AMES — The No. 1 Iowa men’s wrestling team defeated in-state rival No. 13 Iowa State, 22-11, on Sunday night at Hilton Coliseum. The Hawkeyes improved to 3-0 on the season, while the Cyclones dropped to 2-1. 

In its first road dual of the season, Iowa won six of the 10 bouts and used bonus points from 141-pounder Jaydin Eierman and heavyweight Tony Cassioppi to get past Iowa State. 

On multiple occasions, both the Cyclone and Hawkeye wrestlers got chippy after the whistle was blown.

Iowa’s third-ranked 133-pounder Austin DeSanto and Iowa State’s Ramazan Attasauov exchanged words after DeSanto defeated Attassauov. 

Iowa State 197-pounder Yonger Bastida spiked his head gear into the mat in excitement after his 4-2 victory over Iowa’s third-ranked Jacob Warner.

At the end of the meet, there was nearly an 11th bout of the night after Iowa State heavyweight Sam Schuyler was disqualified via stalling to give Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi the victory.

Iowa assistant coach Terry Brands rushed the Iowa State corner after the stalling disqualification, exchanging words with the Cyclone staff. The Iowa men’s wrestling team was docked a point for unsportsmanlike conduct following the heated exchange.

Here’s a clip from the craziness post-dual after it seemed assistant coach Brands rushed the Iowa State corner. It’s hard to see with a lot of moving bodies. #Cyclones / ⁦@cyclonefanatic⁩ pic.twitter.com/KF7cehMgCq

— Jacqueline (@JacquelineCord) December 6, 2021

Head coach Tom Brands was not surprised by the skirmish to end the night.

“It’s two teams that want to win and a stallout at the end,” Brands said. “We’re up, 17-11, and the guy got stalled out of the dual. He got stalled out. Of course there’s heated emotions.”

Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser, however, didn’t agree with the referee’s judgement on the disqualification.

“I thought the official did a really good job for the most part, and then completely lost all of his bearings in the last match,” Dresser said. “I don’t know if he let the other side get to him. He wanted to go home and he had to watch a movie tonight or something. I don’t know what was up with him but he obviously wanted that match over.

“I don’t know what was going on,” Dresser added. “Maybe you had to catch a flight or something but it was unbelievable, unbelievable with a capital U, right? That you end that match that fast.”

Bastida, who has spent just over a year in the U.S., described the end of the dual as, “Crazy, like a war.” 

Cyclone 149-pounder David Carr, however, chalked the scuffle up to passion. 

“I think we tried to shake hands and you know, it’s a sport. We’re passionate,” Carr told reporters. “We love our guys, So I think both teams are very passionate and just kind of got a little rowdy a little bit. But  I think that’s normal. When people love their teammates, they want to have their back and guess what happened.”

Big Picture

Sunday’s dual marked Iowa’s 17th consecutive victory over Iowa State  and the closest Hawkeye victory since 2018. 

But Tom Brands doesn’t put pressure on the Cy-Hawk series. For the Hawkeye men’s wrestling team, it was another step forward.

“This is just one date on the calendar,” Tom Brands said. “This isn’t like a catalyst, a springboard for greater things to come. This is a step along the path to Detroit. That’s how we operate.” 

Up Next

The Hawkeyes have a two-week break before heading to the Rokfin Duals in Destin, Florida, on Dec. 20-21. Iowa will compete against No. 2 Penn State, No.4 Arizona State, No. 6 North Carolina State, No. 7 Missouri, No. 15 Virginia Tech, No. 19 Northern Iowa, No. 22 Central Michigan, Lehigh, Hofstra, and Binghamton.