Dec. 9, 2015
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- Wrestling Ticket Packages
- Read the December issue of Hawk Talk Monthly
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
ON THE MAT
The second-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team hosts No. 11 Rutgers on Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Mat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Admission is $12 for adults and $8 for youth (high school age and younger). UI students and children age five and below are admitted free.
THE SERIES
Iowa has won the only two previous meetings with Rutgers. The Hawkeyes won, 33-9, in the first meeting in 2009, and 27-9, last season in New Brunswick, N.J. Rutgers is making its first appearance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
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THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
Eleventh-ranked Rutgers is 9-1 with four straight wins against ranked opponents, including a 21-13 win over Cornell its last time out Nov. 29. Rutgers has five ranked wrestlers, including 2015 All-American Anthony Ashnault (141).
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Rutgers is the third ranked opponent Iowa has faced this season. Iowa opened the year with an 18-16 win over top-ranked Oklahoma State, and defeated No. 17 Iowa State, 33-6, on Nov. 29. Rutgers is 4-1 against ranked opponents this year with wins over No. 13 North Carolina, No. 25 Northern Iowa, No. 18 Oregon State, and No. 7 Cornell. The Scarlet Knights lost, 19-18, to No. 22 Oklahoma.
THE REMATCH
Only one of the 10 bouts features a potential rematch from last year’s meeting. Thomas Gilman used 10 takedown to record a technical fall against Sean McCabe, 25-10, in 6:33.
TOP HEAVY
The Hawkeyes have five wrestlers ranked in the top five of the Dec. 8 Intermat rankings. Only Penn State (5) and Oklahoma State (5) have as many as five top five wrestlers. All-Americans Thomas Gilman (125), Cory Clark (133), and Brandon Sorensen (149) are all ranked No. 2. Alex Meyer checks in at No. 3 at 174, and All-American Nathan Burak is ranked fourth at 197. Sammy Brooks climbed into the top 10 at No. 8.
A LITTLE EXTRA
Juniors Thomas Gilman and Sammy Brooks have delivered bonus points in each of their seven matches. Gilman, ranked No. 2 at 125, has one technical fall, two major decisions, and four pins. His 37 dual points scored rank second on the team to Brooks, who has scored 40 points out of a possible 42 in six matches. Brooks, ranked No. 11 at 184, has yet to wrestle a match for seven minutes. He has four pins, two technical falls, and one win by forfeit.
CLARK AIMS FOR HAT TRICK
Sophomore Cory Clark is 7-0 with consecutive wins over ranked opponents. He will go for three in a row Thursday against No. 17 Anthony Giraldo (7-3). It is the first meeting between the two. Clark defeated No. 7 Earl Hall of Iowa State, 9-2, on Nov. 29, and earned a decision against No. 15 Brance Simms of SDSU on Dec. 4. Clark is 25-9 all-time and has won seven of his last eight matches against ranked opponents.
BAPTISM BY FIRE
Redshirt freshman Logan Ryan is expected to face third-ranked Anthony Ashnault on Thursday. Ashnault, an All-American in 2015, is 9-0 overall. Ryan is 5-5 overall at 141 pounds, and 2-4 in duals. He opened the season with a runner-up finish at the Grand View Open, falling to former All-American Andrew Long in the finals. He was 3-1 at the tournament, but has since evened his record at 5-5 following a string of high profile duals. Ryan made his dual debut Nov. 14 and fell, 7-1, to top-ranked Dean Heil (OKST) in front of 42,287 fans at the Grapple on the Gridiron. He then dropped an 8-5 decision to Alfred Bannister (Maryland) in his Big Ten and Carver-Hawkeye Arena debut. Ryan fell 6-2 at Iowa State in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series, and dropped a 3-2 decision to former teammate Seth Gross on Dec. 5. Up next for Ryan is the third-ranked wrestler in the country, followed by the 2015 Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30.
STOLL ON A ROLL
Redshirt freshman Sam Stoll takes a five-match win streak into Friday’s dual against seventh-ranked Billy Smith. Stoll dropped his season opener to fifth-ranked Austin Marsden (OKST), 6-1, but has since pinned four opponents and won by stalling disqualification. His four falls tie for the team lead (Gilman, Brooks). Stoll finished his high school career with a national record 63 consecutive pins. He pinned every opponent he faced his senior season. As a true freshman in 2014-15, Stoll was 18-5 with 11 pins competing unattached.
SORENSEN HITS TOP SPOT
Sophomore Brandon Sorensen is ranked No. 1 at 149 pounds by WIN Magazine and Amateur Wrestling News. Sorensen is ranked No. 2 by Intermat, one spot behind Penn State’s Zain Retherford. Sorensen is 7-0 with four major decisions, one technical fall, and one pin. He has two wins over wrestlers currently in WIN’s top 10. He defeated No. 9 Anthony Collica (OKST), 6-1, and No. 10 Gabe Moreno (ISU), 11-3.
ALL-AMERICAN DOMINANCE
Iowa’s four returning All-American — Thomas Gilman (125), Cory Clark (133), Brandon Sorensen (149), and Nathan Burak (197) — are a combined 27-0 with 22 wins by bonus points. Iowa’s other returning NCAA qualifier, Sammy Brooks (184), is 7-0 with seven wins by bonus points. The group is 6-0 against top 20 wrestlers, with one technical fall and two major decisions.
HAWKEYES AT HOME
The Hawkeyes are 229-22 all-time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since moving from the UI Field House in 1983. The Hawkeyes have recorded 20 undefeated season in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the most recent in 2012-13 (9-0). Carver-Hawkeye Arena has hosted three Big Ten Championships (1983, 1994, 2005) and four NCAA Championships (1986, 1991, 1995, 2001). The Hawkeyes have won five tournament titles on their home mat, including the 1983 and 1994 Big Ten Championships, and the 1986, 1991 and 1995 NCAA Championships. Carver-Hawkeye Arena is hosting the Big Ten Championships for the fourth time March 5-6.
