By: Andrew Shanks – The Daily Iowan
Ryan Fuller regained his status as the Iowa wrestling team’s starting heavyweight in a melancholy fashion on Jan. 22.
Then-starter Matt Fields was wrestling Minnesota’s top-ranked Cole Konrad when he heard a “pop “in his knee and was forced to withdraw from the match. A day later, the results were in – Fields, who boasted a 15-6 record and No. 6 national ranking, was done for the season.
“Fields is a great wrestler, “Fuller said. “It’s a terrible deal for him, and no one likes to see a teammate get injured, but I have the opportunity to wrestle now, and I’m taking it. The circumstances are definitely not what I had in mind, but it’s a chance for me to wrestle again and prove myself.”
Fuller, a junior from Lisbon, Iowa, was originally slated to be the Hawkeye heavyweight starter. However, public outcry and inconsistency at the position left Iowa coach Jim Zalesky no choice but to make the switch to the highly touted Fields.
Now, with the nationally ranked Fields rehabbing, Fuller understands that he needs to step in and continue with the ever-popular trend floating around the Iowa wrestling room these days – winning.
“There’s definitely some work that needs to be done with me, “he said. “I’ve had two months off from wrestling in meets, so I need to get my mindset right. I started thinking about switching styles and thinking about maybe freestyle wrestling, but now I just need to worry about practicing and getting better.”
He’s far from an also-ran, though. Far from it, really. In 2003-04, Fuller was the starting heavyweight for the Hawkeyes and compiled an 18-19-2 record and a seventh-place Big Ten finish in just his second season on campus. As a freshman in 2002-03, Fuller redshirted and wrestled unattached to the tune of a 17-5 overall record.
So why all the fuss? Zalesky’s really not sure why.
“We always said that if we were going to have a terrible injury like this that heavyweight would be the easiest for us to fill in, “he said. “The depth at the position with Ryan and Matt is a nice problem for us to have.”
Wrestling in his first meets since a 4-0 loss on Nov. 26 at Arizona State, Fuller came out aggressively against Purdue on Jan. 27 and was victorious by major decision, 10-1, over Aaron Keough. He defeated Indiana’s Dave Harman, 4-2, in Iowa’s most recent meet, on Sunday.
“I think that Fuller looked really tough, “Iowa’s 141-pounder Alex Tsirtsis said following the Purdue meet. “We have confidence in every wrestler on this team. It’s a tough break for Fields, and we’d all be 100 percent behind him if he were out here, but if Fuller is wrestling, we’ll cheer for him, and we know that he’ll do fine.”
Now that his first couple matches back are behind him, the newly anointed 280-pound heavyweight has received some words of wisdom from the head Hawkeye.
“He needs to get in better shape, “Zalesky said, referring to the 285-pound heavyweight limit. “But he hasn’t wrestled in a while, so he should get in better shape just from practicing. Ryan came out tough tonight, and forced the tempo, and got the major decision. I’m really happy for him.”
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