Talented freshmen making an impact at Iowa
By DAN McCOOL
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
December 25, 2004
Matt Fields of the Iowa wrestling team expected to be withheld from competition as a freshman this season.
“Even a week or two before our first competition, I was still wanting the redshirt, “Fields said. “I talked to the coaches and told them I didn’t think I was ready. They told me to keep training and get my mind set.”
Fields is an example of what coaches say is a growing trend in NCAA Division I wrestling. Guys are walking across the stage to receive their high school diplomas one day, and just a few months later are walking to the center of a mat in places such as Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Hilton Coliseum and Northern Iowa’s West Gym.
“I told (Fields) like I tell all freshmen coming in, ‘The best way to be ready no matter what you do is you’ve got to be training like you’re going to be the NCAA champion next year,’ ” Iowa coach Jim Zalesky said. “I’ve seen some guys hoping to redshirt. It’s like a year off and they don’t use the redshirt year the right way. I want them thinking the only way you know you’re redshirting for sure is if you don’t go to the Big Ten tournament.”
Fields is 7-1 and ranked No. 5 at heavyweight by InterMat. His only loss was to top-ranked Steve Mocco of Oklahoma State, a former national champion at Iowa who was an NCAA finalist as a true freshman in 2002.
“When you think about it, it seems like a big jump, “said Fields, the top-ranked high school big man last season according to Amateur Wrestling News. “After putting in the workouts with the rest of the team, it’s not as big of a shock.”
The Hawkeyes have used four other true freshmen in dual meets. Alex Tsirtsis has a 7-1 record and is ranked No. 8 at 141 pounds. Charlie Falck is 7-4 at 125 pounds, Luke Lofthouse is 5-4 at 174 and Dane Pape is 0-3 at 197.
A true freshman can compete in open tournaments such as the Spartan Open in Dubuque, which Fields and Tsirtsis won this winter, provided no team scoring is kept and still have four seasons of varsity competition available.
“The reason we’re looking at (Tsirtsis and Fields) is because they’re what’s best for the team, “Zalesky said.
According to InterMat’s NCAA Division I rankings, three true freshmen are among the top eight at their weight: Tsirtsis, Fields and Boise State 125-pounder Andrew Hochstrasser (seventh).
At least one coach avoids throwing true freshmen into the fray.
“My basic philosophy is I (withhold) all freshmen coming in, “Iowa State’s Bobby Douglas said. “Believe me, I’ve had to struggle through some tough seasons because of that, but in the long term they get their degrees.
“I think it’s a lot to ask a freshman, but some of them are capable of doing it. Some coaches feel they don’t have a choice but to put a freshman out there to score points. We’ve been in that situation and I’ve regretted it every time I started a (true) freshman.”
That has happened twice. Douglas started Marco Sanchez at Arizona State and Trent Hynek at Iowa State. Both said they did not want to sit out their first season.
“It’s hard for me to judge whether it’s the right thing or the wrong thing to do, “Douglas said. “I know if I was going for a national championship and I had a freshman I thought could score one point, and that one point would be the difference in the national championship and he’s in a redshirt, I’d have to think a lot different than I think now.”
Douglas said he wrestled on varsity as a true freshman at West Liberty State.
“I would have loved to have had a redshirt year and then wrestled, “he said. “I think I would have been a much better wrestler and a much better student.”
Colleges have been limited in the amount of depth they can build up in the practice room because of the 9.9 scholarship allowance. Injuries, early departures and falling short of expectations can complicate decisions on whom to use and whom to withhold.
The coaches, though, are also welcoming better prepared freshman into their programs.
“What it comes down to is I really believe these kids today are a little more advanced than they were five or 10 years ago, “Northern Iowa coach Brad Penrith said. “Some of these kids have gone to the Olympic Training Center when they were freshmen in high school, so these kids are more advanced.”
Penrith had true freshmen last season in Eric Pedretti, 18-19 at 184 pounds, and Mark Manchio, who was an NCAA qualifier at 133 in 2002 – the first time Northern Iowa had a true freshman qualify since Tony Wieland in 1996.
Penrith said he walked into Iowa’s practice room in the 1983-84 season, after winning a Junior Nationals Greco-Roman championship – and outstanding wrestler honors – in the 1983 tournament at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
“I wasn’t sniffing a takedown for a while because I walked in when the Olympic team was training there, “he said. “So I got worked over a lot.”
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Hawkeye underclassmen ranked high
Iowa’s Matt Fields and Alex Tsirtsis are two of three true freshmen ranked by InterMat among the nation’s top eight at their weight in NCAA Division I this season.
They are also two of five true freshman for the Hawkeyes to see action in dual meets this
season:
Wrestler Wt. W-L Rank
…
Matt Fields Hwt 7-1 5th
Alex Tsirtsis 141 7-1 8th
Charlie Falck 125 7-4 –
Luke Lofthouse 174 5-4 –
Dane Pape 197 0-3 –
Note -Ranked by InterMat
Wrestling Gear
