Hawkeyes Open Home Season with IC Duals

Nov. 23, 2011

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Iowa City Duals Notes

HOME OPENER
The University of Iowa wrestling team opens its dual season hosting the Iowa City Duals on Friday on Mediacom Mat inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa will face Baker University (3 p.m.), Cornell College (5 p.m.) and Iowa Central Community College (7 p.m.). Tickets to the event are $10 for adults and $5 for youth. Kids under five-years old are admitted free.

IOWA CITY DUALS
2011 marks the fourth year of the Iowa City Duals. The Hawkeyes are 11-0 in the history of the Duals, and Iowa wrestlers own a 108-2 record in the event. Iowa Central is making its third appearance at the event, Cornell its second and Baker its first. Iowa defeated Iowa Central in 2008 (52-0) and 2010 (45-0). The Hawkeyes defeated Cornell 57-0 in 2009.

NCAA EXPERIENCE
The top-ranked Hawkeyes have seven wrestlers with previous NCAA championships experience. Junior Matt McDonough has advanced to the NCAA finals each of the past two seasons, winning the championship in 2010 and finishing runner-up in 2011.

Montell Marion is a two-time All-American at 141 pounds. The senior from Des Moines, Iowa, placed second in 2010 and earned a fourth place finish in 2011. Sophomore Derek St. John and junior Grant Gambrall also earned All-American honors in 2011. St. John placed fourth at 157 pounds and Gambrall earned third place at 184 pounds. Sophomores Tony Ramos (133) and Ethen Lofthouse (174), and senior Blake Rasing also earned NCAA berths last season.

JOE PARISI AND THE 7 CHAMPS
Iowa crowned seven champions last Saturday at the Joe Parisi Wrestling Open in Saint Charles, Mo. The Hawkeyes added six runner-up and five third place finishes while posting an 85-25 record in their season opening event.

Junior Matt McDonough (125), sophomore Tony Ramos (133), senior Montell Marion (141), freshman Brody Grothus (149), sophomore Derek St. John (157), redshirt freshman Mike Evans (165) and redshirt freshman Bobby Telford (HWT) earned titles for the Hawkeyes. Grothus won his title while wrestling unattached.

MCDONOUGH AMONG THE BEST
Junior Matt McDonough owns a career record of 69-3. With a winning percentage of .958, McDonough would rank No. 4 in program history among wrestlers with a minimum of 95 matches. Iowa’s top wrestlers based on winning percentage include:

GOOD START, LONG WAY TO GO
Nine Hawkeyes posted perfect records in the season opening tournament in St. Charles, Mo. Matt McDonough, Tony Ramos, Mark Ballweg, Brody Grothus, Derek St. John and Mike Evans all earned 5-0 records. Montell Marion and Bobby Telford were a perfect 4-0 against collegiate competition and Dylan Carew won his only match. In the history of Iowa wrestling, 15 wrestlers have finished the season with a perfect record (minimum 20 matches). Four of those wrestlers were able to perform the feat twice. They include Mark Ironside, Lincoln McIlravy, T.J. Williams and Jim Zalesky. Iowa Coaches Tom Brands and Terry Brands are among the 15 wrestlers. Tom went 45-0 in 1990-91 and Terry went 35-0 in 1991-92.

HAWKEYE WRESTLING HISTORY
Iowa’s overall dual meet record is 892-215-31 (.797) in 101 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 23 national titles and 34 Big Ten titles. Iowa’s 51 NCAA Champions have won a total of 78 NCAA Individual titles, crowning six three-time and 15 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes’ 104 Big Ten champions have won a total of 188 conference titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 27 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa’s 144 All-Americans have earned All-America status 291 times, including 17 four-time, 29 three-time and 38 two-time honorees.

IOWA WINNING STREAKS
Iowa is unbeaten in its last 77 dual matches, which is a school record. The current streak started with a win over Cornell (32-3) on Jan. 12, 2008, which was the first match after Iowa lost to Oklahoma State (19-14) on Jan. 5. The Hawkeyes are unbeaten in 47 consecutive road duals, which is also a school record. That streak started with a 20-13 win at Iowa State on Dec. 9, 2007.

Iowa’s 15-15 tie with Oklahoma State on Jan. 16, 2011, broke the Hawkeyes’ 69-match winning streak that started with a win over Cornell (32-3) on Jan. 12, 2008. That streak is an Iowa school record and ranks second-best in NCAA wrestling history behind an Oklahoma State streak. The Cowboys won 76 straight duals from 1937-51. Oklahoma State is tied with Iowa in second place, tallying two 69-match streaks (1921-32 and 1996-99).

Against Big Ten foes, the Hawkeyes have won their last 35 duals, including 16 at home and 19 on the road. All three rank second in school history. Iowa’s school record for consecutive Big Ten wins is 98 (12/13/1975-1/28/1989), while the records for Big Ten home wins is 63 (1/17/1975-1/3/1998) and road wins is 54 (1/19/1974-1/28/1989).

Iowa has won its last 33 duals at home. That streak, which ranks fourth-best in school history, started with a 27-13 win over Penn State on Jan. 20, 2008, which was also the first home match after the loss to Oklahoma State. The school record for home wins is 55 (1/9/1977-12/18/1983).

TICKET INFORMATION
Season and single-meet tickets are now available for purchase on hawkeyesports.com. Season tickets for nine home duals (including the Iowa City Duals) are available for $67. Single-meet tickets for the Iowa City Duals (11/25), Illinois (12/2), Northern Iowa (12/8), Northwestern (1/15) and Wisconsin (2/5) are $10 for adults, $5 for children. Single-meet tickets to Oklahoma State (1/7) and Minnesota (1/29) are $13 for adults, $7 for children. Kids under five-years old are admitted free to all home events.

ATTENDANCE LEADERS
Iowa has led the nation in attendance for five straight seasons. The Hawkeyes averaged a national record 8,209 fans in six home duals last season. It marked the third straight year Iowa averaged over 8,000 fans per dual. Iowa’s dual vs. Iowa State (Dec. 3, 2010) was the largest dual crowd in the country last year.

2012 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS
All-Session Tickets are available for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials April 21-22 in Iowa City, Iowa. All-Session tickets are $75 for adults, $40 for youth. More than 5,000 tickets were sold as of Nov. 1. The trials attendance record was set in 2000 when Dallas,Texas, hosted 7,000 fans inside Reunion Arena.

CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA
The 2010-11 Hawkeyes posted a perfect 8-0 dual record in their home venue of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, marking Iowa’s 19th undefeated season in the facility since moving from the UI Fieldhouse in 1983. Iowa has a 188-18 (.913) record in the arena, which seats 15,500, and has won its last 33 duals at Carver-Hawkeye. Iowa’s last home loss was 19-14 to Oklahoma State on Jan. 5, 2008. The 2009-10 Hawkeyes went 11-0 at Carver-Hawkeye, which is the school record for most home wins in a single season. The dual wrestling attendance record for Carver-Hawkeye Arena is 15,955, set when Iowa defeated Iowa State (20-15) on December 6, 2008.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes open their Big Ten dual season Dec. 2 hosting sixth-ranked Illinois on Mediacom Mat inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The dual will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Kids five and under are admitted free to all home wrestling events. The Iowa-Illinois dual will be streamed live on btn.com via Hawkeye All-Access, a subscription service committed to providing quality coverage of University of Iowa athletic events. The Hawkeyes face in-state rival Iowa State in Ames on Dec. 4. The Cyclones host Iowa inside Hilton Coliseum at 2 p.m. Steven Grace and Mark Ironside will broadcast both weekend duals on AM-800 KXIC.