By Andrew Shanks The Daily Iowan
Iowa City, IA (U-WIRE) — Daniel Dennis was new to the Iowa-Iowa State wrestling rivalry.
So forgive him for not fully comprehending the magnitude of his 10-7 victory over his 133-pound counterpart – then-No.14 Jesse Sundell – on Dec. 2 in Ames.
“I really didn’t have any doubts about winning my match, “said Dennis, a freshman from Ingleside, Ill. “I wasn’t that worried about losing, because I felt all along that I was the better wrestler. My only obstacle was that I had never wrestled in front of this many people.”
Dennis (6-2) was wrestling with a self-described “stomach problem “that had the freshman ailing leading up to his match. His performance while sick was something that coach Jim Zalesky said he sees as a scary proposition for other wrestlers attempting to down Iowa’s lone first-year starter.
“Dennis has been a good surprise for us all year, “the coach said. “He won by probably not wrestling his best match. With the matches and experience, it’s safe to say that he’s only going to get better and better.
“He knows that there are certain situations that he can get better in, but [this] was a big win for him.”
Heading up to the intrastate contest, Zalesky pinpointed a few matches as ones that could possibly decide the outcome of the meet. Along with the 157- and 184-pound tussles, Dennis’ match was considered one that could sway the outcome of the 71st meeting between the two schools. With All-American Paul Bradley winning at 184, 8-5, in a closely contested match that had the Cyclone faithful irate because of a questionable takedown call late in the third period, combined with Dennis’ 10-7 triumph at 133 pounds, the Hawkeyes won two of the three individual matches that were considered toss-ups earlier in the week.
“I knew that my match was big, but I had faith that if I lost, my teammates would pick me up, “Dennis said. “As a team, we didn’t wrestle as well as we would have liked, but we came out here and did what we wanted to do. ”
Dennis is now on the fast track to stardom at Iowa. From the season’s onset – when he recorded two pins, a technical fall, major decision, and decision en route to winning the 133-pound title at the Spartan Classic on Nov. 13 – he has appeared primed to stake claim of his position on the squad. However, exuberant amounts of instant success can be difficult to handle for any freshman wrestler.
Don’t worry for Dennis, though – he’s getting tips from the in-house expert on the subject.
“We knew that Dennis was going to come out and win tonight, “Mark Perry said. “He was one of the most underrated high-school wrestlers in the nation, and pound-for-pound is probably the strongest wrestler on the team.
“I told Dennis how I came into every match last season knowing that I was going to win and that he needed to be that confident too.
“One thing freshman can’t do – especially wrestling against a fifth-year senior – is give respect to anyone. I think [this] proves that he didn’t give too much respect to Sundell.”
Wrestling Gear
