Jan. 30, 2013
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ON THE MAT
The third-ranked Hawkeyes host top-ranked Penn State on Friday at 8:04 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Mat inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
TELEVISION COVERAGE
BTN will televise Friday’s dual at 8:04 p.m. Tim Johnson and Jim Gibbons will provide play-by-play and commentary while Shane Sparks reports matside.
AUDIO COVERAGE
The Penn State 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 Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Live Hawkeye wrestling updates are available @IowaWRLive; @Hawks_Wrestling; facebook.com/iowahawkeyewrestling.
LIVE RESULTS
Live results will be available on the wrestling schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.
BACK POINTS
? Iowa leads the all-time series 25-7-2.
? The Hawkeyes are 6-1 in duals vs. ranked opponents.
? The dual will feature 17 wrestlers ranked among the top 20 in at least one national poll. Nine of the 17 are ranked in the top 5.
? Individually, the Hawkeyes own a 27-25 mark against ranked opponents.
? Of the 200 wrestlers ranked in the national polls, only 16 have undefeated records. Iowa has three of the 16, Matt McDonough (13-0), Tony Ramos (16-0), Derek St. John (16-0).
THE SERIES — PENN STATE
The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series 25-7-2. Iowa has won 12 of 15 meetings in Iowa City, including the last time the teams met in 2010, a 29-6 Hawkeye win. Penn State’s last win in Iowa City was a 22-12 victory in 2006. Penn State won the most recent meeting, 22-12, last season. It marked the Nittany Lions’ first series win since 2007.
LAST DANCE WITH NO. 1
The last time the Hawkeyes entered a dual against the nation’s top-rated team was Jan. 30, 2011, at Penn State. The eighth-ranked Hawkeyes won six of 10 matches and left Happy Valley with a 22-13 win. Iowa used a pin from sophomore Matt McDonough at 125, a major decision from senior Luke Lofthouse at 197 and decisions from redshirt freshman Tony Ramos (133), junior Montell Marion (141), senior Aaron Janssen (165) and sophomore Grant Gambrall (184) to extend its unbeaten streak to 73 duals and hand Penn State its first loss of the season.
IOWA VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
The Hawkeyes are 6-1 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; No. 18 Michigan, 33-10, and No. 3 Minnesota, 16-15. The Hawkeyes’ lone loss was to No. 2 Oklahoma State, 18-12. Including No. 1 Penn State, all four of Iowa’s remaining opponents are ranked in the latest NWCA Division I Coaches Poll. Individually, the Hawkeyes own a 27-25 mark against ranked opponents. Matt McDonough (125) leads all Hawkeyes with victories over six rated foes (7-0). Iowa lineup vs. ranked opponents
125 — Matt McDonough (7-0)
133 — Tony Ramos (2-0)
141 — Mark Ballweg (4-1)
149 — Michael Kelly (1-3)
149 — Brody Grothus (0-3)
157 — Derek St. John (3-0)
165 — Nick Moore (2-2)
174 — Mike Evans (2-2)
184 — Ethen Lofthouse (2-4)
184 — Grant Gambrall (0-2)
197 — Nathan Burak (2-4)
285 — Bobby Telford (1-3)
LAST OF THE UNBEATENS
Matt McDonough (13-0), Tony Ramos (16-0) and Derek St. John (16-0) enter the weekend with undefeated records. All three streaks are career bests. 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.
MCDONOUGH STREAK HITS 41
Senior Matt McDonough extended his win streak to a career-best 41 matches when he when he scored a 6-3 decision against No. 13 David Thorne last Saturday. McDonough finished last season with an NCAA title and a 28-match winning streak. He is a perfect 13-0 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 74 dual points this season. He ran his record to 16-0 with an 8-2 win over No. 10 Chris Dardanes last week at Minnesota. Ramos has scored bonus points in 14 of his 16 wins, including six pins, seven major decisions and one technical fall. Dating back to last season, he has won 23 consecutive duals, and he owns a career dual record of 45-1.
HAVING A BALL-WEG @ 141
Senior Mark Ballweg owns a career record of 40-4 competing at 141 pounds. Entering his senior season, he had recorded five major decisions in 55 career matches. This year he is 15-1 with a team-high nine major decisions. He has scored bonus points in 11 of his 15 wins and is 4-1 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 16-0 this season with two pins, four major decisions, and a team-best three technical falls. He owns a career dual record of 39-3 and an overall career record of 61-9. St. John is 2-0 all-time against Penn State’s Dylan Alton, with both wins coming in postseason action. St. John missed last year’s dual with an injury, but he scored identical 3-1 wins at the conference and national championships. St. John scored a takedown in sudden victory in both meetings, the first in the Big Ten semifinals and the second in the NCAA quarterfinals.
165 WANTS MOORE
Sophomore Nick Moore is 11-3 this season with six bonus point victories, including three falls and three major decisions. He improved to 2-2 against ranked opponents this season when he topped No. 10 Cody Yohn, 8-2, last week at Minnesota. Following last week’s win, Moore jumped to No. 13 in the national rankings, the highest national ranking of his career.
HARD KNOCK LIFE OF A `74-POUNDER
Sophomore Mike Evans’ tour through the national top 10 continues Friday against No. 4 Matt Brown. Evans is 2-2 this year against ranked opponents, including wins over No. 2 Nick Helfin (Ohio State) and No. 11 Dan Yates (Michigan). Evans’ only losses this year have been 4-3 defeats at the hands of No. 1 Chris Perry (Okla. State) and No. 2 Logan Storley (Minn.). Among the top 10 174-pounders in the country, eight hail from the Big Ten Conference. Evans has seven of the top 10 on his 2012-13 schedule. Evans is 12-1 overall. He opened the season 2-0 while competing at 165, but he has started 11 of Iowa’s last 12 duals at 174 pounds. Since moving up a weight class he has gone 9-2 with two pins, one technical fall and five major decisions.
BURAK GETS THE BAPTISM BY FIRE
Freshman Nathan Burak has won three of his five 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 two conference losses have been to ranked opponents, including a 4-1 loss to No. 17 Braden Atwood (PU), and a 3-1 loss in sudden victory to No. 12 Scott Schiller (Minnesota). Burak is 5-7 in duals, with four losses coming by one-point and one loss in sudden victory.
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 113-4. 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 (113-4) .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 921-220-31 (.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.
LAST MEETING — (JAN. 22, 2012 — STATE COLLEGE)
The Hawkeyes fell to third-ranked Penn State, 22-12, on Jan. 22, 2012 ,inside Rec Hall. The No. 2 Hawkeyes won the first three matches to build a 12-0 advantage, but Penn State won the final seven bouts to rally for its first dual victory over Iowa since 2007.
#2 IOWA 12, #3 Penn State 22
125 – Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. Nico Megaludis (PSU), 3-1 (OT)
133 – Tony Ramos (Iowa) pinned Frank Martellotti (PSU), 4:20
141 – Montell Marion (Iowa) dec. Bryan Pearsall (PSU), 7-3
149 – Frank Molinaro (PSU) dec. Michael Kelly (Iowa), 11-5
157 – Dylan Alton (PSU) dec. Nick Moore (Iowa), 5-3
165 – David Taylor (PSU) dec. Mike Evans (Iowa), 9-4
174 – Edward Ruth (PSU) dec. Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), 10-1
184 – Quentin Wright (PSU) dec. Vinnie Wagner (Iowa), 8-2
197 – Morgan McIntosh (PSU) dec. Grant Gambrall (Iowa), 5-3 (OT)
285 – Cameron Wade (PSU) dec. Blake Rasing (Iowa), 4-0.
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 the Hawkeyes averaged over 8,000 fans per dual and the sixth straight season Iowa led the nation in attendance. Through four home dates in 2012-13, Iowa is averaging 7,419 fans per dual.
TICKET INFORMATION
Single-meet tickets are available for purchase on hawkeyesports.com. Tickets for 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 the Penn State (2/1) dual are $15 for adults, $8 for youth and $2 for kids five-years old and younger.