April 2, 2014
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ON THE MAT
The Hawkeyes finished the 2013-14 season with a share of the Big Ten regular season title, one national champion, and one Big Ten champion. Six Hawkeyes earned All-America honors and eight were named academic All-Big Ten. The Hawkeyes owned an overall record of 15-2 and won a share of the Big Ten regular season title for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
RAMOS WINS NCAA TITLE
Senior Tony Ramos became the 53rd Hawkeye in school history to win a national title when he defeated Wisconsin’s Tyler Graff, 3-1, in the first tiebreak period of the 133-pound NCAA finals. Iowa’s 53 national champions have totaled a combined 81 NCAA titles. Ramos finished the season 32-2 with a team-high 12 pins. He finished his career with three All-America honors, one NCAA title, one Big Ten title, and 120 career wins — the 19th highest total in program history. He is one of 32 wrestlers in school history to complete their career with three All-America honors. Ramos also defeated Graff in the Big Ten finals on March 9. His national title marks the 61st time in program history a wrestler has won both championships in the same season.
ALL-AMERICAN STREAK
The Hawkeyes have crowned at least one All-American every year since 1972, a span of 43 seasons. Iowa has totaled 261 All-America honors during that stretch. The Hawkeyes crowned six All-Americans in 2014, including four-time All-American Derek St. John (157) and first-timers Cory Clark (125) and Nathan Burak (197). Tony Ramos earned his third career All-America honor, winning the 133-pound bracket, and Mike Evans (174) and Bobby Telford (285) were both named All-Americans for the second time in their careers. Clark, Burak, Evans and Telford all return next season.
40 YEARS OF DOMINANCE
Since 1974, only seven schools have captured the NCAA Championship. During that 41-year span, the Hawkeyes have won 23 team titles, including nine straight from 1978-86. The other schools include Oklahoma State (7), Penn State (4), Minnesota (3), Iowa State (2), Arizona State (1) and Oklahoma (1).
10 QUALIFIERS
Iowa sent 10 wrestlers for the NCAA tournament for the 18th time since 1968, and first time since 2010. Iowa has won the NCAA team crown 14 times when sending its entire 10-man lineup. Iowa has sent at least eight athletes to the NCAA Championships in each of head coach Tom Brands’ eight seasons.
Derek St. John: 4X ALL-AMERICAN
St. John became the 18th four-time All-American in school history following a fifth-place finish at 157 pounds at the NCAA Championships. He placed fourth in 2011, second in 2012, and won the national tournament in 2013. St. John finished his career with 106 wins, four All-America honors, one NCAA title, and one Big Ten title. His 106 career wins rank 34th all-time in program history.
BIG TEN CHAMPION Tony Ramos
Senior Tony Ramos won the 133-pound Big Ten title March 9 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. Ramos used an escape and 1:37 of riding time to defeat Wisconsin’s Tyler Graff, 2-1. It was the first conference title for Ramos. He became the 110th Big Ten champion in school history, and the 11th Big Ten champion under head coach Tom Brands.
FOUR YEARS OF PERFECTION
Senior Tony Ramos completed his career with a perfect 34-0 record at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Ramos was 6-0 as a freshman, 9-0 as a sophomore, 9-0 as a junior, and 10-0 his senior season. The Hawkeyes had a 33-3 dual record at Carver-Hawkeye Arena from 2011-14.
AWARD WINNERS
Senior Tony Ramos was named Mike Howard Most Valuable Wrestler at the team’s annual awards banquet March 28. Ramos won the NCAA and Big Ten championships at 133 pounds his senior season, posting an overall record of 32-2 with a team-high 12 pins. Ramos was undefeated in eight Big Ten duals, and finished the season with 18 straight wins, including five in a row against ranked opponents at the NCAA tournament. He scored bonus points in 19 of his 32 wins, and led Iowa with 76 dual points scored. UI head coach Tom Brands also presented All-America awards to freshman Cory Clark, sophomore Nathan Burak, juniors Mike Evans and Bobby Telford, and senior Derek St. John. Senior Joe DuCharme was the recipient of the J. Donald McPike, Sr., Award for highest grade point average by a Hawkeye senior. The John and Dorothy Sill Award for most dedicated wrestler was shared by redshirt freshmen Thomas Gilman and Alex Meyer. The Coaches Appreciation Award was presented to redshirt freshman Sammy Brooks.
ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN
Eight Hawkeyes were named to the 2014 Big Ten Winter Academic All-Conference team. Nathan Burak, Joe DuCharme, Josh Dziewa, Jeremy Fahler, Brody Grothus, Josh Haug, Kris Klapprodt and Alex Meyer were recognized by the conference. To be eligible for academic All-Big Ten, student-athletes must be letterwinners and be in at least their second academic year at the institution. They must also carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. Since Tom Brands was named head coach in 2006, the Hawkeyes have earned 61 Big Ten academic honors. DuCharme earned academic All-Big Ten in each of his four seasons. He is just the seventh Hawkeye in program history to earn academic conference honors four times.
B1G WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Redshirt freshman Thomas Gilman and senior Tony Ramos each won Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors this season. Gilman was honored Dec. 31 after defeating NCAA Champion Jesse Delgado and defending Midlands champion Jarrod Garnett to win the 125-pound title at the 2013 Midlands Championship. He topped Delgado, 3-1, in the semis before defeating Garnett, 6-1, in the finals. He also registered a major decision in the opening round and a 6-3 win over No. 7 Dylan Peters in the quarterfinals. It was the first conference weekly honor of his career. Ramos earned B1G Wrestler of the Week honors for the fourth time in his career on Jan. 14. He defeated then top-ranked Jon Morrison, 8-2, on Jan. 10 to lead Iowa past No. 5 Oklahoma State, 24-6, and closed the weekend with a pin against Indiana’s Chris Caton in 3:27.
HAWKEYES RETAIN Dan Gable TROPHY
The Hawkeyes won seven-of-10 matches to top Iowa State, 23-9, on Dec. 1 at Hilton Coliseum. The win was Iowa’s 11th straight in the series, and awarded Iowa possession of the Dan Gable Traveling Trophy for fourth straight year. Iowa has owned the Dan Gable Traveling Trophy every year since its inception in 2010.
IOWA VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Iowa’s postseason lineup finished the season with a 77-59 record against ranked opponents. Tony Ramos led all Hawkeyes with 13 wins over top 20 opponents. Iowa lineup vs. ranked opponents
125 — Cory Clark (8-4)
133 — Tony Ramos (13-2)
141 — Josh Dziewa (4-9)
149 — Brody Grothus (5-7)
157 — Derek St. John (9-6)
165 — Nick Moore (8-5)
174 — Mike Evans (8-7)
184 — Ethen Lofthouse (4-5)
197 — Nathan Burak (6-8)
285 — Bobby Telford (12-6)
100-WIN CLUB
Two Hawkeyes entered the 100-win club in 2013-14. Senior Derek St. John’s opening round 5-4 win over Dylan Alton at the 2014 Big Ten tournament was the 100th win of his career. He finished the season 30-6, raising his career win total to 106 — good enough for 34th all-time. Senior Tony Ramos also collected win No. 100 this season. Ramos completed his senior season with a 32-2 record and a career record of 120-14. His 120 wins tie Eric Juergens for No. 19 in school history. St. John and Ramos are among 40 Hawkeyes in program history to amass 100 or more career wins.
HAWKEYES WIN BIG TEN DUAL TITLE
Iowa won a share of the Big Ten regular season dual title when it defeated Wisconsin, 28-10, on Feb. 23. The Hawkeyes finished the dual season with a 7-1 conference record, sharing the regular season title with Minnesota (7-1) and Penn State (7-1). Iowa has won or shared six of the last seven Big Ten regular season titles.
HAWKEYE WRESTLING HISTORY
Iowa’s overall dual meet record is 941-224-31 (.799) in 104 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 23 national titles and 34 Big Ten titles. Iowa’s 53 NCAA Champions have won a total of 81 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 16 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes’ 110 Big Ten champions have combined for 191 conference titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time, and 29 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa’s 150 All-Americans have earned All-America status 307 times, including 18 four-time, 32 three-time and 39 two-time honorees.
THE ATTENDANCE GAME
The University of Iowa wrestling program led the nation in attendance for the eighth consecutive season according to the annual Division I attendance report released March 4 by Roby Publishing. Iowa averaged 8,835 fans in seven duals, setting an NCAA single season attendance record of 61,843. The Hawkeyes averaged at least 8,000 fans for the sixth consecutive season, and own the three highest single season averages in NCAA history (9,014 in 2012; 8,764 in 2013). In 2013-14, Iowa became the first school in NCAA history to host three duals with more than 10,000 fans — Penn State (13,747), Minnesota (10,588), and Oklahoma State (10,141). When considering the Iowa City Duals — which Iowa hosted Nov. 22 against Baker, Cornell College, and Iowa Central — a school record 67,556 fans attended wrestling meets inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.