Last night Iowa wrestled unranked Michigan State for their first Big Ten road meet. Although the Hawks did what they showed up to do, winning 22-15, it wasn't exactly that dominating mentality - especially for it being an unranked team.
Can they have a few excuses though?
- In the line-up they still have Colby Covington in for Jay Borschel...and he lost at 174.
- Iowa hwt. Dan Erekson couldn't finish his match last night due to a leg injury.
Okay, so that's only two. But don't forget that 125-pounder Charlie Falck was injured earlier in the season...luckily he's back out dominating every match of the way. And 197-pound Chad Beatty's back after a shortened absence as well.
I'm not sure we can come up with a good excuse why 157-pounder Matt Ballweg lost, again. And third ranked Ryan Morningstar was also defeated at 165 in a 5-4 upset against Michigan State's senior Rex Kendle...that shouldn't have happened.
It was a big day for Iowa's 149-pound Brent Metcalf who posted his fourth consecutive pin against David Cheza. It was also a good day for Iowa 133-pounder Daniel Dennis who defeated No. 6 Franklin Gomez, who is now 13-2 for the season.
If this is the work the Hawkeyes produce at an unranked Big Ten bout, I wonder how tomorrows dual against No. 22 Penn State will go.
first, Chad Beatty wrestles at 197.
ReplyDeletesecond, Falck's injuring is a moot point now because he's dominating like he should.
also, Alex Tsirtsis had that wisdom tooth deal - that might not technically count as an injury, but if he would have had to actually wrestle in the Bucknell meet, that could be a different story.
By the way, I talked to Perry last Wednesday. He says things are going fine in State College, but noticed a difference in philosophy immediately (as to be expected). He was pretty blunt about it.