Iowa To Face Top-Ranked Iowa State

Dec. 4, 2007

THIS WEEK
The fourth-ranked Iowa wrestling team (4-0) will face top-ranked intra-state rival Iowa State (6-0) Sunday at 2 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum (9,000) in Ames. The dual meet is sold out.

The dual will be the fourth event in the annual Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series held in Ames this week. Iowa State currently leads the series, 10-3.

The Hawkeyes will also send competitors to the Jim Fox Spartan Open Saturday in Dubuque, IA. The tournament is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. and matches will be held at the University of Dubuque Stoltz Athletic Center.

ON THE AIR
Radio – Steven Grace and two-time Hawkeye NCAA champion and four-time all-American Mark Ironside will call the action live on AM-800, KXIC. All dual meets will be broadcast live, as will action from the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. Live audio broadcasts from all competitions will be available online at www.hawkeyesports.com To listen online, go to the wrestling schedule, click on the event and click on the Listen link. Broadcasts are available using the Hawkeye All-Access subscription ($9.95 per month or $79.95 per year) or the CSTV XXL Premium subscription ($119.95 per year).

Television – The dual will be aired live on Iowa Public Television, which is in its 32nd year of televising college wrestling. Tim Johnson and Jim Gibbons will call the action.

Internet – Press releases, meet results and audio broadcasts are available on the University of Iowa’s website, www.hawkeyesports.com. To access live 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.

SCOUTING IOWA STATE
The Iowa State Cyclones are 6-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation in the USA Today/NWCA/Intermat Coaches Poll and by W.I.N. Magazine. The team knocked off top-ranked Minnesota (18-13) last weekend, and scored earlier dual wins over Northern Illinois (39-4), Rider (34-0), Clarion (40-0), Binghamton (30-15), West Virginia (24-9).

Head Coach Cael Sanderson is 18-3 in his second season at Iowa State. The Cyclone alum earned an Olympic gold medal in 2004 and was only the second four-time national champion in NCAA history. Tim Hartung, who served as an assistant coach for for two seasons with the Hawkeyes, is in his second year as an assistant coach with the Cyclones.

Iowa State’s youthful lineup features seven sophomores and two redshirt freshmen. All-American and top-ranked Jake Varner (184) is one of five Cyclones to bring undefeated records to Sunday’s dual. Sophomores Nick Fanthorpe (133 – 10-0), Cyler Sanderson (157 – 9-0), and David Zabriskie (Hwt. – 8-0), and redshirt freshman Jon Reader (165 – 10-0) join sophomore Varner (5-0) in the unbeaten group.

THE SERIES
Iowa leads the series, 54-16-2, and has won the last two meetings between the intra-state rivals. The Hawkeyes hold a 21-11-1 advantage in matches wrestled in Ames. Iowa’s last win in the series was 24-6 last season, while Iowa State’s last win was 19-16 in Iowa City in 2004-05.

HAVEN’T WE MET?
Following are the past series results for potential Iowa-Iowa State matchups:

184 – Phillip Keddy (I) is 0-1 vs. Jake Varner (ISU)
Varner dec. Keddy, 6-2, at 2006-07 dual

Hwt. – Matt Fields (I) is 1-0 vs. David Zabriskie (ISU)
Field dec. Zabriskie, 6-5, at 2006-07 dual

LAST MEETING
The Hawkeyes won eight of 10 matches, including six by two points or less, to defeat Iowa State, 24-6, Dec. 3, 2006, in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. A crowd of 13,732, which is the fifth-largest for a dual wrestling meet in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and the 11th-largest in school history, turned out for the meet. Iowa improved to 3-0 with the win, handing Iowa State its first dual loss of the season.

Iowa 24, Iowa State 6
165 – Mark Perry (I) dec. Travis Paulson (ISU), 6-4 SV
174 – Eric Luedke (I) dec. David Bertolino (ISU), 6-4
184 – Jake Varner (ISU) dec. Phillip Keddy (I), 6-2
197 – Dan Erekson (I) dec. Kurt Backes (ISU), 11-9
Hwt. – Matt Fields (I) dec. David Zabriskie (ISU), 6-5
125 – Charlie Falck (I) dec. Nick Fanthorpe (ISU), 6-5
133 – Mario Galanakis (I) dec. Nick Gallick (ISU), 6-1
141 – Alex Tsirtsis (I) dec. Mitch Mueller (ISU), 4-1
149 – Cyler Sanderson (ISU) dec. Alex Grunder (I), 9-8
157 – Ryan Morningstar (I) dec. Trent Paulson (ISU), 3-2

PERSONNEL NOTES
? Iowa sophomore Brent Metcalf (149) and Iowa State redshirt freshman Jon Reader (165) were high school teammates at Davison High School in Davison, MI. Metcalf was a four-time state champion, while Reader won three state titles. Both were part of four state champion teams during their prep careers.

? Hawkeye freshman Jordan Johnson (197) and Cyclone freshmen Tyler Clark (125) and Billy Lewis (174) were prep teammates at Bettendorf High School in 2006-07.

? Iowa State sophomore Mitch Mueller (149) is an Iowa City native who competed for Iowa City West High School.

HY-VEE CY-HAWK SERIES
Iowa State currently leads the fourth annual Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series, 10-3. The Cyclones picked up victories in football, men’s golf, volleyball and men’s cross country. The Hawkeyes won the women’s cross country competition. Both Iowa and Iowa State earned a point after a scoreless draw in soccer.

A total of eight points are at stake this week as the Hawkeyes and Cyclones will face off in women’s basketball Wednesday, women’s swimming and diving Friday, men’s basketball Saturday and wrestling Sunday. Follow the results at www.hy-veecyhawkseries.com.

The Hawkeyes won the inaugural series in 2005 (13-8) and last year’s competition (14-9). Iowa State won the competition in 2006 (13-8).

The 12-sport series awards two points (except football which is worth three) to the winning school in each head-to-head match-up between the two institutions. Additionally, one point is awarded to an institution if the graduation rate of its student-athletes is greater than the national average as reported each fall by the NCAA. Iowa earned the academic point all three years, whereas Iowa State failed to earn the extra points in 2004 and 2005.

A commemorative Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series Cup, which stands 31 inches tall and weighs 19 pounds, is displayed on the winning team’s campus for an entire year after a series victory. Replica cups are also presented as “travelling trophies” for individual victorious teams in the head-to-head competition.

BIG TEN NETWORK SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED
The Big Ten Network released its 2007-08 wrestling schedule this week. Nine dual matches and the finals of the 2007 Midlands Championships and 2008 Big Ten Championships are scheduled to be aired on the network. Iowa will have two televised duals. The Iowa-Oklahoma State dual on Jan. 5 in Iowa City will air Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. (CT), and the Iowa-Ohio State dual on Jan. 18 in Columbus will air live at 5 p.m. (CT).

2007 UNI OPEN CANCELLED
The 2007 UNI Open was cancelled due to inclement weather. Last weekend’s tournament was scheduled to be held at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, and will not be rescheduled.

MORNINGSTAR, PERRY LOOK FOR CAREER MILESTONES
Sophomore Ryan Morningstar (157) and senior Mark Perry (165) will each be looking for a career victory milestone this weekend. Morningstar will be going after his 30th victory, while Perry will be looking for his 80th.

WELCOME TO THE LINEUP
In Iowa’s first four dual meets, eight of the 11 wrestlers who competed were sophomores. Seniors Mark Perry (165) and Matt Fields (Hwt.) and junior Charlie Falck (125) made up the rest of the lineup. Five of the eight sophomores were making their collegiate dual meet debut with Iowa. Joe Slaton (133), Dan LeClere (141), Brent Metcalf (149), Jay Borschel (174/184) and Chad Beatty (174/184) all made their first dual meet appearance. Sophomores Ryan Morningstar (157) and Phillip Keddy (184/197) were starters last season, while Rick Loera (197) wrestled in six dual matches in 2006-07.

IOWA WRESTLING HISTORY
Iowa’s overall dual meet record is 813-214-30 (.783) in 96 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 20 national titles and 31 Big Ten titles. Iowa’s 48 NCAA champions have won a total of 74 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 13 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes’ 100 Big Ten champions have won a total of 181 conference titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 24 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa’s 130 all-Americans have earned all-America status 266 times, including 16 four-time, 28 three-time and 32 two-time honorees.

CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
The Hawkeye wrestling staff of Tom Brands, Wes Hand, Doug Schwab and Mike Zadick earned a total of one Olympic gold medal, four NCAA titles, six conference titles and 12 all-America honors. Their combined college career wrestling record is 487-83-2 (.853).

NEXT COMPETITION
Iowa (4-0) will host Northern Iowa (0-0) and Cornell (2-1) Dec. 13 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes will face Northern Iowa at 6:30 p.m. and Cornell at 8 p.m.

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