Iowa men’s wrestling downs Oklahoma State, 23-9, in “Bout at the Ballpark”

The Hawkeyes erased an early 6-0 deficit on their way to a blowout win over the Cowboys.

Ayrton Breckenridge

Iowa’s 149-pound No. 10 Max Murin wrestles Oklahoma State’s No. 13 Kaden Gfeller during the Bout at the Ballpark wrestling dual between No. 2 Iowa and No. 12 Oklahoma State at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022. Murin defeated Gfeller, 5-2, by decision. The Hawkeyes defeated the Cowboys 23-9.

Austin Hanson, Sports Editor
February 13, 2022

The University of Iowa men’s wrestling team downed Oklahoma State, 23-9, Saturday evening at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The dual between the No. 2 Hawkeyes and No. 10 Cowboys was part of a larger event that was aptly dubbed the “Bout at the Ballpark,” as Globe Life Field is home to Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers.

The “Bout at the Ballpark” also featured exhibition duals that pitted the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Freestyle teams against a number of international opponents.

Iowa dug itself into an early hole in its match Saturday, suffering losses at 125 and 133 pounds.

Iowa’s redshirt freshman 125-pounder Jesse Ybarra nearly earned an upset over Oklahoma State’s Trevor Mastrogiovanni. Ybarra entered the match unranked and Mastrogiovanni was rated seventh in the nation. Still, Ybarra lost by just one point, 6-5.

“You know, I don’t talk about moral victories, but Ybarra, that’s his best performance,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said Saturday evening. “He hadn’t scored a takedown in a dual meet against a ranked [NCAA] Division I opponent or team. He was one second, a tick, away from winning that match. That’s a lesson. It’s a hard lesson and it hurts, but there’s some positives there for him.”

Hawkeye 133-pounder Austin DeSanto fell to the Cowboys’ Daton Fix, 5-3. Now-No. 3 DeSanto and now-No. 2 Fix wrestled each other in the NCAA Championship Semifinals last season. Fix claimed that match, 3-2.

Following Ybarra and DeSanto’s losses, the Hawkeyes began to rally. Iowa won seven of the last eight bouts it wrestled against Oklahoma State.

“We’re still getting better as a team and that’s probably the thing that I’m looking at, individual matches and where we’re headed in the season,” Brands said. “. . . Our guys won some tough matches. So, if we took control of it, I would say it’s because we won some tough matches with some tough wrestling. I think we’re still getting better, and I know we still have to get better.”

Marinelli, Murin pick up wins over ranked foes

Hawkeye seniors Alex Marinelli and Max Murin both picked up victories against ranked opponents Saturday.

Marinelli, who is ranked fifth in the nation at 165 pounds, downed No. 8 Travis Wittlake via 3-2 decision.

Murin, the country’s 10th-ranked 149-pounder, beat No. 13 Kaden Gfeller via 5-2 decision.

“We’re ultra ready going out there, just ready to score points right away,” Murin said Saturday. “. . . Keep on building, keep on scoring points. Just get ready to go every single day. Go out there and let it fly.”

Big Picture

Iowa now boasts 13-1 overall and 6-1 Big Ten Conference records. 

Penn State completed its Big Ten slate Feb. 6. The Nittany Lions went 8-0 in league duals. So, Penn State has mathematically clinched a Big Ten regular season title.

Iowa would’ve had a shot at the league regular season crown had it defeated Penn State on Jan. 28 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Instead, the Hawkeyes suffered a 19-13 defeat to the Nittany Lions that day.

AJ Ferrari’s status still in question

Cowboy 197-pounder AJ Ferrari hasn’t wrestled a match since Jan. 23. The Texan was involved in a car accident on Jan. 24.

Oklahoma State head coach John Smith said the reigning national champion had fluid in his lungs that was affecting his oxygen level. Smith added that Ferrari received a number of bruises and has dealt with some internal bleeding since he was in the accident.

Had Ferrari wrestled Saturday night, he would’ve taken on Iowa’s Jacob Warner. The pair met in last year’s NCAA Championship Quarterfinals. Ferrari defeated Warner, 3-2, in that match.

Warner extinguished Ferrari’s backup, Gavin Stika, via 11-3 major decision Saturday night at Globe Life Field.

Ferrari tweeted the following video on Feb. 10, neither confirming nor denying a return to the mat in 2021-22:

Up Next

The Hawkeyes will wrestle their last dual of the regular season on Feb. 20. Iowa will travel to the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, to take on the eighth-ranked Cornhuskers.

Action will begin at 6 p.m. and air live on the Big Ten Network.