Throughout the winter months, four wrestlers have competed for coveted spots in Tom Brands’ lineup. The contested races finally concluded last week with wrestle-offs, cementing two wrestlers’ dreams of postseason grappling.

141

A redshirt freshman and sophomore split reps at 141 pounds throughout the last half of Iowa’s season. Sophomore Vince Turk, Iowa’s go-to starter at the beginning of the season, opened his campaign with three wins but then dropped bouts to Rider’s Tyson Dipper and Illinois’ Mike Carr.

The next dual, with Rutgers, freshman Carter Happel got the call from Brands. Happel then lost three of his first four matches in Iowa duals but finished sixth at the Midlands Championship, in front of Turk, only adding to the questions surrounding 141-pounds.

Happel surged ahead in the race with a last-second pin over Minnesota’s then-10th-ranked Tommy Thorn. But Turk answered two weeks later with a major decision over the then-No. 18 Ian Parker.

So it came down to a wrestle-off on Feb. 23, where Turk emerged on top with a 6-1 decision over Happel and secured his trips to East Lansing and Cleveland.

But there will be two more years of postseasons left for the pair to fight for.

“He’s a tough guy, and a good partner to have in the room,” Turk said. “I just have to keep wrestling how I wrestle and fight for that spot every day. He’s going to be doing the same, and it helps us both get better.”

174

Iowa’s Joey Gunther always seemed like the go-to for the Hawks at 174 pounds. That is, until Kaleb Young put on some weight.

Young, the 165-pounder for Brands before Alex Marinelli’s injury healed, started splitting reps with Gunther in late January. Although he never won a match for the Hawks at 174, he held up with some of the nation’s best wrestlers.

Gunther started his season strong. He won his first eight dual-meet bouts. But the pair were seemingly neck-and-neck until Brands decided to have a wrestle-off decide their postseason fate.

“There was really no real clear indicator that the guys who were in contention at those weight classes were grabbing that spot and putting it in a place where there was a clear-cut decision for the coaching staff,” Brands said. “A lot of fans might wonder how do you do this, the guy has got to be a nervous wreck. But what about the coaches? That situation puts coaches in a straight jacket, let me tell you.”

The stress was on both Brands and his 141- and 174-pounders; one bout with a teammate could be their season’s last.

“I had to look at it like another dual, another match,” Gunther said. “It was important, so I could continue my season, but if I wrestled like that, I would probably lose — if I thought that this could be it, I could be done. I had to look at it like any other match and just wrestle.”

And the match came down to the wire between the two 174-pounders. Gunther finally emerged on top with a 3-2 decision in the first tie-breaker.

“Kaleb definitely pushes me,” Gunther said. “We push each other because were both trying to get that spot. It keeps me focused on wanting to be the best every time and getting to the top every practice.”