By DAN McCOOL
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Iowa City, Ia. ” Iowa’s wrestling team was a lot closer to upsetting top-ranked Oklahoma State than it was to breaking an NCAA attendance record Saturday night.
Defending 165-pound national champion Johny Hendricks scored a 10-4 victory over Iowa’s Eric Luedke in the final bout of the night, as Oklahoma State extended its winning streak to 27 matches with an 18-14 victory over No. 7 Iowa before an announced crowd of 8,157 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The crowd was well below one of the night’s targets ” the record 15,646 fans who piled into the Target Center in Minneapolis to watch Minnesota and Iowa wrestle Feb. 1, 2002.
The other target was the Cowboys, who appeared to be heading for a commanding victory after spotting the Hawkeyes a 7-0 lead in the first two bouts. Second-ranked Ty Eustice at 149 pounds snapped Oklahoma State’s five-match winning streak with a 4-2 victory over top-ranked Zack Esposito, the defending NCAA champion, and Joe Johnston notched 10 takedowns, eight in the third period, en route to a 25-11 major decision over Oklahoma State’s Kevin Ward at 157. Suddenly, the Hawkeyes were one point behind, 15-14, with one match left.
A loss is a loss, but Johnston said there was good garnered from the grappling.
“I think everybody should realize we’re not that far off, “Johnston said. “We had that match at 125. If we would have won that, that’s the meet. There’s a bunch of little situations where if we capitalize on them, I think we’re right there.
“It’s not good to lose, obviously, but I don’t think it’s something we should be down in the mouth about.”
How close are the Hawkeyes from getting back into the elite of the NCAA again?
“I think it’s even a lot closer than close, “Eustice said.
Oklahoma State took the lead for good, 9-7, when Coleman Scott managed to get 1 minute 2 seconds of riding time on Iowa’s Luke Magnani at 125 pounds for a 4-3 victory. A wrestler gets one bonus point for accruing 1 minute of riding time against his opponent.
Scott’s ride-out victory was credited to his long legs. Magnani appeared to be ready to score an insurance takedown at the edge of the mat, but Scott managed to fight out of the situation and take Magnani down for a 3-3 tie with 44 seconds left in the match.
“You’ve got to do that on the road, don’t you? “Oklahoma State coach John Smith asked in his post-match press conference. “On the road, you’ve got to have some things happen that work for you, to win matches.”
The meet was Oklahoma State’s third in three days. The Cowboys beat Army and Northern Iowa Thursday night in Stillwater.
“I don’t think, by any means, we had our best effort, “Smith said. “I don’t think I put this team in a great situation to have their best match either, with their training, wrestling two matches on Thursday and traveling here (Saturday). But I think it’s extremely important that under those situations you find a way to get your hand raised. For the most part, that’s what we did and that’s about all we did.”
Smith said he could not recall the last time the Cowboys failed to get bonus points in a meet from major decisions, pins and technical falls.
The Hawkeyes had their early margin as third-ranked Mark Perry used three two-point near falls and had 5 minutes 42 seconds of riding time in a 13-0 victory over Brandon Mason, a former three-time state champion at Council Bluffs Lewis Central, at 174 pounds, and second-ranked Paul Bradley made a late-first period takedown stand up in a 2-1 victory over Rusty Blackmon at 184 pounds.
Eustice got the crowd back to its feet when he bore in for a takedown with 34 seconds left in regulation and got his first victory in three tries against Esposito.
“The last time I wrestled him, I had more attacks than this one, “Eustice said, “so it gave me the confidence to know I could score on him. I wished I could have scored earlier than that, but he’s a national champ for a reason. He’s a tough kid, he’s not going to just fall down.”
Eustice said the crowd may have been smaller than desired, but it got noisy when needed.
“It’s fun to make them yell about something for once, “Eustice said.
At least one: Oklahoma State heavyweight Steve Mocco was roundly booed when lineups were announced Saturday night, but the 2003 NCAA heavyweight champion at Iowa did get at least one favorable greeting on his first trip to Carver-Hawkeye Arena since transferring to Oklahoma State in 2004.
Just before the national anthem, a fan yelled, “We love you, Steve.”
Fellers out: Iowa coach Jim Zalesky said Saturday that senior 197-pounder Adam Fellers is academically ineligible for the second semester, thus ending his collegiate career. Zalesky said Fellers (0-7) was the Hawkeyes’ only loss to academics.
The Hawkeyes used freshman Dan Erekson of Eagle, Idaho, at 197 against Oklahoma State Saturday night. Erekson was originally considered to be withheld from varsity competition this season.
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