By Courtney Baumann
Seven Hawkeye wrestlers saw action in Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the first time of their careers Friday morning.
Michael Kemerer, Joey Gunther, Jeremiah Moody, Cash Wilcke, and Mitch Bowman all got out on the mat and contributed in a big way in Iowa’s 55-0 win over Iowa Central.
In fact, the newbies put up more points in the first dual of the day than the veterans on the roster. The five of them combined for 28 points, with pins from Kemerer, Moody, and Bowman. Gunther and Wilcke both won by technical fall.
“We’re just trying to live up to the philosophy, which is score points, win big, and dominate,” Kemerer, a redshirt freshman said. “That’s the goal every time. It’s nice to get out there and score lots of points.”
Kemerer led the way for the younger guys, pinning his first opponent, Iowa Central’s Carlos Champaign, in 2:01 and getting the technical fall on his second, Cornell’s Aaron Engle, with a score of 16-1 in the first period.
He was the first of the newbies to take the mat Friday, and set the pace for the rest. Moody, Wilcke, and Bowman all recorded a fall on the day as well.
Bowman, a sophomore, has been vying for a spot in the lineup for a couple of years and finally got the opportunity to prove himself.
Listed on the roster as a 174-pounder, the native of Donahue jumped all the way up to heavyweight for his first match in Carver-Hawkeye. Though largely outweighed, Bowman pinned his opponent in just 1:32 to complete the Hawkeyes’ shut out of Iowa Central.
“It was a great feeling to go out there in front of the crowd. They were energetic and I was pumped to go wrestle. It was everything I’ve dreamed of,” Bowman said. “It feels like a lot of the work has paid off… It’s good to see where we’re at right now, knowing that we can build up leads on people that are fighting hard.”
One big surprise of the day was Moody’s pin on Iowa Central’s Anthony Jones. It took just 1:10 for the redshirt freshman to handle his opponent.
It was something that pleased not only Iowa head coach Tom Brands, but former Iowa wrestler and three-time All-American Mike Evans.
“You look at Jeremiah Moody, who was probably the outstanding wrestler of the event,” Brands said. “Mike Evans came upstairs and he says, ‘I’ve never seen three foot sweeps in a row.’ That’s entertaining. However many people are out there, they got pretty loud and they were pretty entertained.”
Skyler St. John and Steven Holloway made their debuts in Carver-Hawkeye as well. The two wrestled in the second dual of the day, against Cornell.
Both won their matches by decision, 7-4 and 3-2, respectively.
With St. John taking the 165 spot in the second dual, Gunther moved up a weight class and wrested at 174, pushing No. 6 ranked Alex Meyer up as well.
Regardless, Gunther did the job and won by decision over the larger opponent, 9-4.
“It’s good. Obviously now the competition ratchets up and we have to have more urgency about us but I’m seeing some things from Steven Holloway – that’s a match that I wanted to get – and Joey Gunther moving up a weight didn’t really faze him,” Brands said. “Things are going to ratchet up here… we’re getting into competition where we’ll see where we’re at more.”
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