Jan. 11, 2009
CEDAR FALLS, IA — The top-ranked Hawkeye wrestling team improved to 13-0 on the season with a 22-11 win over Nebraska in the semifinals of the 2009 Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals in Cedar Falls Sunday morning. The Hawkeyes won seven bouts to pick up their 27th straight dual, and hand the Cornhuskers (8-1) their first dual loss of the season. Iowa will face third-seeded Cornell (4-0) in the championship finals at 3:15 p.m. in the UNI-Dome. Cornell, the tournament’s third seed, defeated second-seeded Iowa State 22-15 in the other championship semifinal.
Iowa jumped out to a 13-0 lead with decisions from redshirt freshman J.J. Krutsinger (125), junior Daniel Dennis (133) and senior Alex Tsirtsis (141), and a 24-9 technical fall from junior Brent Metcalf (149). The win was Metcalf’s 50th straight and he remains undefeated on the season at 18-0.
Nebraska picked up its first win of the dual at 157 when second-ranked Jordan Burroughs scored a 22-7 technical fall in 4:04 over Hawkeye sophomore Matt Ballweg. Hawkeye junior Ryan Morningstar fought back at 165 with a 3-2 win over Nebraska’s Stephen Dwyer to score his 65th career victory.
Iowa went 2-2 in the last four bouts to seal the team win. Nebraska’s Brandon Browne evened his career series with Hawkeye junior Jay Borschel at 2-2 with a 5-4 win at 174. Hawkeye junior Phillip Keddy held off a late charge at 184 from Vince Jones to post an 8-5 win. Hawkeye junior Chad Beatty took top-ranked Craig Brester to sudden victory at 197, but was taken down in the overtime to lose 7-5. Hawkeye junior heavyweight Dan Erekson closed out the dual with an 8-3 win over Tucker Lane.
Iowa holds a 1-1 series record against Cornell, winning the last meeting (32-3) at the 2008 National Duals in Cedar Falls. ESPNU will air three taped-delay broadcasts of the championships finals. Air dates are scheduled for Jan. 17 at 1 a.m. (CT), Jan. 27 at noon (CT) and Feb. 1 at 5:30 p.m. (CT).
Iowa 22, Nebraska 11
125 – J.J. Krutsinger (I) dec. Andy Pokorny (N), 7-4
133 – Daniel Dennis (I) dec. Patrick Aleksanyan (N), 4-0
141 – Alex Tsirtsis (I) dec. Curtis Salazar (N), 7-2
149 – Brent Metcalf (I) tech. fall Robert Sanders (N), 24-9
157 – Jordan Burroughs (N) tech. fall Matt Ballweg (I), 22-7 in 4:04
165 – Ryan Morningstar (I) dec. Stephen Dwyer (N), 3-2
174 – Brandon Browne (N) dec. Jay Borschel (I), 5-4
184 – Phillip Keddy (I) dec. Vince Jones (N), 8-5
197 – Craig Brester (N) dec. Chad Beatty (I), 7-5 SV
Hwt – Dan Erekson (I) dec. Tucker Lane (N), 8-3