Matt McDonough suffered an upset loss to Illinois redshirt freshman Jesse Delgado on Dec. 2.
It hasn’t necessarily been easy, McDonough said, but the Iowa 125-pounder said he’s working on putting that loss behind him.
"You have to put it away right away," he said Tuesday. "You never like it, you’re never happy about it. It always bothers me when I think about it. But it’s already on to the next thing, because otherwise I’m not going to be able to wrestle to my full potential."
McDonough lost in overtime, 11-7, after building a 6-2 lead in the second period. The 2010 NCAA champion and 2011 runner-up said he simply wasn’t as prepared for the match as he could have been.
Iowa’s dual with Illinois in Carver-Hawkeye Arena started at the 149-pound weight class, meaning seven matches took place before McDonough and Delgado met in the 125-pound bout. McDonough said he couldn’t remember ever wrestling that late into a dual meet before, but he didn’t think that was a factor in the match.
"Maybe that can lead to a little subdued level of readiness, if you sit around and don’t get yourself fired up the right way," he said. "But I don’t think that was the cause of anything. It’s just doing what I do best and not letting anything in the course of the match change the way I wrestle."
McDonough fell from No. 1 in Intermat’s 125-pound rankings to No. 3, while Delgado rose to No. 6. The two could face each other at the Midlands Tournament at the end of the month or the Big Ten Tournament in March, an opportunity McDonough said he wanted "more than anything."
"You always want a chance to redeem yourself, and there are going to be chances," he said. "I’m going to see him again, and I’m looking forward to it."
Evans responds to ISU’s Sorenson
Iowa redshirt freshman Mike Evans dropped a 4-3 decision to Iowa State senior Andrew Sorenson in their 165-pound match on Dec. 4.
Evans struggled to get past Sorenson’s defense in the third period of the match and couldn’t earn a winning takedown. Visibly frustrated, Evans shoved Sorenson as the match ended; Iowa was docked a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Afterward, Sorenson wasn’t shy about his victory over Evans.
"He never got close to my legs," Sorenson said. "His attacks weren’t solid. I’ll beat him worse next time, because I didn’t get my attacks off like I wanted to."
Evans responded to those comments on Tuesday.
"That means he beat me bad, by saying that — and by no means did he," he said. "And by no means did he. I think if the match was in Carver, it would be a different way. But he got the better of me."
Schwab returns to Iowa City
Doug Schwab was a three-time All-American and an NCAA champion as an Iowa wrestler from 1998-2001. He coached as an assistant under Tom Brands for seven years, including two at Virginia Tech before Brands came to Iowa; he followed Brands back to Iowa City, where he spent another five years as an aide.
He’ll enter Carver-Hawkeye Arena as an opponent for the first time on Thursday.
Schwab took over as the head coach at Northern Iowa last season and went 12-9 in dual meets. It was the Panthers’ first 12-win season since 2003.
Iowa wrestled at UNI last season and beat Schwab’s Panthers, 39-0.
Brands said his team will prepare to wrestle his former assistant just as it would for any other opponent.
"I know that Doug Schwab is capable," Brands said. "I love the man. He was a key component to a lot of what was accomplished. [But] he’s a competitor, and we’ve got to be ready."
