Jan. 23, 2013
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ON THE MAT
The fourth-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team travels to Minnesota to face the third-ranked Golden Gophers on Saturday at 3 p.m. (CT) inside Williams Arena.
TELEVISION COVERAGE
BTN will televise Saturday’s dual at 3 p.m. Tim Johnson and Jim Gibbons will provide play-by-play and commentary while Shane Sparks reports matside.
AUDIO COVERAGE
The Minnesota dual will be broadcast on AM-800 KXIC and streamed online at hawkeyesports.com via Hawkeye All-Access. Steven Grace and Mark Ironside will have the live call from Williams Arena.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Live Hawkeye wrestling updates are available @IowaWRLive; @Hawks_Wrestling; facebook.com/iowahawkeyewrestling.
BACK POINTS
? Iowa leads the all-time series 69-25-1.
? The Hawkeyes are 5-1 in duals vs. ranked opponents.
? The dual will feature 18 wrestlers ranked among the top 20 in at least one national poll.
? Iowa and Minnesota both have nine ranked wrestlers. Iowa has four wrestlers ranked in the top 5, while Minnesota has three.
? Individually, the Hawkeyes own a 23-20 mark against ranked opponents.
? The Hawkeyes clinched the Big Ten regular season title on their last trip to Minneapolis, a 19-12 win on Feb. 20, 2011.
? Nathan Burak, who entered the national rankings for the second time this season, faces reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Scott Schiller. Burak is 2-3 against ranked opponents this season. Schiller is ranked No. 12.
THE SERIES — MINNESOTA
The Hawkeyes and Gophers split two meetings last year, but Iowa owns the overall series lead 69-25-1. The Hawkeyes are 32-11-1 all-time in Minneapolis. The Hawkeyes have won their last three trips to Minnesota. Their last loss was a 25-9 setback in 2006. Iowa won the series’ first meeting, 39-3, in 1921. The only tie in the series was a 14-14 draw in 1929 in Minneapolis.
IOWA VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
The Hawkeyes are 5-1 this season in duals against ranked opponents. Iowa defeated No. 17 Virginia, 26-12; No. 23 Lehigh, 26-9; No. 4 Ohio State, 22-9; No. 21 Purdue, 29-9; and No. 18 Michigan, 33-10. The Hawkeyes lone loss was to No. 2 Oklahoma State, 18-12. Including No. 3 Minnesota, all five of Iowa’s remaining opponents are ranked in the latest NWCA Division I Coaches Poll. Individually, the Hawkeyes own a 23-20 mark against ranked opponents. Matt McDonough (125) leads all Hawkeyes with victories over six rated foes (6-0).
Iowa lineup vs. ranked opponents
125 — Matt McDonough (6-0)
133 — Tony Ramos (1-0)
141 — Mark Ballweg (3-1)
149 — Michael Kelly (1-2)
149 — Brody Grothus (0-3)
157 — Derek St. John (3-0)
165 — Nick Moore (1-2)
174 — Mike Evans (2-1)
184 — Ethen Lofthouse (2-3)
197 — Nathan Burak (2-3)
285 — Bobby Telford (1-2)
COMMON LOSS
Both teams have one dual loss this season and both came at the hands of Oklahoma State. The Cowboys won five straight matches from 133-174, including a pair of pins, to defeat then No. 1 Minnesota, 22-15, on Dec. 2, 2012 in Minneapolis. Oklahoma State won the final five bouts to rally for an 18-12 win over the Hawkeyes on Jan. 13 in Stillwater.
LAST OF THE UNBEATENS
Matt McDonough (12-0), Tony Ramos (15-0) and Derek St. John (15-0) enter the weekend with undefeated records. St. John’s active streak is the longest of his career to start a season. He started 11-0 in 2011-12 before injuring his knee. He lost his first match back after the injury. Ramos won his first 15 matches of 2011-12 before falling in the finals of the Midlands Championships. McDonough has started the season with 12 straight wins, his longest win streak to start a season. He was 11-0 his freshman year before losing in the finals at the 2010 Midlands Championships. In the history of Iowa wrestling, 15 wrestlers have finished the season with a perfect record (minimum 20 matches).
MCDONOUGH STREAK HITS 40
Senior Matt McDonough extended his win streak to a career-best 40 matches when he swept a pair of matches last week at Michigan and Michigan State. McDonough finished last season with an NCAA title and a 28-match winning streak. He is a perfect 12-0 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).
DUAL DOMINANT AT 133
Ranked No. 2 at 133 pounds, junior Tony Ramos has scored a team-high 71 dual points this season. He ran his record to 15-0 with a pair of bonus point victories last week at Michigan and Michigan State. Ramos has scored bonus points in 14 of his 15 wins, including six pins, seven major decisions and one technical fall. Dating back to last season, he has won 22 consecutive duals, and he owns a career dual record of 44-1.
HAVING A BALL-WEG @ 141
Senior Mark Ballweg owns a career record of 39-4 competing at 141 pounds. Entering his senior season, he had recorded five major decisions in 55 career matches. This year he is 14-1 with a team-high nine major decisions. He has scored bonus points in 11 of his 14 wins and is 3-1 against ranked opponents. His only loss this season was a 6-4 decision to No. 2 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State).
MOUNT ST. JOHN
Junior Derek St. John, rated No. 1 at 157, is 15-0 this season with two pins, four major decisions, and a team-best three technical falls. He owns a career dual record of 38-3 and an overall career record of 60-9. St. John is 2-0 all-time against the Gophers. De defeated Matt Mincey 20-8 at 157 to help Iowa clinch the Big Ten regular season title in 2011. He defeated Danny Zilverberg 6-3 at the 2012 National Duals.
165 WANTS MOORE
Sophomore Nick Moore is 10-3 this season with six bonus point victories, including three falls and three major decisions. He earned his third pin of the season, matching last year’s total, with a third-period fall over Michigan State’s Nick Proctor last week. Moore competed at 157 when Minnesota visited Iowa City last season. He scored an 11-2 major decision over Alec Ortiz to help Iowa defeat the Gophers, 19-17.
EVANS LOOKS FOR NO. 2 AGAINST NO. 2
Sophomore Mike Evans is 2-1 this year against ranked opponents, including a win last week against No. 11 Dan Yates, and a win Jan. 4 against No. 2 Nick Heflin. Evans scored a five-point takedown to defeat Heflin in sudden victory. He’ll get another show at No. 2 on Saturday against Minnesota’s Logan Storley. It will be the first meeting between the two. Evans’ only defeat of the season was to top-ranked Chris Perry of Oklahoma State. Perry used 1:19 of riding time advantage to beat Evans, 4-3. Evans is 11-1 overall. He opened the season 2-0 while competing at 165, but he has started 10 of Iowa’s last 11 duals at 174 pounds. Since moving up a weight class he has gone 7-1 with two pins, one technical fall and six major decisions.
BURAK GOES BIG IN THE BIG TEN
Freshman Nathan Burak has won three of his four Big Ten duals this season, including two wins against ranked opponents. He made his conference debut with a 3-2 win over No. 9 Andrew Campolattano (OSU) and recently swept a pair of matches against No. 19 Max Huntley (UM) and Luke Jones (MSU). His lone conference loss was a 4-1 decision to No. 17 Braden Atwood (PU).
TELFORD SET FOR FINALS REMATCH
Fifth-ranked sophomore Bobby Telford will face No. 2 Tony Nelson is a rematch of last year’s 285-pound Big Ten Championship. Nelson won that bout, 2-0, and is 2-0 in his career vs. Telford. Both scores have been 2-0 results, and both were decided by a one-point escape and one point for riding time. Telford is 11-2 overall this year and 1-2 against ranked opponents.
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 NCAA finals he would 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).
MCDONOUGH CHASES HISTORY
Senior Matt McDonough has four pins this season and a career total of 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.
MCDONOUGH AMONG THE BEST
Senior Matt McDonough owns a career record of 112-4. His .966 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) .973
3. Lincoln McIlravy (96-3-0) .970
4. Matt McDonough (112-4) .966
5. Tom Brands (158-7-2) .952
6. Terry Brands (137-7) .951
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).
HAWKEYE WRESTLING HISTORY
Iowa’s overall dual meet record is 920-220-31 (.799) 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.
MINNESOTA PART I — (JAN. 29, 2012 — IOWA CITY)
The Hawkeyes defeated No. 3 Minnesota, 19-17, on a Sunday afternoon inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa won five of the first six matches and used bonus points from redshirt freshmen Nick Moore and Mike Evans to hand Minnesota its first conference loss. Moore scored an 11-2 major decision over Alec Ortiz at 157 to give the Hawkeyes a 13-4 lead and Evans followed with a third period pin at 165 to extend the Hawkeye lead to 19-4. Minnesota rallied and finished the dual with four straight wins but was unable to close the gap.
#6 University of Iowa 19, #3 University of Minnesota 17
125 – Matt McDonough (I) dec. Zach Sanders (M), 7-1; 3-0
133 – Tony Ramos (I) dec. Chris Dardanes (M), 5-2; 6-0
141 – Montell Marion (I) vs. Nick Dardanes (M), 3-2; 9-0
149 – Dylan Ness (M) major dec. Michael Kelly (I), 15-7; 9-4
157 – Nick Moore (I) major dec. Alec Ortiz (M), 11-2; 13-4
165 – Mike Evans (I) pinned Cody Yohn (M), 6:02; 19-4
174 – Logan Storley (M) dec. Ethen Lofthouse (I), 5-3; 19-7
184 – Kevin Steinhaus (M) major dec. Vinnie Wagner (I), 12-4; 19-11
197 – Sonny Yohn (M) dec. Grant Gambrall (I), 5-3; 19-14
285 – Tony Nelson (M) dec. Blake Rasing (I), 7-2; 19-17
MINNESOTA PART II — (FEB. 19, 2012 — STILLWATER, OKLA.)
The Hawkeyes dropped a 16-15 decision to Minnesota in the semifinals of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. Both teams won five matches, but Minnesota scored bonus points at 149 pounds to give its first loss in 17 NWCA National Duals.
#2 IOWA 15, #3 Minnesota 16
125 – Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. Zach Sanders (M), 6-4; TS 3-0
133 – Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. Chris Dardanes (M), 6-1; TS 6-0
141 – Montell Marion (Iowa) vs. Nick Dardanes (M), 6-4 (OT); TS 9-0
149 -Dylan Ness (M) major dec. Michael Kelly (Iowa), 11-2; TS 9-4
157 -Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. Danny Zilverberg (M), 6-3; TS 12-4
165 -Cody Yohn (M) dec. Mike Evans (Iowa), 5-3 (OT); 12-7
174 – Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. Logan Storley (M), 4-3; TS 15-7
184 -Kevin Steinhaus (M) dec. Grant Gambrall (Iowa), 3-1; TS 15-10
197 -Sonny Yohn (M) dec. Vinnie Wagner (Iowa), 7-4; TS 15-13
285 -Tony Nelson (M) dec. Bobby Telford (Iowa), 2-0; TS 16-15