AMES — In a stadium spattered with red, gold, and black, two Iowa teams walked onto the mat. One walked away with an overwhelming victory.
The Hawkeyes, save for a forfeited match at 197, dominated every matchup.
No. 3 true freshman Spencer Lee started off the match with his usual firepower, pinning Iowa State’s true freshman Sinjin Briggs in 42 seconds.
“Just went out there — Coach told us to do what we needed to do — and wrestled hard,” Lee said.
Clearly, getting a new pin-time record was what he needed to do.
Next up was Paul Glynn taking on Iowa State sophomore Markus Simmons, but this matchup wasn’t so straightforward. Simmons came out strong against Glynn, getting a takedown and a near fall in the first four minutes. But Glynn turned it around, coming back with his own takedown and near fall. Another takedown, and Glynn secured his comeback victory.
The following match, a matchup between sophomore Vince Turk and No. 18 freshman Ian Parker, didn’t go well for Iowa State. Turk came out from the get-go and kept the pressure on for the full seven minutes with four takedowns, a 2-point near fall, and a reversal. Turk held his lead to earn the team a major decision.
RELATED: In-state wrestling rivals clash in Ames
The next two matches weren’t so definitive, however. Neither No. 2 senior Brandon Sorensen nor No. 2 sophomore Michael Kemerer had clear victory margins over their unranked opponents. They did manage to pull through, each earning 3 points by decision.
No. 2 freshman Alex Marinelli’s match was one to watch — you just couldn’t have blinked. Marinelli grappled with junior Skyler St. John for maybe 30 seconds before The Bull got a hold of St. John and lifted him high in the air to slam him into the mat. St. John was pinned by the time the clock hit 52 seconds.
“I just wrestled today and did what I needed to do,” Marinelli said.
Sophomore Joey Gunther and junior Mitch Bowman also did what they needed to do to come out of the match on top. Both scored takedowns and escape points, and for both, that was enough.
The next match, 197, was notable in that nothing happened. Sophomore Cash Wilcke, sick with the flu, was unable to take his spot at 174. Sophomore Steven Holloway, next in line, is injured, and with Iowa’s insurmountable lead over the Cyclones, head coach Tom Brands decided to call the forfeit.
“[Holloway] was ready to go if we needed him, and we weighed in one guy there,” said Brands. “But the right thing to do was to protect our guy.”
Handing the Cyclones the 6 forfeit points proved to be nothing for Iowa. No. 5 junior Sam Stoll, at the heavyweight, towered over Iowa State’s junior Marcus Harrington. The size advantage made it impossible for Harrington to do anything to Stoll, who took the match with five takedowns to earn Iowa a major decision. The Hawkeyes walked away with a clobbering score of 35-6.
“It’s what you do as a competitor,” said Brands. “When it’s your turn to wrestle, you go out and do the best you can. Our guys went out ready to go, for the most part. We felt good about it.”