Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch – 2017-18 | Hawk Talk Monthly — January 2018 | 2018 UWW World Cup | Season Tickets | Photo Gallery II | Photo Gallery
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa wrestling team won six of 10 bouts to top No. 3 Oklahoma State, 20-12, on Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The seventh-ranked Hawkeyes won by decision at 125, 157, 165, 184, and 285, and got a technical fall from Brandon Sorensen at 149 to defeat their highest rated opponent since topping No. 1 Oklahoma State, 18-16, in 2015. The Hawkeyes have won the last three meetings against the Cowboys in Iowa City.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Iowa trailed the team race 7-3 before Sorensen’s five-point win gave them an 8-7 lead. Ranked No. 2 at 149, Sorensen led 6-4 early in the second period before finishing the final 2:33 with six takedowns, piling up 2:51 of riding time, and earning a 23-8 technical fall over No. 14 Boo Lewallan.
“When I am attacking that’s when I’m best,” Sorensen said. “When my feet and hands are moving together, I’m feeling good. That’s when I think I can beat anyone and that’s what happened.”
No. 2 Michael Kemerer answered Sorensen with a 9-2 win at 157, and No. 11 Alex Marinelli followed Kemerer with a 5-2 decision over No. 8 Chandler Rogers at 165. The Cowboys were deducted a team point for failing to the control the mat during 157, and after six matches the Hawkeyes led 14-6.
Oklahoma State cut into Iowa’s lead with a 3-1 win at 174, but Mitch Bowman swung momentum back towards the Hawkeyes with a 10-6 win over No. 19 Keegan Moore at 184. The win gave Iowa a 17-9 lead with two matches left.
“Going out there and getting a win to help the team win a close dual like that is incredible, especially in front of that crowd,” said Bowman. “It was euphoric — that’s kind of a big word for me — but it was incredible to hear the crowd erupt when the buzzer went off knowing that I did my job the way I should have done it.”
OPEN AND CLOSE CASE OF TOP 10 MATCHUPS
The dual opened and closed with Hawkeye wins in top 10 matchups. Ninth-ranked Spencer Lee scored two takedowns and four nearfall points in the first period to defeat No. 6 Nick Piccininni, 10-5, at 125, and No. 3 Sam Stoll topped No. 10 Derek White in overtime, 6-4, at 285.
The Cowboys won 6-0 at 197 in another top 10 matchup. No. 3 Preston Weigel defeated No. 5 Cash Wilcke, 6-0, with takedowns in the first and third periods. It was one of Oklahoma State’s four wins. The Cowboys won by major decision at 133, and earned decisions at 141, 174, and 197.
QUOTING TOM BRANDS
“We pointed to this. We had success with some tough matches and did some good things, but we need to get ready to go to Columbus a week from today. You don’t congratulate yourself many times in January. Maybe this is one time where you take a little bit of a breath because we did point to this dual. This was a dual about two teams who are in the same category and two teams that are trying to get to the next category, and that means Penn State and Ohio State. They are one and two and everybody else seems to be on the outside. To get there you have to take steps. We took a step and we have to keep moving forward.”
UP NEXT
Iowa returns to the mat Sunday, Jan. 21 at No. 2 Ohio State. The dual begins at 2:30 p.m. (CT) and is televised on BTN.
NOTABLES
- Attendance was 13,485, the 13th largest wrestling crowd in Carver-Hawkeye Arena history.
- Oklahoma State leads the all-time series, 28-22-2, but Iowa has won four of the last five meetings.
- Brandon Sorensen improved to 32-3 all-time at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. He has 114 career wins, No. 23 all-time.
#7 IOWA 20, #3 Oklahoma State 12
125 — #9 Spencer Lee (IA) dec. #6 Nick Piccininni (OSU), 10-5; 3-0
133 — #4 Kaid Brock (OSU) major dec. Phillip Laux (IA), 16-6; 3-4
141 — #5 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. Vince Turk (IA), 4-0, 3-7
149 — #2 Brandon Sorensen (IA) tech. fall #14 Boo Lewallen (OSU), 23-8; 8-7
157 — #2 Michael Kemerer (IA) dec. Jonce Blaylock (OSU), 9-2; 11-6*
165 — #11 Alex Marinelli (IA) dec. #8 Chandler Rogers (OSU), 5-2; 14-6
174 — #14 Jacobe Smith (OSU) dec. Joey Gunther (IA), 3-1; 14-9
184 — Mitch Bowman (IA) dec. #19 Keegan Moore (OSU), 10-6; 17-9
197 — #3 Preston Weigel (OSU) dec. #5 Cash Wilcke (IA), 6-0; 17-12
285 — #3 Sam Stoll (IA) dec. #10 Derek White (OSU), 6-4 SV2; 20-12
*Oklahoma State was deducted one team point during 157 for failure to control the mat
Records: Iowa (9-0), Oklahoma State (6-1)
