By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
The Iowa wrestling class was nearly complete last spring when the Hawkeyes made a late addition, signing a 133-pound prospect who’d never won a state title, but impressed Jim Zalesky with his rapid improvement.
That 133-pound prospect became Iowa’s 133-pounder Wednesday.
True freshman Daniel Dennis earned a starting spot in the Hawkeye lineup by beating senior Gabe Ruhkala by a 16-0 technical fall in a wrestle-off.
Junior Luke Magnani won a 7-4 decision against senior Trent Goodale to earn the starting position at 125 pounds for Iowa, which opens its dual season Saturday at Arizona State.
Dennis — a two-time Illinois state runner-up at Grant High School in Ingleside — was expected to bolster Iowa’s depth when he signed with the Hawkeyes. But when incumbent Mario Galanakis did not enroll in classes this fall, Iowa started searching for a 133-pound starter.
In Dennis, the Hawkeyes found an aggressive freshman. He won the 133-pound title at the Spartan Classic in Dubuque and then went 4-2 in the 20-and-under division last weekend at the Kaufman-Brand Open before beating Ruhkala, whose wrestle-offs last year against Galanakis were never one-sided.
“(Dennis has) shown us some good things, “Iowa coach Jim Zalesky said. “He’s our best guy for right now, and he wants to wrestle.”
Dennis might be a work in progress, but Zalesky said he likes the freshman’s potential and thinks Dennis can hone a lot of his rough edges by March.
“He’s got a lot of positions he’s got to work on, “Zalesky said. “But we like the way he wrestles.”
Dennis’ style has rubbed off on his older teammates.
“I look at him and I think he has good skills, but the attitude he brings, I like watching him wrestle because he gets after it the whole time, “senior 165-pounder Cole Pape said. “That can kind of pump you up. If you’re not really wrestling that way and you look at a freshman coming in and wrestling like that, it gets you going.
“He listens to everything the coaches say. He works hard, and he’s working on what the coaches want him to work on.”
Zalesky said Tuesday that the Hawkeyes will likely make a decision later in the week whether to use sophomore Mark Perry Jr. or hold the 174-pounder out Saturday. The returning NCAA finalist sustained a knee injury last month that forced him to sit out the first two weekends of competition.
If Perry can’t wrestle, the Hawkeyes will use junior Ben Stedman, who won a 12-6 decision Wednesday in a wrestle-off against Jacob Neuzil.
Zalesky said Iowa has not yet made a decision whether it will use junior Ryan Fuller or sophomore Matt Fields at heavyweight on Saturday against Arizona State’s fourth-ranked Cain Velasquez.
Reach Andy Hamilton at 339-7368 or ahamilton @ press-citizen.com.
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