The Iowa Hawkeye wrestling squad went into a sold out Bryce Jordan Center, in front of 15,976 fans and took down the four-time defending national champions.
Iowa’s Thomas Gilman got the Hawkeyes started off on the right track, with a 6-5 win over #8 Jordan Conaway. Gilman got off to a good start, scoring a takedown early in the first period, but couldn’t take advantage of anything the rest of the first and the entire second period. It was 3-1 after they traded escape points but Conaway went on the offensive, scoring two third period takedowns to tie it at five points apiece, but Gilman had riding time secured to win the match.
The first of two upsets for the Nittany Lions came at 133 pounds, where #7 Jimmy Gulibon beat Iowa’s Cory Clark 8-5. Clark led most of the match and might have been up more, but a potentially dangerous call while he was working a power half led to Gulibon gave him a restart. Gulibon would give up a point after he started too early three times to go down 4-3, but he would get a takedown off a Clark shot and get thee nearfall points as well as time expired to secure the upset.
#5 Josh Dziewa came out quickly hitting a duck under on Penn State’s Kade Moss for an early two point lead, would get reversed, and come back with an escape point and another takedown in the first period for a 5-2 lead. Dziewa would get an escape point and hit another takedown in the second and get a point for riding time, while Moss would get two more escape points for the 9-4 final.
Penn State’s Zach Beitz came out fast against #2 Brandon Sorensen. He hit an ankle pick early in the first for a takedown, but that would be all the offense he could muster. Sorensen used two more first period takedowns to win the match 6-4. The Hawkeye was in on several more shots, but they were all on the edge and Beitz was able to maneuver out of bounds each time before Sorensen could score.
The final match before the break saw #14 Mike Kelly go up against backup Luke Frey. Frey came out firing though as he scored the matches first takedown about halfway through the first period. Off a restart Kelly scored the reversal to tie things up going to the second period. He started down to start and scored another reversal, while Frey would score a reversal of his own in the third, with Kelly hitting another to go up 6-4 for the final of 7-4 with riding time. The Hawkeyes led 12-3 going to the break.
The second half of the dual didn’t go as well for Iowa; the Hawkeyes dropped three of the five matches. The first two, 165 and 174 pounds, saw the Hawkeye lose by just two points. At 165 Nick Moore got a reversal in the second period after starting in the bottom position, but a pair of escapes by Bryce Hammond tied things up going to the third. Hammond hit a late in the period and finished it off for the takedown and the win 4-2.
#2 Mike Evans took on #3 Matt Brown at 174 pounds. Brown held a 1-0 lead after an escape point in the second, and rode Evans out in the third period. Evans could not get any offense going, and could not get out from bottom in the third. Brown won the match 2-0 with riding time. Iowa led 12-9 after the match.
#8 Sammy Brooks got Iowa back on the winning side of things with a 7-2 win over #17 Matt McCutcheon. He hit a takedown in the second and a three point nearfall in the third on his way to the victory.
#4 Morgan McIntosh controlled #6 Nathan Burak from the beginning of their match. Burak couldn’t get any offense going, and McIntosh scored a takedown in the first, reversal and two-point nearfall in the second to go up 6-0. Burak gave up the riding time point in the third, but did a good job fighting off shot attempts later in the period to not give up the major decision, losing 7-1. This brought the Nittany Lions within three, 15-12, going to the final match.
#2 Bobby Telford secured another top ten win over #6 James Lawson, riding him out of the second period, and taking a 1-0 lead to the third after two stall warnings on Lawson. Telford started down to start the third, but hit his escape point quickly. It was a typical heavyweight match though, with not much action and Telford won 3-0 with riding time and the Hawkeyes won 18-12.
The Hawkeyes will next be in action this Friday night for senior night as the Michigan Wolverines come to town. The dual will start at 7PM and we’ll have all the action live from Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
#1 Iowa 18, #6 Penn State 12
125 – #5 Thomas Gilman won 6-5 #8 Jordan Conaway
133 – #7 Jimmy Gulibon won 8-5 over #3 Cory Clark
141 – #5 Josh Dziewa won 9-4 over Kade Moss
149 – #2 Brandon Sorensen won 6-4 #18 Zach Beitz
157 – #14 Mike Kelly 7-4 won over Luke Frey
165 – Bryce Hammond won 4-2 over #7 Nick Moore
174 – #3 Matt Brown won 2-0 over #2 Mike Evans
184 – #8 Sammy Brooks won 7-2 over #17 Matt McCutcheon
197 – #4 Morgan McIntosh 7-1 won #6 Nathan Burak
285 – #2 Bobby Telford won 3-0 over James Lawson
[…] Telford is coming off a weekend that saw him defeat two top 15 wrestlers, with the first being Maryland’s Spencer Myers, who was ranked #13. Telford picked up a 4-0 win over Myers in a 33-3 rout of Maryland. Following that performance Telford earned a 3-0 decision over #6 Jimmy Lawson of Penn State to close out the 18-12 team victory. […]
[…] at #6 Penn State 18-12 (8-0) That brings us to the most recent dual which Iowa needed a win from Bobby Telford in the final match to pull out the victory and clinch a share of the dual title. Iowa opened with a 6-5 Thomas Gilman decision over Jordan […]