By Dick Kelly
Maybe all it will take for Iowa State to win its first national wrestling championship in almost 20 years is to have coach Bobby Douglas predict such an achievement.
His take on Iowa State’s dual meet against Iowa Friday night at Hilton Coliseum was right on the money.
Douglas had said the Hawkeyes would be favored in six matches and ISU would be favored in four. That’s exactly how it worked out, resulting in a 20-15 Iowa victory and halting ISU’s two-meet winning streak in the series.
“I don’t think we won the battle of skill, “said Douglas, who was particularly upset with ISU’s work controlling tie-ups. “The will part was there, but we’ve got some work to do technically and tactically.
“I’m proud of the effort that our people put forward, but we’ve got to make a better effort than that to be competitive.”
Iowa (2-0) never trailed in the meet after winning the first three matches, something coach Jim Zalesky said the Hawkeyes had to do.
“We knew this would be big meet to build the momentum for the rest of the season, “Zalesky said. “Our strengths kind of matched up with their strengths and guys who maybe aren’t so highly touted kind of matched each other.
“We figured to win the meet, we’d have to win those first three weight classes.”
ISU figured to be favored at 141 pounds, 157 and 165. That’s where the Cyclones got three of their four victories.
Top-ranked Nate Gallick dominated Alex Tsirtsis, 4-1, at 141. Then brothers Trent and Travis Paulson won their matches at 157 and 165, respectively.
Trent Paulson continued his dominance of Joe Johnston with an 8-3 victory.
ISU’s other triumph came at 197, where freshman Joe Curran pinned Adam Fellers.
By the time Curran and Fellers took the mat, Iowa had an insurmountable 20-9 lead, but Curran’s fall is something the Cyclones can build on.
“Curran’s a good wrestler, and he’s young, “Douglas said. “I hate to have a freshman under that type of pressure, but he did a great job.”
Curran never trailed after getting three near-fall points in the second period. An escape and takedown gave Curran a 9-5 lead before the fall, the only bonus points ISU got on the night.
“He went out with everything on his shoulders and he performed, “Travis Paulson said of Curran. “That’s just a confidence booster for the future for when we have to rely on him.
“We know he can handle the pressure and know that he can go out and get the job done against top teams like Iowa.”
The meet began at heavyweight, and Iowa took a 3-0 lead on Ryan Fuller’s 4-2 victory over Richard Schopf.
Hawkeye Lucas Magnani defeated Ben Hanisch, 11-3, at 125 and true freshman Daniel Dennis beat ISU senior Jesse Sundell, 10-7, at 133.
Gallick, who improved to 9-0, got three points back with his third consecutive victory over Tsirtsis, and Trent Paulson beat Johnston four the fourth time in four matches.
Iowa’s Ty Eustice beat Jason Knipp, 6-3, at 149 as the Hawkeyes went ahead 13-3. After victories by the Paulson twins cut the lead to 13-9, the Hawkeyes pulled away with wins by Mark Perry (174) and Paul Bradley (184)
Bradley has won five of six meetings from ISU’s Kurt Backes, including the last four.
“They wrestled a smart match against us and in some cases we didn’t do such a good job of wrestling intelligently, “Douglas said. “We lost some real valuable takedowns at the edge of the mat, and we lost three scrambling situations that could have been the difference.
“You have to give credit to Iowa. They did what they had to do to win the match.”
ISU wrestles at Minnesota Friday night.
Iowa 20, Iowa State 15
Hwt – Ryan Fuller, I, dec. Richard Schopf, 4-2; 125 pounds – Lucas Magnani, I, maj. dec. Ben Hanisch, 11-3; 133 pounds – Daniel Dennis, I, dec. Jesse Sundell, 10-7; 141 pounds – Nate Gallick, ISU, dec. Alex Tsirtsis, 4-1; 149 pounds – Ty Eustice, I, dec. Jason Knipp, 6-3; 157 pounds – Trent Paulson, ISU, dec. Joe Johnston, 8-3; 165 pounds – Travis Paulson, ISU, dec. Cole Pape, 8-4; 174 pounds – Mark Perry, I, maj. dec. David Bertolino, 13-3; 184 pounds – Paul Bradley, I, dec. Kurt Backes, 8-5; 197 pounds – Joe Curran, ISU, pinned Adam
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