Jan. 25, 2009
IOWA CITY, IA — The top-ranked Iowa wrestling team extended its dual match winning streak to 31 with its 32-4 win over previously unbeaten Illinois Sunday evening at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. A crowd of 6,946 saw Iowa go 9-1 in the dual, giving up only nine takedowns. Iowa remains undefeated at 17-0 (2-0 Big Ten) while handing Illinois (7-1, 0-1 Big Ten) its first dual loss of the season.
“We made progress tonight. I’ll give our guys credit,” said Hawkeye Head Coach Tom Brands. “But we have to be ready every match in order to keep making that progress.”
Iowa jumped out to a 16-0 lead with wins at the first four weights. Hawkeye senior Charlie Falck opened the dual at 125 with an 11-5 win over B.J. Futrell to remain undefeated (12-0) in dual competition. Iowa junior Daniel Dennis won one of the night’s highlighted match-ups when he blanked Jimmy Kennedy, 5-0, at 133. Dennis, who was a high school teammate of Kennedy’s and handed the Illinois junior his only other loss of the season in the Midlands finals, took Kennedy down with 1:20 left in the second period and rode him for the rest of the match. Hawkeye senior Alex Tsirtsis posted an 11-3 major decision over Ryan Prater at 141 before junior Brent Metcalf scored his 54th straight win with a pin in 3:52 over Eric Terrazas at 149. Metcalf, who is the nation’s top-ranked 149-pounder is 22-0 this season, and leads the team with 10 pins. Top-ranked Mike Poeta of Illinois scored the Illini’s only team points of the dual with his 15-5 major decision over Hawkeye sophomore Matt Ballweg at 157.
Hawkeye junior Ryan Morningstar led Iowa out of the intermission with a 3-0 win over Roger Smith-Bergsrud at 165. Iowa junior Jay Borschel followed at 174 with an 10-1 major decision over John Dergo. Iowa 184-pounder Phillip Keddy posted his seventh straight win and his 20th season victory with an 11-4 decision over Jordan Blanton. The Hawkeye junior remains 16-0 in dual competition. Iowa junior Chad Beatty followed up with a 2-1 victory over Patrick Bond at 197, and junior Dan Erekson closed out the dual with a hard-fought 9-8 win over John Wise at heavyweight.
Iowa’s next meet will be Jan. 30 when it hosts Bucknell (8-7, 2-2 EIWA) at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
MEET RESULTS
Iowa 32, Illinois 4
125 – Charlie Falck (I) dec. B.J. Futrell (IL), 11-5
133 – Daniel Dennis (I) dec. Jimmy Kennedy (IL), 5-0
141 – Alex Tsirtsis (I) maj. dec. Ryan Prater (IL), 11-3
149 – Brent Metcalf (I) pinned Eric Terrazas (IL), 3:52
157 – Mike Poeta (IL) maj. dec. Matt Ballweg (I), 15-5
165 – Ryan Morningstar (I) dec. Roger Smith-Bergsrud (IL), 3-0
174 – Jay Borschel (I) maj. dec. John Dergo (IL), 10-1
184 – Phillip Keddy (I) dec. Jordan Blanton (IL), 11-4
197 – Chad Beatty (I) dec. Patrick Bond (IL), 2-1
Hwt. – Dan Erekson (I) dec. John Wise (IL), 9-8