Dec. 4, 2015
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By JIL PRICE
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Second-ranked University of Iowa wrestling (7-0, 1-0) used bonus points to put away South Dakota State, 28-15, on Mediacom Mat inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena Friday. A pair of pins by juniors Thomas Gilman and Sammy Brooks at 125 and 149, respectively, and an 8-0 major decision victory by sophomore Brandon Sorensen at 149 highlighted the dual.
No. 2 Gilman opened the competition on a high note, pinning Kahlen Morris at 1:43. He dominated the match, tallying three takedowns and a nearfall before ending the bout to move to 7-0 on the season.
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“It was pretty quick, but I try to do that every time I wrestle,” Gilman said. “Whether it’s a pin, tech or a major decision, I want to get the fans fired up. That’s my job being at 125 and the first guy out there.
“I want to give them something to look forward to in the first match and get them fired up for the rest of my teammates.”
Two nationally ranked wrestlers squared off at 133, with No. 2 Cory Clark coming away with the 4-1 win over No. 15 Brance Simms. Clark (7-0) recorded a take down to go up in the first period and held on through the final two win his seventh bout of the season.
Following a loss at 141, the Hawkeyes rebounded with a major decision win at 149. Top-ranked Sorensen got aggressive after a scoreless first period, tallying three points in the second and tacking on five more in the third period for the 8-0 victory. He also remains undefeated, moving to 7-0 on the year.
No. 3 Alex Meyer got Iowa back on track following a pair of losses at 157 and 165 with a hard-fought win in the 174 bout. After trailing 2-1 after the first period, Meyer (6-1) used an escape and a takedown to jump ahead in the second period. He put the bout in the books, 5-2, with a stall warning and 1:38 of riding time against David Kocer to remain undefeated in his career inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena (10-0).
Eighth-ranked Brooks (7-0) made quick work of the 184 bout, pinning Brady Ayers in just 43 seconds to get the crowd of 7,226 on its feet. It is his fourth pin on the season and the fastest fall of his career. “I think he might have thought he was safe,” Brooks said. “I didn’t think I had him that tight to be honest, just because I was worried about keeping my foot in bounds. I could tell that it was starting to go that way, so I squeezed as hard as I could and it worked out.
“There is definitely more for me to work on, I can pick up the pace of my wrestling, and when I am scoring points my position could be better. There is always ways to improve wrestling.”
After an Iowa forfeit at 197, redshirt freshman Sam Stoll (6-1) wrapped up the meet with a 5-0 disqualification win after Alex Macki was called for stalling five times in the heavyweight bout.
The Jackrabbits did not record a takedown until its win at 157 and ended the night with three total in the meet. Iowa posted nine takedowns for the advantage.
“Gilman started off bonus points,” UI head coach Tom Brands said. “I saw good hustle awareness by Brooks, who added bonus points. Five stall calls will get you thrown out of a match, which we saw at heavyweight.
“This was a team that came in and we knew what it was going to be about. I would say if you were going to grade us based on how we imposed our style against their style, we probably wouldn’t get a very good grade.”
The Hawkeyes return to the mat Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. (CT) when Rutgers visits Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“We have to be ready to go,” Brands said. “The way the rest of the country is going to wrestle is very similar to what we saw tonight. There are certain places you will get called for stalling and everywhere else you’ll be able to hold the mat and choose. We have to move our feet better, and right now I would say we have to be ready to go when Rutgers comes in. It’s going to be similar and they believe in themselves as well.”
#2 IOWA 28, South Dakota State 15
125 – #2 Thomas Gilman (IA) pinned Kahlen Morris (SDSU), 1:34; 6-0
133 – #2 Cory Clark (IA) dec. #15 Brance Simms (SDSU), 4-1; 9-0
141 — Seth Gross (SDSU) dec. Logan Ryan (IA), 3-2; 9-3
149 – #1 Brandon Sorensen (IA) maj. dec. Alex Kocer (SDSU), 8-0; 13-3
157 – #6 Cody Pack (SDSU) dec. Edwin Cooper, Jr. (IA), 6-5; 13-6
165 – #20 Luke Zilverberg dec. Burke Paddock (IA), 4-2; 13-9
174 – #3 Alex Meyer (IA) dec. David Kocer (SDSU), 5-2; 16-9
184 – #8 Sammy Brooks (IA) pinned Brady Ayers (SDSU), 0:43; 22-9
197 – #12 Nate Rotert (SDSU) won by forfeit; 22-15
285 – Sam Stoll (IA) won by disqualification over Alex Macki (SDSU) in 4:07; 28-15
Notes: Attendance was 7,226… Alex Meyer remains undefeated in Carver-Hawkeye Arena (10-0)… Sammy Brooks recorded the fastest fall of his career with a pin in 43 seconds at 184.
