Dec. 11, 2008
CEDAR FALLS, IA — The top-ranked Hawkeye wrestling team improved to 10-0 on the season with a 30-12 win over Northern Iowa Thursday night at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls. A crowd of 2,315 attended the dual. Northern Iowa fell to 0-1 with the loss.
“Toughness is something that we need to work on,” said Hawkeye Head Coach Tom Brands. “Losing four matches like we did tonight is unacceptable. We have a good nucleus; we just have to add to it. We have to control more of what is going on from start to finish, and when we do that you’ll start to see progress.”
The dual started with Northern Iowa heavyweight Christian Brantley’s 6-2 win over Hawkeye junior Dan Erekson. The Hawkeyes then rolled off four straight wins to build an 18-3 lead. Hawkeye senior Charlie Falck pinned Caleb Flores in 4:07 at 125, followed by junior Daniel Dennis’ 17-7 major decision over Josh Baldridge at 133. Senior 141-pounder Alex Tsirtsis, who was named wrestler of the week by the Big Ten and TheMat.com for his performance against Iowa State on Saturday, scored a 14-2 major decision over Trent Washington to give the Hawkeyes a 14-3 lead. Hawkeye junior Brent Metcalf took Iowa into the intermission scoring his 45th career and 42nd straight win with in a 24-9 technical fall in 6:25 over Charlie Ettelson at 149.
Northern Iowa picked up wins at 157 and 165 after the intermission. Panther junior Tyson Reiner scored an 8-2 win over Iowa sophomore Matt Ballweg at 157. Then second-ranked Panther Moza Fay fought off a late takedown attempt by Hawkeye junior Ryan Morningstar to win 3-2 at 165. Iowa junior Jay Borschel responded at 174 with a 4:10 pin over Jarion Beets, and junior Phillip Keddy received a forfeit at 184 to score Iowa’s final team points. Northern Iowa won the final bout of the night when senior Andrew Anderson posted a 10-5 win over Rick Loera at 197. Falck (10-0), Tsirtsis (8-0), Metcalf (10-0), Borschel (10-0) and Keddy (10-0) all remain undefeated on the season.
Iowa’s next competition will be Dec. 29-30 at the Midlands Championships in Evanston, IL. The Hawkeyes are the defending Midlands team champion and are looking for their 20th team title in tournament history.
Iowa 30, Northern Iowa 12
Hwt. – Christian Brantley (UNI) dec. Dan Erekson (I), 6-2
125 – Charlie Falck (I) pinned Caleb Flores (UNI), 4:07
133 – Daniel Dennis (I) maj. dec. Josh Baldridge (UNI), 17-7
141 – Alex Tsirtsis (I) maj. dec. Trent Washington (UNI), 14-2
149 – Brent Metcalf (I) tech. fall Charlie Ettelson (UNI), 24-9 in 6:25
157 – Tyson Reiner (UNI) dec. Matt Ballweg (I), 8-2
165 – Moza Fay (UNI) dec. Ryan Morningstar (I), 3-2
174 – Jay Borschel (I) pinned Jarion Beets (UNI), 4:10
184 – Phillip Keddy (I) won by forfeit
197 – Andrew Anderson (UNI) dec. Rick Loera (I), 10-5