Hawkeyes Look for No. 200 Against Lehigh

Dec. 4, 2012

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ON THE MAT
The fifth-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team hosts Lehigh on Thursday at 4 p.m. on Mediacom Mat inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Admission is $12 for adults, $8 for youth, and free for kids five-years old and younger.

THE SERIES
The Hawkeyes have won all 23 meetings in the series, dating back to the first meeting in 1972, a 33-3 Iowa victory. Thursday marks the first meeting between the schools since 2002, a 25-13 Hawkeye win in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes are 13-0 against Lehigh in Iowa City, and 7-0 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The largest margin of victory in the series was a 47-0 Iowa win on Jan. 11, 1986. The slimmest margin of victory happened less than one year later, when Iowa squeaked out an 18-17 victory at Lehigh on Dec. 4, 1986.

ON THE EVE OF 200
Iowa’s next dual win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena will be No. 200 inside the Home of the Hawkeyes. Iowa has a 199-19 (.913) record in the arena, including 19 undefeated seasons, since moving from the UI Fieldhouse in 1983. Iowa won the first dual ever contested inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 3, 1983, a 35-7 win over Oklahoma. The Hawkeyes captured dual win No. 199 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena when they topped Iowa State, 32-3, last Saturday. The Hawkeyes have also won five tournament titles on their home mat, including the 1983 and 1994 Big Ten Championships, and the 1986, 1991 and 1995 NCAA Championships.

RANKED OPPONENTS
The No. 5 Hawkeyes will face their second ranked opponent this season Thursday against No. 23 Lehigh. Iowa topped No. 17 Virginia, 26-12, in its only previous meeting against a ranked opponent. Including Lehigh, the Hawkeyes have 10 dates remaining with schools ranked in the NWCA/USA Today Division I Coach Poll. They include Penn State (1), Oklahoma State (2), Minnesota (3), Ohio State (4), Illinois (6), Nebraska (9), Michigan (14), Edinboro (19), Purdue (21) and Lehigh (23).

HOME SWEET HOME
Four of Iowa’s probable starters have never lost a match inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. They include Tony Ramos (18-0), Derek St. John (17-0), Mike Evans (11-0) and Brody Grothus (1-0). Iowa’s entire probable lineup owns a combined record of 123-20 (.860). Matt McDonough owns more than 25-percent of those wins with a career mark of 31-1 inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

MCDONOUGH STREAK HITS 34
Senior Matt McDonough extended his win streak to a career-best 34 matches last weekend. McDonough finished last season with an NCAA title and a 28-match winning streak, and is a perfect 6-0 this season. McDonough’s last loss was an 11-7 overtime decision to Illinois’ Jesse Delgado (Dec. 2, 2011). He has since defeated Delgado twice — first at the National Duals tournament (6-3) and most recently in the semifinals at the 2012 Big Ten Tournament (4-3).

RAMOS IS DUAL DOMINANT
Junior Tony Ramos has won 35-of-36 career duals and owns a perfect 18-0 record at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Ramos has pinned four of his six opponents this season (five of seven counting the exhibition with Iowa Central) and has scored a team-high 28 dual points (four falls, two major decisions).

20 STRAIGHT AT 141
Senior Mark Ballweg has won his last 20 bouts and owns a career record of 31-3 competing at 141 pounds. He is 6-0 with a team-high four major decisions and one pin this season. His return to the dual lineup in Iowa’s season opener marked his first dual appearance since 2010-11. Ballweg opened that season as Iowa’s starting 141-pounder and wrestled his way to a 15-3 record that included seven falls.

MOUNT ST. JOHN
Junior Derek St. John is expected to get his first test against a ranked opponent when he meets No. 4 Joey Napoli. Napoli was an NCAA qualifier at 149 in 2011, and posted a 31-6 record while competing unattached at 157 last season. He is 5-0 this year. St. John, rated No. 1 at 157, is 6-0 this season with one pin, two major decisions, and a team-leading two technical falls. He owns a 17-0 career record at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and owns an overall career record of 51-9.

GETTING MORE FROM MOORE
Sophomore Nick Moore gutted out a 3-2 win last week against Iowa State’s Mike Moreno to improve to 4-0 this season. Moore was 3-1 last year at 165 before dropping down to 157. Including his 11-2 mark wrestling unattached in 2010-11, Moore is 18-3 all-time while competing at 165.

THE 174 2-DEEP
Sophomore Mike Evans got the nod last week to move to the top of the 174 depth chart for the time being. Evans and senior Grant Gambrall are both listed among Iowa’s probables this week. Evans opened this season with a 2-0 record at 165 before moving up a weight class Nov. 24 and scoring a 16-0 technical fall at 174. One week later he led off the Iowa State dual with a 10-1 major decision. Including his redshirt freshman season in 2011-12, Evans is 24-2 with 16 bonus point victories at 174.

BURAK ENTERS THE LINEUP, ENTERS THE POLLS
Freshman Nathan Burak entered the dual lineup Nov. 24, and this week he entered the WIN Magazine top 20 rankings at 197 pounds. Burak debuted in the polls at No. 20. He is 0-2 since entering the starting lineup, but both losses have been one-point decisions — including one to a ranked opponent — and, when considering his unattached results, he owns an overall record of 7-3 with one pin, one technical fall and two major decisions.

TELFORD FINISHES STRONG
Sophomore Bobby Telford used a reversal near the final minute to earn a 3-2 decision over No. 15 Matt Gibson of Iowa State last week. Telford’s win helped preserve his perfect 6-0 mark and ran his dual point total to 29, the third highest on the team and only seven points shy of the 36 dual points he scored all of last season.

CLARK, DZIEWA EARN TITLES AT MARYVILLE/KAUFMAN BRAND
Freshman Cory Clark and sophomore Josh Dziewa earned titles at the Maryville/Kaufman-Brand Open on Dec. 1. Clark was 4-0 with a 2-0 win over teammate Thomas Gilman in the 125-pound bracket. Dziewa was 5-0 with a 1-0 win over teammate Ethan Owens in the 141 pound bracket. Gilman, Owens and junior Tomas Lira (2nd/197) earned runner-up finishes, and Matt Gurule (8th/125), Walt Gillmor (3rd/165), Kris Klapprodt (3rd/174) and Sammy Brooks (3rd/184) also placed for the Hawkeyes.

MCDONOUGH AMONG THE BEST
Senior Matt McDonough owns a career record of 106-4. His .964 winning percentage ranks fourth in program history among wrestlers with a minimum 95 decisions. Iowa’s top wrestlers in program history based on winning percentage include:
1. T.J. Williams (98-1-0) .990
2. Brent Metcalf (108-3-0) .972
3. Lincoln McIlravy (96-3-0) .970
4. Matt McDonough (105-4) .964
5. Tom Brands (158-7-2) .952
6. Terry Brands (137-7) .951

THREE WITH AN EYE ON FOUR
Senior Matt McDonough is a three-time NCAA finalist. He won NCAA titles in 2010 and 2012, and finished runner-up in 2011. With a top eight finish at the 2013 NCAA tournament, McDonough would become the 18th four-time All-American in school history. With a trip to the finals he’d join Ed Banach, Duane Goldman and Lincoln McIlravy as the school’s only four-time NCAA finalists. A third national title would make McDonough the seventh wrestler in school history to earn three NCAA Championships (Ed Banach, Tom Brands, Barry Davis, Lincoln McIlravy, Joe Williams, Jim Zalesky).

TICKET INFORMATION
Season and single-meet tickets are now available for purchase on hawkeyesports.com. Season tickets are available for $85. Single-meet tickets for Purdue (1/6), Nebraska (2/10) and Edinboro (2/16) are $12 for adults, $8 for youth, and free for kids five-years old and younger. Single-meet tickets to Iowa State (12/1), Ohio State (1/4) and Penn State (2/1) are $15 for adults, $8 for youth and $2 for kids five-years old and younger.

ATTENDANCE LEADERS AT IT AGAIN
The Hawkeye drew 9,623 fans to its season opening dual against Iowa State. That number topped the average attendance from last year’s national record of 9,014. Last year Iowa’s 9,014 average marked the fourth straight year Iowa averaged over 8,000 fans per dual and the sixth straight season the Hawkeyes were the nation’s attendance leaders. Iowa and Iowa State set the national dual attendance record (15,955) inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Dec. 6, 2008. Iowa won the dual, 20-15.

A WHO’S WHO OF A GUEST LIST
The Hawkeyes opened their traditional home dual schedule with a 32-3 win over intrastate rival Iowa State. Nearly 10,000 fans attended the dual, and the numbers could continue to improve as an impressive guest list lines up outside Carver-Hawkeye Arena over the next three months. All six of Iowa’s remaining home opponents are ranked in this week’s NWCA/USA Today Division I Coaches Poll. They include No. 1 Penn State (Feb. 1), No. 4 Ohio State (Jan. 4), No. 9 Nebraska (Feb. 10), No. 19 Edinboro (Feb. 16), No. 21 Purdue (Jan. 6) and No. 23 Lehigh.

HAWKEYE WRESTLING HISTORY
Iowa’s overall dual meet record is 912-219-31 (.797) in 102 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 23 national titles and 34 Big Ten titles. Iowa’s 51 NCAA Champions have won a total of 79 NCAA Individual titles, crowning six three-time and 16 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes’ 105 Big Ten champions have won a total of 190 conference titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 28 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa’s 147 All-Americans have earned All-America status 297 times, including 17 four-time, 31 three-time and 37 two-time honorees.

39 YEARS OF DOMINANCE
Since 1974, only seven schools have captured the NCAA Championship. During that 38-year span, the Hawkeyes have won 23 team titles, including nine straight from 1978-86. The other schools include Oklahoma State (7), Minnesota (3), Iowa State (2), Penn State (2), Arizona State (1) and Oklahoma (1).