With wrestlers such as Thomas Gilman, Edwin Cooper Jr., and Sammy Brooks, the Iowa wrestling team is known for trying to speed up the pace.
However, when North Carolina State comes to visit Feb. 22 for the National Duals meet, the Wolfpack will try to slow that pace down and throw off the Hawkeyes’ momentum.
“We’re going to have to get ready for a styles that are something we haven’t seen but something we have to deal with as we get into [the postseason],” head coach Tom Brands said. “The leg riding is what I’m talking about, and we have to be ready.”
The Hawkeyes will have to work to make sure they stay on offense. If North Carolina State gets on top, the many of the wrestlers will lock up the legs to ride their opponent out and wait for an opportunity to open up.
Because of this, the Wolfpack do not score as many points during matches as Hawkeyes such as Gilman and Brooks do. The two Iowa wrestlers have combined for only 10 matches throughout the season that did not result in bonus points for the Hawkeyes.
The key for the Hawkeyes, Cooper said, will be patience.
“There are times when you’re going to score bunches and bunches and bunches, but you have to be patient in the beginning of the match,” the senior said. “They’re not going to happen right away. [The points are] going to happen in spurts.”
As long as Iowa wrestlers remain patient, it will be easier for them to stick to what they know and how they want to wrestle.
This means to stay offensive and keep attacking, even if things are not happening right away.
Cooper said that as long as he continues to wrestle his own style, things will start to unravel and the match will turn in his favor.
To Brandon Sorensen, one of the two Iowa wrestlers who still have undefeated seasons, it does not matter what kind of style he will face.
Like Cooper, he plans to stick to what he knows and wrestle the way he has done so well this year.
The No. 2 ranked wrestler did not seem to be fazed by the thought of being matched up against No. 3 Kevin Jack of North Carolina State
“It doesn’t really matter what style it is, you have to take it out anyways,” Sorensen said. “Whether it’s defensive with the legs or guys who like to roll, it doesn’t matter. Any style that’s out there, you have to go and wrestle.