Iowa wrestling shut out Indiana in the last home dual meet of the season.
By Courtney Baumann
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Senior Night for the No. 2 Iowa wrestling team did not disappoint. More than 8,500 fans piled into Carver-Hawkeye to watch the last home regular-season dual meet on Feb. 5.
Iowa put on a dominant performance in its camouflage singlets. The Hawkeyes defeated Indiana, 45-0, with pins by Brody Grothus and Sam Stoll and back-to-back major decisions from Sammy Brooks and Nathan Burak.
The seniors in the lineup, Patrick Rhoads, Edwin Cooper Jr., Grothus, and Burak, all won their matches.
“Just a good night for our seniors,” head coach Tom Brands said. “It’s Senior Night, it may not be the last home dual, but it’s a good night for the seniors. Four of our six seniors got to wrestle, and the other two are great ambassadors for what we’re about.”
Iowa had the lead before the dual even started. The first match of the night was slated for 133 rather than 125; junior 125-pounder Cory Clark won because of forfeit, making it 6-0, Hawks.
Next up was Grothus, who earned the fall in two minutes and 30 seconds. After just two weight classes, Iowa was up 12-0.
By the break (five matches), seniors were three-for-three, the score was 22-0, and Iowa had just about locked up the win.
The second half went by faster than the first, with the Hawkeyes gaining two technical falls and a pin. It also contained the two marquee matches of the night — No. 10 Alex Meyer and No. 11 Nate Jackson, as well as the final matchup of No. 2 Thomas Gilman and No. 19 Elijah Oliver.
Jackson is the highest ranked wrestlera Meyer has beaten this season. The two wrestlers ranked in the top 10 that he has faced, Kyle Crutchmer of Oklahoma State and Cody Walters of Ohio, have given him his only two losses.
Gilman, on the other hand, earned his sixth win of the season over ranked opponents.
Burak was the last senior to wrestle, and a technical fall secured the 4-0 night for the seniors in the lineup.
It was his opportunity to bounce back from his first loss of the season, on Jan. 29 to Brett Pfarr of Minnesota.
“It’s so much fun to wrestle in Carver,” Burak said. “Last weekend wasn’t the result I wanted to get back on the right track and score a lot of points. I think I did that tonight. It’s where I needed to be to move forward.”
Another thing that moved that night was Iowa’s coach’s fashion choices. Just as the Iowa wrestlers were decked out in camouflage, so were the Brands brothers, as well as assistant coaches Ryan Morningstar and Ben Berhow.
Cooper was a fan of assistant coach Terry Brands’ white fishing shirt and camo cargo pants.
“I told him that he’s got great style and great taste,” Cooper said. “That white shirt was pretty slick; it’s hard to top that.”
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