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Men's Wrestling

Hawkeyes and Cowboys in Stillwater

Jan. 8, 2013

Weekly Release

ON THE MAT
The fourth-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team travels to Stillwater, Okla., to face No. 2 Oklahoma State on Sunday inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Hawkeyes and Cowboys take the mat at 2 p.m. (CT). The Hawkeyes have nine wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in at least one national poll. The Cowboys have eight wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in at least one national poll.

AUDIO COVERAGE
This weekend’s 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 call live from Gallagher-Iba Arena.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Live Hawkeye wrestling updates are available @IowaWRLive; @Hawks_Wrestling; facebook.com/iowahawkeyewrestling.

VIDEO STREAM
OKSTATE.tv will stream the dual live from Gallagher-Iba Arena. The link can be found on the Iowa wrestling schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.

BACK POINTS
? Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 26-18-2.
? Oklahoma State (34) and Iowa (23) have won a combined 57 NCAA championships.
? The dual will feature 17 wrestlers ranked among the top 20 in at least one national poll. Iowa has nine, Oklahoma State has eight.
? Individually, the Hawkeyes own an 18-10 mark against ranked opponents.
? The dual will feature four of the 10 No. 1 ranked wrestlers in the country, including Matt McDonough (125) and Derek St. John (157) for Iowa, and Jordan Oliver (149) and Chris Perry (174) for Oklahoma State.
? Matt McDonough (125) has won 37 consecutive matches, a career-best.
? No. 2 Tony Ramos (12-0) will face his first ranked opponent of the season (No. 5 Jon Morrison, 133 pounds)

THE SERIES — OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 26-18-2. The Cowboys won the first meeting, 24-8, in 1954, and won the most recent meeting, 17-16, in 2012. The Hawkeyes are 6-12-2 in duals wrestled in Stillwater, Okla. The schools tied 15-15 the last time they met at Oklahoma State on Jan. 16, 2011. Iowa’s last win in Stillwater was a 20-13 victory on Jan. 18, 2009.

IOWA VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
The Hawkeyes are 4-0 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; and No. 21 Purdue, 29-9. Including No. 2 Oklahoma State, seven of Iowa’s remaining eight opponents are ranked in the latest NWCA Division I Coaches Poll. Individually, the Hawkeyes own an 18-10 mark against ranked opponents. Matt McDonough (125) leads all Hawkeyes with victories over five rated foes (5-0).

BIG DOGS IN STILLWATER
Four of the nation’s top-ranked wrestlers will be in Stillwater on Sunday. Iowa’s Matt McDonough (125) and Derek St. John (157) are ranked No. 1 at their respective weights, and Oklahoma State’s Jordan Oliver (149) and Chris Perry (174) are the nation’s top-ranked wrestlers at their respective weights. A total of 17 ranked wrestlers will compete in the dual. Fourteen are rated in the top 10, and nine are among the top 5.

THE LAST MEETING (JAN. 7, 2012 — IOWA CITY, IOWA)
The top-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team split 10 matches and wrestled to a 16-16 team score with No. 2 Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys outscored the Hawkeyes 54-51 in match points and earned a 17-16 victory in front of a sell-out crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Oklahoma State won the tiebreak point based on the third criteria. The first was dual wins (5-5). The second was falls or technical falls (0-0). The third criteria, match points, favored the Cowboys, 54-51. The Oklahoma State victory ended the Hawkeyes’ 84-dual unbeaten streak.

#1 University of Iowa 16, #2 Oklahoma State University 17*
Hwt. – Alan Gelogaev (OSU) major dec. Bobby Telford (I), 10-2
125 – Matt McDonough (I) major dec. Jon Morrison (OSU), 14-4
133 – Tony Ramos (I) dec. Jordan Oliver (OSU), 4-3 (TB1)
141 – Montell Marion (I) dec. Josh Kindig (OSU), 9-7
149 – Jamal Parks (OSU) dec. Mike Kelly (I), 8-3
157 – Albert White (OSU) dec. Nick Moore (I), 7-4
165 – Mike Evans (I) dec. Dallas Bailey (OSU), 5-1
174 – Chris Perry (OSU) dec. Ethen Lofthouse (I), 3-2 (TB1)
184 – Vinnie Wagner (I) dec. Chris McNeil (OSU), 4-3
197 – Blake Rosholt (OSU) dec. Grant Gambrall (I), 8-4
*Oklahoma State earns one team point on the third criteria – total match points (54-51).

LIGHT-MIDDLE-HEAVY
Iowa’s three lightest weights have a combined 32-1 record with 27 bonus point victories. Matt McDonough (125), Tony Ramos (125) and Mark Ballweg (141) are all ranked among the top 10 at their respective weights.

From 149-174 pounds, the Hawkeyes have four wrestlers ranked in the top 20 and a 39-5 combined record. Derek St. John is 12-0 and ranked No. 1 at 157, and Mike Evans is 9-0 and ranked No. 4 at 174.

Iowa’s lineup from 184-285 owns a 32-8 overall record. Ethen Lofthouse (184) and Bobby Telford (285) are both 11-1 and ranked among the top 10 at their respective weights.

FREE TAKEDOWNS
Junior Tony Ramos was scheduled to face ranked opponents for the first time this season when Ohio State and Purdue visited Iowa City last weekend, but when both schools’ first-teamers were unable to go due to injury, Ramos handed out free takedowns to their understudies. Ramos recorded 14 takedowns and won by 29-14 technical fall against Ohio State, and he delivered six takedowns and 4:25 of riding time in a 13-4 major decision against Purdue. The wins helped Ramos improve to 12-0 this season with 12 bonus point victories. He has five pins, and outscored his opponents 132-49 in matches that did not end by fall. Ramos is scheduled to face his first rated opponent of the season on Sunday in No. 5 Jon Morrison (16-2).

MCDONOUGH STREAK HITS 37
Senior Matt McDonough extended his win streak to a career-best 37 matches when he scored a 10-5 decision against No. 12 Nikko Triggas of Ohio State on Friday. McDonough finished last season with an NCAA title and a 28-match winning streak. He is a perfect 9-0 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 IS JUST NOT ENOUGH
Junior Tony Ramos has scored bonus points in all 12 matches this season, including five pins, six major decisions and one technical fall. He leads the team with 58 dual points. His five pins tie for the team lead and his six major decisions rank second to Mark Ballweg (7). Ramos owns a career mark of 70-10 and has won 41 of 42 career duals.

HAVING A BALL-WEG @ 141
Senior Mark Ballweg owns a career record of 36-4 competing at 141 pounds. Entering his senior season, he had recorded five major decisions in 55 career matches. This year he is 11-1 with a team-high seven major decisions. He has scored bonus points in nine of his 11 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 12-0 this season with two pins, four major decisions, and a team-best two technical falls. He owns a career dual record of 35-3 and an overall career record of 56-9. St. John will face his second top 10 opponent of the season in No. 9 Alex Dieringer. St. John previously topped No. 4 Joey Napoli of Lehigh, 6-0.

165 WANTS MOORE
Sophomore Nick Moore is 8-2 this season and has scored 33 dual points, more than three times his total from a year ago (10). Moore has scored bonus points in five bouts, including three falls and two major decisions. Moore was 3-1 competing at 165 pounds last season. Including his 11-2 mark wrestling unattached in 2010-11, he is 22-5 all-time while competing at 165.

EVANS HAS FOUND A BIGGER HOME
Sophomore Mike Evans improved to 9-0 this season following a pin and a 9-4 sudden victory over No. 2 Nick Heflin last weekend. The victory over Heflin was Evans’ first win of the season over a ranked opponent. He’ll see another ranked opponent this weekend in Oklahoma State’s top-rated Chris Perry. Evans has started seven of Iowa’s last eight duals at 174 pounds after opening the season at 165. Evans owned a 2-0 record at 165, and since moving up a weight class he has gone 7-0 with two pins, one technical fall and three major decisions to raise his season record to 9-0. Including his redshirt freshman season in 2011-12, Evans is 26-2 with 16 bonus point victories at 174 pounds.

LOFTHOUSE MAKING WAVES AT 184
Junior Ethen Lofthouse owns an 11-1 record in his first season competing at 184 pounds. Lofthouse has scored bonus points in eight of his 11 wins, including three pins and five major decisions. Lofthouse is 2-1 this year against ranked opponents. He has twice defeated the No. 16 wrestler in the country (Boez Beard, 10-3; Kenny Courts, 5-3). His only loss of the season was a 9-4 decision to No. 2 Robert Hamlin of Lehigh.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS FOR TELFORD
Sophomore Bobby Telford is scheduled to face No. 3 Alan Gelogaev at 285 pounds this weekend. Gelogaev handed Telford his first collegiate defeat last year when the teams met in Iowa City. It is the only career meeting between the two heavyweights. Telford is 10-1 with 47 dual points scored this season, a mark that ranks second on the team behind Tony Ramos (50).

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 109-4. His .965 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 (109-4) .965
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 918-219-31 (.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.