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Tonight in Iowa City one of the biggest duals in the state went down as the Iowa Hawkeyes looked to push their streak to 11 straight wins over in state rival the Iowa State Cyclones.
The dual started off in traditional fashion with sophomores Thomas Gilman and Kyle Larson squaring off at 125. Gilman held the upper hand the entire match as he led the way with a pair of takedowns coming out on top 6-1. Even though Gilman won the match handily he hardly satisfied, as he said he needs to continue to push the pace and make more opportunities to score points.
Up next was possibly (and judging by our Twitter feed) the most anticipated match of the night with Cory Clark taking on Earl Hall. This was the first set of four ranked bouts on the night. Hall and Clark traded takedowns in the first. Clark continued to build in the second as he tacked on another takedown and ended up defeating Hall 8-3. After starting out strong, Hall wore out and wound up surrendering a stalling point to Clark.
Senior Josh Dziewa took on Dante Rodriguez at 141. It is a fairly surprising considering Rodriguez is a true freshman, but Jackson must like what he has seen so far from Dante to put him out there. It also makes you wonder what Meeks may be dealing with if he didn’t go. He was there warming up today. Dziewa won 9-3, but I was impressed with Rodriguez’s pace and he seems to have a lot of offensive maneuvers.
At 149 Brandon Sorensen made his first start in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and he came out like bull scoring a takedown and letting Gabe Moreno out, all under :10. Sorensen was up 4-1 after the first, but Moreno charged back and it was tied 6-6 with about :30 left in the match. Sorenson was able to get out and win 7-6. Sorensen is now 1-0 in Carver and the rivalry.
In the final match before the break, a battle of seniors Mike Kelly took on Luke Goettl at 157, with a 2-2 match in the first with each guy getting quite a bit of riding time (obviously Kelly had the majority). Goettl hit a big move to put Kelly on his back and pick up NF, but Kelly reversed and returned the favor. He wound up winning 10-6 to send Iowa up 15-0 into the break.
Starting off was the second most anticipated match of the night as Mike Moreno and Nick Moore faced each other at 165 with Moreno having his sights set on evening their series at two a piece. Moreno controlled the entire match. He won the takedown battle 2-0 and Moore just wasn’t able to get his offense going. These two are so familiar with each other it was plain to see that the first score was going to be huge in this match.
Senior Mike Evans put together a 7-4 win over Tanner Weatherman. Evans won by controlling the takedown margin 2-1. With this win it was Evans third straight win over Iowa State in the dual series.
At 184 Sammy Brooks started a bonus point run as he put up nine points on Lelund Weatherspoon. The only point Brooks surrendered was an escape, and he showed off his suicide tilt for the second straight week. Brooks is now 1-1 in the ISU series after losing to Kyven Gadson last year at 197.
Speaking of Gadson, he was the second bonus win of the dual getting a fall over Iowa’s backup 197 Kris Klapprodt. After pinning Klapprodt in the third, Gadson was then docked a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct to make the team score 22-8.
Bobby Telford concluded the bonus spree as he pinned Quean Smith in the third. Telford was leading 5-0 at the time.
With the 28-8 win Iowa has notched it’s 11th straight win over the Cyclones, and Tom Brands picked up his 10th straight win.
Iowa will host Michigan State next weekend, and Iowa State will head to Las Vegas for the Cliff-Keen Tournament.
Iowa Hawkeyes 28 – Iowa State Cyclones 8
125: #4 Thomas Gilman DEC Kyle Larson 6-1
133: #4 Cory Clark DEC #14 Earl Hall 8-3
141: #7 Josh Dziewa DEC Dante Rodriguez 9-3
149: Brandon Sorensen DEC Gabe Moreno 7-6
157: Mike Kelly DEC Luke Goettl 10-6
165: #3 Mike Moreno DEC #5 Nick Moore 6-3
174: #3 Mike Evans DEC #6 Tanner Weatherman 7-4
184: #8 Sammy Brooks MAJ #18 Lelund Weatherspoon 9-1
197: #3 Kyven Gadson FALL Kris Klapprodt 5:31
285: #3 Bobby Telford FALL Quean Smith 5:36