By Jordan Hansen
[email protected]
Simply put, this season’s iteration of the Iowa wrestling team hasn’t seen much in competition.
A season-opening dual with No. 5 Oklahoma State aside (victory), the Hawkeyes have only wrestled one other top-10 opponent, Nebraska (victory). That will change this evening when No. 4 North Carolina State rolls into Carver-Hawkeye for the de facto third-place match of the National Duals.
Penn State will wrestle Oklahoma State for the event title, which is best explained as the BCS version of college wrestling, matching the top-two teams in the championship.
While Iowa and Penn State are the last two undefeated teams in the nation, a clause in the guidelines for the dual requires eight Big Ten teams to host and does not allow the teams to face one another.
“I guess if there’s any controversy to it, it’s the question of whether we should be wrestling Penn State or not,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said. “That was the one flaw, but that was talked about at the beginning of this thing.
“I still think this way is a better way to do this.”
There is no team advancement, however, which Brands likes. It was a format used in the past and added extra matches before the NCAA and Big Ten Championships, which can sap the wrestlers’ strength.
While the NCAA Championships in March will decide the true team national champion, the National Duals will provide a nice prelude to the rest of the postseason. The Wolfpack will bring six ranked wrestlers to Iowa City and have a very real chance to win.
Arguably, North Carolina State’s best wrestler — heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski — will lead the upset bid. Gwiazdowski, a two-time national champion, is on an 81-match winning streak and had a 10-1 win over Iowa’s Sam Stoll in the Midlands Championships.
“He’s as good as it gets for college wrestling, but there’s a lot of great guys out there, and you have to bring your A Game every time you go out there,” North Carolina State head coach Pat Popolizio said. “There’s always guys that can beat you, and you have to be ready for anything.”
Gwiazdowski and Stoll will be one of four rematches from the Midlands. Sammy Brooks (184), Nathan Burak (197), and Edwin Cooper Jr. (157) will all get rematches. Brooks and Burak won their bouts against Wolfpack wrestlers, while fourth-ranked Tommy Gantt beat Cooper.
On paper, Iowa will be favored in six matches, though North Carolina State has two excellent wrestlers in weights in which Iowa has struggled at points this year — 157 and 165.
Both weights have potential for bonus points for the Wolfpack, something that will likely tighten up the dual near intermission, assuming it starts at 125 pounds.
“We’ll prep all week for them, and their kid beat me at Midlands; it’s time to step it up,” Cooper Jr. said during a Feb. 16 media availability. “I have a lot of things I want to do with the rest of the year, and it starts here.”