Jan. 20, 2008
- 25 Years of Carver-Hawkeye Arena
- Purchase Tickets Online
- Photo Galleries
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
IOWA CITY, Iowa — You would be excused for referring to University of Iowa 184-pound sophomore Phillip Keddy as Mr. Anonymous.
First, the Hawkeyes have a No. 1 national ranking. Second, the team is highlighted by defending national champion Mark Perry at 165. Third, an outstanding group of four transfers from Virginia Tech have not only cracked the Iowa lineup, but all are nationally ranked.
So it would be understandable to overlook the workmanlike accomplishments of Keddy, a sophomore from Vernal, Utah.
“I just want to go out there and take care of my business,” said Keddy following an 18-3 technical fall Sunday over Penn State junior Phillip Bomberger. “The goal is for 10 individual champions and a national title. I want to go out there and get my job done and try to be a national champ.”
Don’t get the impression that Keddy is some sort of slouch. Far from it. His season record is 14-6 and he is ranked No. 8 nationally at his weight. He now has a career record of 28-22 against collegiate competition.
Iowa improved to 13-1 in dual meets Sunday afternoon with a thorough 27-13 dismantling of No. 7 Penn State. That victory came two days after the Hawkeyes defeated No. 6 Ohio State 24-10. Keddy’s performance at Columbus provided inspiration for his bout against the Nittany Lions.
“I was pretty disappointed about Friday night (a 3-2 loss to Buckeye Mike Pucillo),” Keddy said. “I’ve had a lot of close matches with some of the top-ranked guys and I haven’t been able to score any points. My main focus (against Bomberger) was just to go out and attack and score a lot of points.”
With the dual against Penn State beginning at 174 pounds, Keddy became the first of three Iowa wrestlers to earn bonus points via technical fall in 6-minutes, 10-seconds. After giving up the first takedown, Keddy scored the next 16 points in aggressive and dominating fashion. Bomberger was warned for stalling in the first period and Keddy was awarded two stalling points in the third before the match was halted. All told, Keddy put together four takedowns and registered six nearfall points.
Yet in stereotypical Hawkeye wrestling mentality, he was not satisfied.
“I’m still disappointed I didn’t get the fall,” Keddy said.
It was also a refreshing dual for Keddy since he was the second match against Penn State rather than the eighth if the dual had traditionally begun at 125.
“It was nice to get out there and set the tone,” Keddy said. “Then I got to watch a lot of guys I don’t get to see. It doesn’t really matter where we start. We’re all pretty confident in doing our job and letting everything take care of itself.”
Iowa remains at home next Sunday, Jan. 27, against Northwestern with a 7 p.m. start.
Click HERE for the Big Ten Network home page.