By Courtney Baumann
The “next man in” philosophy isn’t just a football thing — it carries over to wrestling, too. For Iowa’s 133-pound slot, that next man in is Phillip Laux.
The junior entered the lineup for the first time this season after Cory Clark was deemed unable to compete late in the week before the South Dakota State meet on Dec. 2.
Laux will once again wrestle in place of Clark, a two-time All-American, this weekend against Iowa State.
“Phil Laux is our next man in at that weight. We love what he’s about,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said. “In the sport of wrestling, injuries are something that you deal with pretty much on a daily basis, and you have to have a lot of depth, and you have to have guys’ mentalities ready that anything can happen. It’s like the vice president, you’re a heartbeat away.”
This is the first time Laux has seen much competition over the past couple of years. The Brighton, Iowa, native announced that he would transfer to Northwestern before the 2015 season started, but he ended up staying at Iowa and missed the entire season.
It is certainly helpful for Iowa, though, that Laux decided to stay. In a weight class without much depth, he provides a sort of security blanket if anything were to happen — such as a Clark injury.
Laux enjoyed success early in his career, both in high school at Iowa City West, where he was a two-time state champion, and during his redshirt season, when he competed unattached. He went 23-1 during the 2013-14 season, pinning nine opponents and taking first at five tournaments. His only loss of the season came in the final round of the Grandview Open, where he took second.
His redshirt freshman season saw a drastic drop in competition, though. He competed in just six matches, ending the season with a 3-3 record.
With everything that has happened over the course of his career, Laux is finally getting the opportunity to show what he can do on the main stage.
“When you’re younger, first coming into the program, it’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Laux said. “You just have to come each and every day, open dialogue with the coaches and understand it’s an opportunity and a privilege to have the coaches and the training partners that I do have.”
Brands is confident in Laux’s training habits and abilities and has noticed the hard work he has put in.
Brands said Laux has embraced the role as a backup the past couple of seasons and trained hard so he can be ready when he is called upon.
“When you go out and you get an opportunity, you have be at your best,” Brands said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a backup, it doesn’t matter who you’re backing up, it matters about your opportunity. When the opportunity shines on you, be ready. Phil Laux embraces that.”
It might help to have Brandon Sorensen, a two-time All-American, as a roommate. The junior has been there throughout the past couple of weeks to give his teammate any advice he needs.
Sorensen said Laux has been putting in time outside of the wrestling room, too, watching tape and figuring out what he needs to correct in order to get his first dual-meet win of his career.
“There’s things, coming in and being the next man in, where you get overhyped or too worried about it, when really you just have to go out there you can’t think that it’s different than any other match,” Sorensen said. “You have to wrestle your style and do what you do best.”