Feb. 20, 2008
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PARK RIDGE, IL — Iowa 197-pound wrestler Chad Beatty has been named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week. He shares this week’s honor with Wisconsin 133-pounder Zach Tanelli.
The Hawkeye sophomore from Wilton, IA, scored two impressive and important wins for the top-ranked Hawkeyes last weekend to help Iowa clinch a share of the Big Ten regular season title. Beatty, who has moved up two weight classes since November, beat Indiana’s Joe Fagiano (9-7) Friday in Iowa City, scoring the winning takedown with 30 seconds left in the match. He then upset #15 Anthony Biondo of Michigan, 2-1, on Sunday. In the Michigan dual, Iowa trailed 16-12 going into the 197-pound match and needed a win from Beatty to keep the team’s victory chances alive. He scored the winning takedown as time expired. Beatty, who is not ranked, is now 10-9 in collegiate matches and 8-7 in duals
This is the fifth time this season a Hawkeye wrestler has earned the weekly conference honor, which ties the school record set in 2002-03. Senior Mark Perry (Dec. 19) and sophomores Joe Slaton (Dec. 12) and Brent Metcalf (Jan. 16, Jan. 23) are Iowa’s other honorees this season. Metcalf is the first wrestler in conference history to earn the honor in consecutive weeks. The Big Ten switched from a monthly to a weekly award in 1997-98.
Top-ranked Iowa (20-1, 7-0 Big Ten) can win the 2008 Big Ten regular season title outright when it wrestles #11 Illinois (12-3, 4-2 Big Ten) Sunday at 1 p.m. in Champaign, IL. The dual will be held at Huff Hall, and will be Iowa’s last of the 2007-08 season.
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