KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Tuesday, Drake Ayala said as long as he “wrestles like Drake Ayala,” good things will happen.
His performances at the NCAA Championships on Thursday, especially in the second round, looked like he embodied that mindset.
“He’s opening it up, and we got to keep doing that,” head coach Tom Brands said of Ayala after the conclusion of day one. “So yeah, give him credit. But let’s keep the good thing going.”
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Ayala entered the tournament as a No. 3 seed and kicked off Session I for the Hawkeyes with a 10-2 major decision over No. 30 Elijah Griffin of California Baptist. After about seven hours of downtime, the 125-pounder was back on the mat vying for a spot in the quarterfinals.
He put on an impressive showing — arguably his best yet this season — against Nico Provo of Stanford, winning 19-4. Ayala was in control the entire match, scoring three takedowns within the first three minutes and fending off any attacks from Provo. Nineteen points match Ayala’s season-high in dual meet competition, as he defeated Northwestern’s Massey Odiotti, 19-4, in the regular season.
Brands said because of the sustained time in between each wrestler’s matches, athletes like Ayala must be “resting, fueling, hydrating, and repeating.”
“The national tournament is different,” Brands said. “So you’re constantly just doing what you do to make sure that mind and body are ready to go.”
Ayala will rematch Oklahoma State’s Troy Spratley in the quarterfinals on Friday morning. The pair matched up in the regular season, and Ayala prevailed, 8-1, in sudden victory.
Although Brands preaches “one match at a time,” it’s notable that both of Ayala’s potential semifinal opponents are also familiar faces — Nebraska’s Caleb Smith and Wisconsin’s Eric Barnett. Ayala beat Smith and Barnett in the regular season.
Smith helped Ayala out in the second round by defeating Lehigh’s No. 2 Luke Stanich in sudden victory. Stanich was the highest seed remaining on Ayala’s side of the bracket, giving the Hawkeye a clearer path to the finals. Iowa hasn’t finished the national tournament without a finalist since 1989.
Familiar faces or not, Brands wants Ayala to “control the things you can control.” From the first dual meet, Brands and Co. have said every moment, good or bad, leads up to this weekend, so ultimately, it doesn’t matter what the scoreboard said in the regular season.
During March Mat-ness, it’s anyone’s game.
“Have a blast, that’s part of it. Enjoy it,” Brands said. “We’re going to day two in a three-day tournament, and I’m fired up.”
Team standings after Session II
1: Penn State, 34.5 (eight in the quarterfinals)
T-2: Iowa State, 24.5 (five in the quarterfinals)
T-2: Iowa, 24.5 (four in the quarterfinals)
T-3: Michigan, 22 (five in the quarterfinals)
T-3: North Carolina State, 22 (five in the quarterfinals)
6: Nebraska, 21
7: Ohio State, 20.5
8: Cornell, 18.5
9: Virginia Tech, 17.5
T-10: Missouri 14
T-10: Oklahoma State 14
