March 17, 2007
AUBURN HILLS, MI –
Hawkeye senior Eric Luedke (174) and sophomore Charlie Falck (125) earned all-America honors during Saturday morning’s consolation round at the 2007 NCAA Championships in Auburn Hills, MI. The duo earned Iowa’s 264th and 265th all-America honors in school history. Luedke is Iowa’s 32nd two-time all-American and Falck is the 54th one-time all-American. In the team race, Iowa is in 10th place with 53 points. Minnesota leads the team standings with 92, and Iowa State is in second with 84.5
Luedke, the #5 seed, placed third, defeating #8 seed Matthew Stoplinski of Navy, 3-2 in the consolation finals. The Hawkeye senior scored a takedown the last minute to secure the win. Luedke faced a strong opponent in #3 seed and 2007 Big Ten Champion Steve Luke of Michigan in the consolation semifinals, pulling out a 4-3 win in the second tiebreak period. Each wrestler scored an escape during regulation, taking the bout to sudden victory. Neither wrestler scored in the first sudden victory, both escaped during the first tiebreak, and neither scored in the second sudden victory. Both escaped in the second tiebreak, but Luedke received a point for accumulating 16 seconds of riding time during both tiebreak periods for the win. The Colby, KS, native ends his Hawkeye career with a 56-19 mark, going 33-4 this season.
Falck, the #5 seed, placed eighth after getting pinned in 2:41 by #3 seed Tanner Gardner of Stanford in the seventh place match. The Hawkeye sophomore ends the season with a 24-10 record. He has a 38-21 career mark at Iowa.
Hawkeye junior Mark Perry will wrestle Oklahoma State senior Johny Hendricks in the 165-pound finals Saturday night. Competition will start at 7 p.m. (CT) at the Palace of Auburn Hills. All finals matches will be aired live on ESPN. It will be a rematch of the 2005 NCAA finals, where Hendricks won, 5-2. Perry, who is the #2 seed, is a two-time all-American and the 2007 Big Ten Champion. Hendricks is a two-time NCAA champion and on a 56-match winning streak. Perry is 0-6 against the Cowboy senior.
CURRENT TEAM STANDINGS (Top 10 Teams After Session V)
Place Team – Points – Finalists
1. Minnesota – 92.0 – 1
2. Iowa State – 84.5 – 3
3. Missouri – 76.0 – 1
4. Oklahoma State – 69.0 – 2
5. Northwestern – 67.5 – 2
6. Michigan – 62.0 – 1
7. Hofstra – 60.5 – 0
8. Ohio State – 54.5 – 1
9. Penn State – 54.0 – 1
10. Iowa – 53.0 – 1
IOWA’S SESSION V INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Consolation Semifinals
174 – #5 Eric Luedke (Iowa) dec. #3 Steve Luke (Michigan), 4-3 TB-2
Third Place Match
174 – #5 Eric Luedke (Iowa) dec. #8 Matthew Stolpinski (Navy), 3-2
Seventh Place Match
125 – #3 Tanner Gardner (Stanford) pinned #5 Charlie Falck (Iowa), 2:41
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