By DAN McCOOL
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Two homecomings. One enormous rivalry.
The top-ranked wrestling team in the country will visit Iowa City tonight when No. 7 Iowa (3-0) hosts powerhouse Oklahoma State (5-0) at 7:30 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The defending NCAA champion Cowboys bring a 26-meet overall winning streak, and a string of five successive wins against the Hawkeyes, into the contest.
“Anytime these two programs get together, with the tradition, it’s always a big meet, “Iowa coach Jim Zalesky said. “They’re probably favored in seven weights and we’re favored in three. If you go by paper, we’ve got to win some matches they’re favored in to win this dual meet.”
Iowa had hoped to challenge the NCAA record for attendance at a dual meet – 15,646, set by Minnesota and Iowa on Feb. 1, 2002, at Target Center in Minneapolis.
As of late Friday afternoon, though, Iowa ticket manager David Sandstrum said about 5,500 tickets had been sold. Sandstrum said another 2,000 tickets have been set aside for Iowa students, who would get in free with their student ID card.
Without a brisk sale today, the meet could be one of the lowest-attended Iowa-Oklahoma State meets in the modern era. The last Iowa-Oklahoma State meet in Iowa City, Jan. 11, 2004, drew 7,349 fans.
No matter what the crowd total, fans will see a pair of high-profile homecomings.
Top-ranked Oklahoma State heavyweight Steve Mocco returns to compete against his former team. Mocco was 71-3 and won the 2003 NCAA heavyweight championship for Iowa before taking the 2003-04 season off in order to train for the 2004 Olympics in freestyle wrestling.
Mocco transferred to Oklahoma State in 2004, saying, “I feel that OSU offers me the best chance to realize my dream of becoming an Olympic and world champion.”
At Oklahoma State, Mocco is 47-0. He is one of four NCAA champions on the Cowboys’ roster.
Mocco was unavailable for comment. Zalesky, though, said he doubts the former Hawkeye will receive a warm welcome.
“I don’t think you’re going to see any ‘Welcome back, Steve’ or ‘I love you, Steve’ signs anywhere, “Zalesky said.
Mocco is scheduled to compete in his fourth college match against Iowa’s Matt Fields. Their matches have not been high scoring and Fields has yet to score against Mocco.
“I can’t look at this as like a national championship, “Fields said. “If I win, it will be a great point in my career, but it’s not the best. The best, by far, is winning a national championship.”
In another homecoming, Cowboys’ 174-pounder Brandon Mason returns to the state where he set the career high school victory record at Council Bluffs Lewis Central (195-2, 2000-04).
Mason is expected to wrestle Mark Perry, the nephew of Oklahoma State coach John Smith who grew up in Stillwater and returned to his hometown wearing Iowa’s black and gold singlet last season.
Oklahoma State is favored in the meet that Iowa 157-pounder Joe Johnston said is a crossroads of sorts for the Hawkeyes.
“It’s not going to obviously be the end-all, but it’s going to be a test for a lot of guys and to see where we are as a team, “Johnston said.
Johnston is 4-0 against Oklahoma State’s Kevin Ward. He’s the only Iowa wrestler with a winning record in multiple matches against an Oklahoma State opponent.
A key weight will be 149, where Zack Esposito of Oklahoma State and Ty Eustice of Iowa meet. Esposito (11-0) has won both career meetings with Eustice, who is 8-0 this season.
Zalesky wants to see more fire from the Hawkeyes than he saw Jan. 11, 2004 – the last time Oklahoma State visited Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Cowboys whipped Iowa, 30-10, for the Hawkeyes’ worst home setback since a 29-9 loss to Iowa State in 1973.
“Two years ago, we didn’t compete, we didn’t fight, “Zalesky said. “If we don’t fight, we don’t have a chance. We have to be ready to fight
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