IOWA CITY, Iowa – The fourth-ranked University of Iowa men’s wrestling team won nine of 10 matches to cruise to a 38-3 victory over Columbia on Friday night on Mediacom Mat inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes posted seven bonus point wins and had a 37-3 advantage in takedowns in the dual.
“We have to be steady and keep looking to put the best ingredients on the mat for this team” said head coach Tom Brands. “Whatever the ingredients are, those are the ones that need to be on that mat.”
No. 17 Drake Ayala opened the evening with a 18-3 technical fall victory over Nick Babin at 125. The Fort Dodge, Iowa, native had three first-period takedowns and a three-point near fall to build a 12-2 lead and he added two more takedowns in the second to end the match at the 3:32 mark.
The victory moved Ayala to 9-1 this season with six bonus point wins, including five technical falls.
Junior Cullan Schriever had the victory of the dual in his first match of the season and his first match since last January. The Mason City, Iowa, native trailed 3-0 after one and 4-3 after two before surrendering a third period escape to go down 5-3 against No. 11 Angelino Rini at 133 pounds.
ELECTRIC WIN! ⚡️ @Hawks_Wrestling’s Cullan Schriever beats No. 11 Angelino Rini 9-6 in OT at 133 for his first win of the year. pic.twitter.com/UUsMTyVeZ7
— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) December 9, 2023
Schriever took down Rini to take a 6-5 lead with 31 seconds remaining and rode him out for the remainder of the match. Courtesy of less than a second of riding time, the match went to overtime where Schriever recorded a takedown 45 seconds in to notch the victory. It was Schriever’s first career victory over a ranked opponent.
“It meant a lot to me,” said Schriever. “I have been through a lot these last several months. Now that I got the green light, I wanted to go capitalize on it. There were some emotions built up because these last 7-8 months, even beyond that, haven’t been easy, but I stuck to it.
“I think I have grown a lot and am thankful that all this stuff happened because it made me a better person, a better wrestler and it helped me figure my life out.”
“Schriever took a good step forward and I love it,” said Brands. “He wanted the match, and he made the most of it. Things weren’t going his way, he dug himself out of a hole. There are things you look for that are admiral qualities.”
