arena has been the home of Iowa wrestling since 1983. The Hawkeyes are 154-15 (.911) 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 in 2002-03. The dual wrestling attendance record for Carver-Hawkeye Arena is 15,291, set when Iowa defeated Iowa State on February 22, 1992. The arena seats 15,500 for a dual wrestling meet. Iowa’s meet with Iowa State earlier this year drew 13,732. That figure ranks 11th in NCAA and Carver-Hawkeye Arena history.

IOWA TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for Iowa’s remaining four home duals are on sale at the University of Iowa Athletic Ticket Office. Tickets purchased in advance are $8 for adults and $4 for youth/non-University of Iowa students. Tickets purchased at the door are $10 for adults and $5 for youth/non-University of Iowa students. University of Iowa students will be admitted free of charge for all matches with a student ID. For tickets, contact the University of Iowa Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-424-2957, 319-335-9327 or www.hawkeyesports.com.

CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
The Hawkeye wrestling staff of Tom Brands, Dan Gable, Wes Hand, Doug Schwab and Mike Zadick earned a total of two Olympic gold medals, seven NCAA titles, 10 conference titles and 15 all-America honors. Their combined college career wrestling record is 605-84-2 (.877), including three undefeated seasons.

ESPN TO EXPAND LIVE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS COVERAGE
ESPN recently announced that four of the six sessions of the 2007 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be aired on live television. The March 17 finals will air at 7 p.m. (CT) on ESPN, while session three, four and five will be shown on ESPNU. Session three will air March 16 at 10 a.m., session four will be shown March 16 at 6 p.m. and session five will air March 17 at 9 a.m.

The 2007 championships will be held March 15-17 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, MI. The University of Michigan and the Detroit Metro Sports Commission will serve as hosts.

NEXT COMPETITION
Iowa will wrestle at Oklahoma State (4-1) Friday, January 19 in its last non-conference dual of the season. Match time is set for 8 p.m. (CT) at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, OK. The dual will be aired live on ESPNU.