Dec. 11, 2012
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ON THE MAT
The fifth-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team travels to New York City to compete in the inaugural “Grapple at the Garden” on Sunday. Iowa faces Hofstra and Bucknell at Madison Square Garden in consecutive duals beginning at 9:30 a.m. (CT).
The Hawkeyes stay east and travel to Buffalo for a dual on Monday, Dec. 17. Iowa faces the Buffalo Bulls at 6 p.m. (CT) inside Alumni Arena on the campus of Buffalo University.
AUDIO COVERAGE
This weekend’s competion will be broadcast on AM-800 KXIC and streamed online at hawkeyesports.com via Hawkeye All-Access. Steven Grace will have the call live from Madison Square Garden and Alumni Arena.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Live Hawkeye wrestling updates are available @IowaWRLive; @Hawks_Wrestling; facebook.com/iowahawkeyewrestling.
THE SERIES — HOFSTRA
The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series against Hofstra, 6-0. Iowa shutout the Pride, 42-0, in the first meeting between the schools in 1975, and won the most recent meeting 26-10 in 2007. Hofstra returns four NCAA qualifiers (Steve Bonanno, 125; Jamie Franco, 133; Luke Vaith, 141; Justin Accordino, 149).
THE SERIES — BUCKNELL
The Hawkeyes have won their only previous two meetings against the Bison. Iowa prevailed 40-3 in Iowa City in 2008 and won 29-7 at Bucknell in 2009. Matt McDonough was in the lineup in 2009. He scored a 19-4 technical fall against the Bisons’ Derrik Russell. Bucknell returns two NCAA qualifiers (Austin Miller, 125; Corey Lear, 165).
THE SERIES — BUFFALO
Monday marks the first meeting between the Hawkeyes and the Bulls. Buffalo competes in the Mid-American Conference and returns two NCAA qualifiers from a year ago (Mark Kewandowski, 157; Max Soria, 125).
MCDONOUGH STREAK HITS 35
Senior Matt McDonough extended his win streak to a career-best 35 matches last weekend with a first period fall against Lehigh’s Alex Abreu. McDonough finished last season with an NCAA title and a 28-match winning streak, and is a perfect 7-0 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).
3 ON THE BOARD JUST IS NOT ENOUGH
Junior Tony Ramos has scored bonus points in all seven matches this season, including four pins and three major decisions. His 36 dual points scored are second on the team to Matt McDonough (37). Ramos has won 36-of-37 career duals and owns a perfect 7-0 dual record this season.
HAVING A BALL-WEG @ 141
Senior Mark Ballweg has won his last 21 bouts and owns a career record of 32-3 competing at 141 pounds. He is 7-0 with a team-high five major decisions and one pin this season. Ballweg has scored bonus points in six of seven matches and is 2-0 against ranked opponents.
MOUNT ST. JOHN
Junior Derek St. John was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on Dec. 11. St. John earned the honor after recording his first win over a ranked opponent this season on Dec. 6. He recorded one escape, two takedowns and piled up 2:02 of riding time to shutout No. 4 Joey Napoli of Lehigh, 6-0. St. John, rated No. 1 at 157, is 7-0 this season with one pin, two major decisions, and a team-leading two technical falls. He owns a 16-2 career dual record and an overall career record of 52-9.
GETTING MORE FROM MOORE
Sophomore Nick Moore has scored 22 dual points this season, more than doubling his total from a year ago (10). Moore is 5-0 in duals and has scored bonus points in three bouts. He defeated No. 17 Eric Ness of Lehigh, 7-4, his last time out to improve to 8-1 all-time at 165 pounds. Including his 11-2 mark wrestling unattached in 2010-11, Moore is 19-3 all-time while competing at 165.
THE 174 2-DEEP
Sophomore Mike Evans and senior Grant Gambrall have split the 174-pound workload since Evans moved up a weight on Nov. 24. Evans is 2-0 with a technical fall and a major decision in his two appearances at 174. Including his redshirt freshman season in 2011-12, Evans is 24-2 with 16 bonus point victories at 174. Gambrall is 3-2 this season and 1-1 since entering a platoon with Evans. He dropped a 3-2 decision in his most recent outing to Lehigh’s No. 19 Nathaniel Brown. Gambrall was an All-American in 2011 at 184 pounds and has 62 career wins, the third highest total among active Hawkeyes (McDonough, 107; Tony Ramos. 65).
TELFORD WITH A SOPHOMORE SURGE
Sophomore Bobby Telford owns a 7-0 dual record with 32 points scored this season, a mark that ranks third on the team behind Matt McDonough (37) and Tony Ramos (36). Telford is just two dual wins and four points shy of matching his dual production last year. Telford owned a 9-5 dual mark and netted 36 dual points in 2011-12.
3-FOR-3 IN 2012
Sophomore Michael Kelly ran his dual record to 3-0 with a 9-4 win over No. 19 Shane Welsh of Lehigh on Dec. 6. The win matched Kelly’s dual win total from a year ago when he was 3-9 at 149 pounds. Kelly’s 7-2 overall record includes two pins, two major decisions and a technical fall.
MCDONOUGH CHASES HISTORY
Senior Matt McDonough has four pins this season to raise his career total to 39. He scored nine falls as a freshman, 14 as a sophomore and 12 as a junior. He is five falls from matching Chuck Yagla (44) for 10th on the all-time career falls list. Ed Banach owns the school record with 73. Terry Brands sits No. 6 with 48 and Tom Brands ranks No. 8 with 46.
CLARK LEADS IOWA AT UNI OPEN
Freshman Cory Clark earned a 6-1 victory over Illinois’ No. 2 ranked Jesse Delgado in the 125-pound finals to win the UNI Open on Dec. 8. Clark went 5-0 at the tournament, including a pair of pins and one technical fall, to improve to 9-0 this year with a pair of tournament championships. He won the Kaufman-Brand Open on Dec. 1. Fellow 125-pounder Thomas Gilman placed third at the UNI Open with a 5-1 mark. His lone loss was a 5-2 decision to Delgado in the semifinals. He bounced back with a 14-4 major decision over Purdue’s 17-ranked Camden Eppert in the consolation bracket. Freshman Sammy Brooks earned second place and freshman Alex Meyer placed fifth at 184 pounds. Junior Tomas Lira (197) and redshirt freshman Kris Klapprodt (174) placed third in their respective brackets.
MCDONOUGH AMONG THE BEST
Senior Matt McDonough owns a career record of 107-4. 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 (107-4) .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
Single-meet tickets are 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.
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).
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 913-219-31 (.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.