The Way to Win is to Dominate

Jan. 8, 2016

• IowaCitytoRio.com
• 2016 Olympic Trails at Carver-Hawkeye Arena
• Read the January issue of Hawk Talk Monthly
• Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
• 24 Hawkeyes to Watch

Editor’s Note: The following first appeared in the University of Iowa’s Hawk Talk Daily, an e-newsletter that offers a daily look at the Iowa Hawkeyes, delivered free each morning to thousands of fans of the Hawkeyes worldwide. To receive daily news from the Iowa Hawkeyes, sign up HERE.

By CHRIS BREWER
hawkeyesports.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa — He has 12 wins in as many tries, but Thomas Gilman will tell you his performance is far from perfect.

A junior All-American from Council Bluffs, Iowa, Gilman is the Hawkeyes’ pace setter in a lineup that includes eight wrestlers ranked in the top 20 at their respective weight.

At 125 pounds, he bats leadoff in a 10-man lineup. Seven times this year he has been the first Hawkeye to take the mat in a dual, and he has delivered bonus points each time with four pins, two technical falls, and one major decision.

He likes those results, he likes his opponents to see those results, but this season he wants more.

“I’m trying to send a message this year,” Gilman said after opening the Rutgers dual with a 21-6 technical fall against No. 18 Sean McCabe. “I’m on a mission, imposing psychological warfare and I welcome anyone to the mat.

“I want to put fear into my opponents whether I’m wrestling them or not. You don’t have to wrestle a guy to make him feel scared. You look at Tom and Terry Brands, nobody wanted to wrestle those guys because they hear about them. There are rumors and they see the results of pinning guys and tech falling guys and making guys crawl off the mat. I want that to be something that weighs on (my opponents’) mind before they step on the mat with me.”

The Brands brothers combined for five national titles from 1990-92. Each won their first championship as sophomores. Tom defended his title two times, while Terry placed runner-up as a junior before winning again as a senior.

Gilman did not compete at the NCAA Championships as a freshman, and he placed fourth as a sophomore in 2015, losing to West Virginia’s Zeke Moisey in the NCAA semifinals.

As the calendar turns to 2016, Gilman is ranked second at 125 pounds behind defending champion Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State. Tomasello has won 29 consecutive matches dating back to last season. His last loss was to Gilman at a dual in Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 4, 2015. He avenged that loss with a 3-2 win in the finals of the 2015 Big Ten Championships (also in Columbus), and because Ohio State is not on the Hawkeyes’ dual schedule this year, the conference championship is the most likely place the two will meet again — this time in Iowa City on March 5-6.

Gilman is 53-10 all-time in tournaments, including 4-0 this season when he ran through the 125-pound bracket of the Midlands Championships. He outscored his opponents 38-10 — earning two wins over ranked opponents and adding one major decision and one pin. But on his way to a 19-6 victory in the opening round, he surrendered his first takedown of the season, which put a cloud over his second career Midlands title.

“It’s not really about winning Midlands,” Gilman said. “It’s how you win it and the way I won it was a little too close. I’ve got to get guys to start coming into me and keep scoring those bonus points. I’ve got to do better.”

Gilman has time to self-evaluate in January. The Hawkeyes have six Big Ten duals on the schedule, starting tonight at No. 11 Illinois, but of those six only Nebraska has a ranked wrestler at 125 pounds. Gilman will meet No. 8 Tim Lambert in Lincoln on Jan. 24.