Iowa Wrestlers Defeat Michigan State, 29-10

Dec. 4, 2010

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PARDON OUR PROGRESS! As friends of the UI and fans of the Hawkeyes know, the UI Athletics Department is well into a multi-million dollar revitalization of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. This important and exciting project has reduced for this season the number of ticket windows that are operational on game nights. Fans attending the home events of the 2010-11 UI men’s basketball, women’s basketball and wrestling teams are invited to avoid game night delays by purchasing their event tickets online or in advance of game day. If your schedule doesn’t allow for an advance purchase, we recommend you consider arriving at the Arena a little earlier than originally planned. Go Hawks!

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The sixth-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team opened the 2010-11 Big Ten dual season Saturday, defeating Michigan State, 29-10, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes used wins at seven weights to remain undefeated a 6-0, while handing the Spartans (4-1) their first loss of the season. A replay of the live video stream on bigtennetwork.com will be aired on the Big Ten Network Tuesday at 5 p.m. (CT). Former Hawkeye NCAA Champion Brent Metcalf was part of the broadcast team.

The Hawkeyes came out strong in front of 6,031 fans, scoring two pins and second-period technical fall to take a 17-0 lead. Sophomore Matt McDonough recorded his first pin of the season, sticking Eric Olanowski in 3:48 at 125. Redshirt freshman Tony Ramos accumulated eight nearfall points and scored three takedowns to defeat Josh Harper, 16-1 in 5:13. Redshirt freshman Mark Ballweg followed by scrambling off his back and pinning Joel Trombly in 2:05. All three Hawkeyes are undefeated this season, with McDonough and Ballweg at 6-0 and Ramos at 3-0.

“You look at McDonough, Ramos and Ballweg coming out of the chute,” said Hawkeye Head Coach Tom Brands, who picked up his 30th Big Ten dual victory with the win. “That’s 17 points, boom. That was good.”

The Spartans put their first points on the board when Dan Osterman scored a 12-2 major decision over Hawkeye sophomore Jeret Chiri at 149. Iowa responded with decisions from redshirt freshman Derek St. John (157) and senior Jake Kerr (165) to build a 20-4 lead. St. John, who is undefeated at 6-0, scored the first takedown, but Cheza scored a reversal and three nearfall points to take a 5-2 lead into the second period. St. John chipped away at the lead, scoring two takedowns in the second period and one in the third while accumulating 2:50 of riding time to secure the 9-7 win.

Michigan State scored its second win of the night at 174 when Curran Jacobs scored a 6-5 win over redshirt freshman Ethen Lofthouse. Iowa responded with decisions from sophomore Grant Gambrall (184) and senior Luke Lofthouse (197) to secure its 67th straight dual win. Gambrall led 1-0 early in the second period of his match with Ian Hinton when both wrestlers were awarded one point for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Hawkeye sophomore kept his cool and rode Hinton the entire third period to post the 3-1 win and remain undefeated at 6-0 this season.

“The 184-pound match made it interesting,” said Brands. “The bottom line is if somebody is clubbing you, you stop it now. Someone lays heavy hands on you; you give them back to him. I’m not saying in an unsportsmanlike way, but you stop it now. That’s what Gambrall did. It wasn’t a temper thing; he didn’t lose his temper. He stopped the nonsense. All of the finger grabbing, you have to stop that stuff. And he stopped it. It spilled over into our area, the fans got excited and the referee had to sort it out. They go back to wrestling and Gambrall does a good job; as cool as a cucumber. That’s important.”

Michigan State won the final bout of the night when heavyweight Mike McClure defeated Hawkeye junior Blake Rasing, 4-2.

The Hawkeyes also sent 16 competitors to Saturday’s Northern Iowa Open in Cedar Falls, crowning four individual champions and 12 placewinners. Senior Aaron Janssen won the 165-pound title for the Hawkeyes, while true freshmen Michael Kelly (157), Mike Evans (174) and Bobby Telford (Hwt.) each won titles while competing unattached. Iowa’s other placewinners included junior Vinnie Wagner (184-2nd), redshirt freshman Nick Trizzino (133-4th) and Tomas Lira (184-5th), and true freshmen Ethan Owens (141-6th), Jake Ballweg (149-3rd), Nick Moore (157-3rd), Walt Gillmor (165-3rd) and Jeremy Fahler (174-6th). All of Iowa’s true freshmen were competing unattached.

The Hawkeyes (6-0) will travel to Cedar Falls to face Northern Iowa (4-3) Thursday at 7 p.m. in the West Gym. The dual will be aired live on Iowa Public Television. Tickets are $13 for adults and $8 for children, and are available at unipanthers.com. Northern Iowa Head Coach Doug Schwab served as an assistant coach at Iowa from 2006-07 to 2009-10. Schwab was a three-time all-American and Big Ten champion for the Hawkeyes from 1998-2001. He won the 1999 NCAA title at 141 pounds and finished his collegiate career with 130 wins, which ranks 10th-best in school history.

#6 Iowa 29, Michigan State 10
125 – Matt McDonough (I) pinned Eric Olanowski (MSU), 3:48
133 – Tony Ramos (I) tech. fall Josh Harper (MSU) 16-1, 5:13
141 – Mark Ballweg (I) pinned Joel Trombly (MSU), 2:05
149 – Dan Osterman (MSU) maj. dec. Jeret Chiri (I), 12-2
157 – Derek St. John (I) dec. David Cheza (MSU), 9-7
165 – Jake Kerr (I) dec. Ben Boudro (MSU), 4-2
174 – Curran Jacobs (MSU) dec. Ethen Lofthouse (I), 6-5
184 – Grant Gambrall (I) dec. Ian Hinton (MSU), 3-1
197 – Luke Lofthouse (I) dec. Tyler Dickenson (MSU), 12-5
Hwt. – Mike McClure (MSU) dec. Blake Rasing (I), 4-2

Complete Brackets from the 2010 Northern Iowa Open in PDF Format