By Jeff Murphy
Iowa State opened the Big 12 season with a strong 31-11 win over Utah Valley on Friday night. The victory improves the Cyclones’ record to 2-0 and 1-0 in the Big 12. The Cyclones won seven of ten matches including five by technical fall to earn the road win.
Once again Iowa State got off to a fast start as newcomer Rin Sakamota scored a 19-1 technical fall over Geronimo Rivera of Utah Valley at 125-pounds. Sakamoto used three takedowns and three near falls to score the win in his first competition as a Cyclone. At 133, Utah Valley’s Layne Kleimann got an early first period takedown and near fall on #14 Garrett Grice and never looked back. Kleimann won the match by a 13-2 major decision over Grice.
The Frost brothers then made short work of their opponents at 141 and 149-pounds. Second-ranked Evan Frost scored three takedowns and two near falls to earn a 16-1 technical fall over Smokey McClure in 4:20. Then #9 Jacob Frost used six takedowns to for his own technical fall. Jacob defeated Jason Worthley by a 19-3 score in 5:39.
The Cyclones #13 Paniro Johnson wrestled a tough match against Ian Fritz at 157. Johnson got an early takedown to lead 3-1 at the end of period one. Fritz got his own takedown in period two and the period ended with a 4-4 tie. Johnson stepped it up in the third period and scored two more takedowns to for the 10-7 decision. Connor Euton finished the Cyclone scoring run with a 19-4 second period technical fall over Ryker Fullmer. Euton (#14) was methodical, using six takedowns to earn the win at the 4:26 mark. The team score at this point was 23-4 in favor of Iowa State.
At 174-pounds, Take Naaktgeboren wrestled hard, but did not have an answer for #25 Marcus Espinoza-Owens’ offense. Espinoza-Owens won the match with an 8-2 decision. Utah Valley’s #19 Caleb Uhlenhopp followed with a 14-2 major decision over Sawyer Bartelt at 184. Uhlenhopp’s four takedown victory pulled the team score closer to 23-11.
The Cyclones Braden Thompson used a strong third period to defeat #23 Kael Bennie by a 9-3 decision at 197. Cyclone heavyweight #15 Coby Merrill closed out the night with a takedown clinic, using seven takedowns to defeat Will McCleary by a 22-6 technical fall. Merrill finished off McCleary with four takedowns in the final 1:33 to earn the tech fall in 6:33.
The Cyclones travels will continue next week when they head to Bradenton, Florida to compete in the Sunshine Duals on Saturday, November 14th. Iowa State will wrestle North Dakota State at Noon and #26 Penn at 2:00 PM CST.
Iowa State 31 – Utah Valley 11
125: Rin Sakamoto (ISU) tech fall Geronimo Rivera, 19-1 (7:00)
133: Layne Kleimann (UVU) md #14 Garrett Grice, 13-2
141: #2 Evan Frost (ISU) tech fall Smokey McClure, 16-1 (4:20)
149: #9 Jacob Frost (ISU) tech fall Jason Worthley, 19-3 (5:39)
157: #13 Paniro Johnson (ISU) dec Ian Fritz, 10-7
165: #14 Connor Euton (ISU) tech fall Ryker Fullmer, 19-4 (4:26)
174: #25 Marcus Espinoza-Owens (UVU) dec Tate Naaktgeboren, 8-2
184: #19 Caleb Uhlenhopp (UVU) md Sawyer Bartelt, 14-2
197: Brayden Thompson (ISU) dec #23 Kael Bennie, 9-3
285: #15 Coby Merrill (ISU) tech fall Will McCleary, 22-6 (6:33)
First Impressions and Final Thoughts
Iowa State once again won the takedown battle with thirty takedown’s to Utah Valley’s nine.
Iowa State also had a first period takedown advantage of 9-3 over Utah Valley. Six of seven Cyclones who won matches scored at least one first period takedown. Iowa State scored no first period takedowns in the matches they lost.
In the Cyclones two victories both teams were unranked, and both teams’ strength was in their upper weights. The competition will get a little tougher for the Cyclones next weekend. Penn is ranked #26 in this week’s poll. They have six ranked wrestlers and those six are at the six lightest weights.
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