By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
No offense early. No chance to win at the end. No explanation for their latest performance.
The Iowa wrestling team and its teetering season took another dip Friday night with a 21-12 loss against eighth-ranked Penn State — an outing that mystified the Hawkeyes and the 2,895 that showed up at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“I don’t know what happened tonight, “said senior 149-pounder Ty Eustice, one of Iowa’s four winners. “It was bad.”
The Hawkeyes (9-5) were done in once again by two of their biggest flaws throughout this dual season. They started slow, and they couldn’t stay off their backs.
Penn State recorded the first takedown in eight matches and sewed up its first victory over Iowa since 1998 with two matches remaining. Fortunately for the seventh-ranked Hawkeyes, they captured victories at 141 and 149 to keep the score from looking more unsightly.
“That was ugly, “Eustice said. “It’s real embarrassing, especially against a team that isn’t better than us at all.”
The Nittany Lions might argue that opinion. They held a 14-11 advantage in takedowns. They won six matches in a seven-bout stretch, including five in which they were favored.
“We got taken down the first time in all those matches we lost, “Iowa coach Jim Zalesky said. “That’s been a problem for us in the meets we’ve lost.”
Giving up falls has been another issue. The dual tipped in Penn State’s favor for good when freshman Tim Haas pinned Lucas Magnani in the first period at 125.
“You can’t give up pins in dual meets, and we’ve been doing it all year, “Eustice said. “That’s why our record isn’t real great.”
This had trouble written all over it for Iowa from the start Friday. Third-ranked 174-pounder Mark Perry Jr. spent the night on the bench with a hooded sweatshirt covering the brace around his injured neck. The Hawkeyes wouldn’t use Perry’s absence as a crutch for their loss, but it didn’t help.
Then seventh-ranked 157-pounder Joe Johnston, a notorious slow starter, came out stagnant and fell behind 8-0 in the second period before No. 14 Nathan Galloway ran out of gas. In the final 2 minutes, 30 seconds, Johnston scored three takedowns, tacked on a pair of stalling points and completed his rally with a five-point move on a scramble with a minute remaining to pull out a 12-10 victory.
But the Nittany Lions showed some grit after that, winning three straight matches that were determined in the final minute. Iowa’s Eric Luedke finished a takedown a second after the final horn in a 4-3 loss to No. 12 David Erwin at 165. Penn State’s 11th-ranked James Yonushonis scored a pair of late takedowns to win a 7-5 decision against Ben Stedman, the fill-in for Perry at 174. Top-ranked Nittany Lion Eric Bradley fought off a shot in the last 12 seconds to win a 4-2 decision against No. 7 Paul Bradley at 184.
Heavyweight Ryan Fuller temporarily slowed the tide for the Hawkeyes with a 7-4 win against No. 18 Joel Edwards. But Haas flipped the momentum back in Penn State’s favor when he cranked Magnani to his back with a half-nelson in the first minute.
“(Magnani) wasn’t ready to go, “Zalesky said. “He was ready to feel his way into the match. He wasn’t ready to go. When he knows a guy’s good, he’s up for it. Tonight, it looked like he was like, ‘Well, I’m going to win this match.’ (Haas) hit him and hit him hard and he found himself on his back and pinned. You can’t get there.”
Iowa had a chance to recover when freshman Daniel Dennis put Jake Strayer on his back late in the 133-pound match, but the ninth-ranked Nittany Lion avoided the fall and held on for a 10-7 win.
“I can’t fault all the team, “Zalesky said. “The four guys who won wrestled well. But the other guys have to pick it up a little bit more.”
The silver lining inside the black cloud hovering above the Hawkeyes Friday was their performance in their final two matches.
Second-ranked Eustice capped the night with a 7-3 win against No. 11 James Woodall.
In the previous match, Alex Tsirtsis won a 6-2 decision against No. 10 DeWitt Driscoll at 141. The 15th-ranked Iowa sophomore fell behind 2-0, but came out on top of a wild scramble in the second period to ride out Driscoll.
“Last year, he probably would’ve gotten reversed and put on his back for four points, “Zalesky said. “But tonight he knew where he was at and fought out of it.”
Tsirtsis tacked on a third-period reversal and two near-fall points to seal the match.
“After I came out on top of that scramble, I think he broke a little bit, “Tsirtsis said. “He didn’t show too much fight after that.”
Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, they didn’t show enough fight prior to that to have a chance at the end. It was a performance that puzzled Eustice and one he called “embarrassing.”
“Some of our guys maybe need to get slapped in the head a little bit before they step out there, “he said.
“If you stand around, anyone’s tough. We could pull anybody out of the stands, and if our guys just stood there in front of them for four minutes, that person could have a chance to win. No one’s going to fall over. You’ve got to make the other guy work.”
PENN STATE 21, IOWA 12
157 — Joe Johnston (I) dec. Nathan Galloway 12-10.
165 — David Erwin (PSU) dec. Eric Luedke 4-3.
174 — James Yonushonis (PSU) dec. Ben Stedman 7-5.
184 — Eric Bradley (PSU) dec. Paul Bradley 4-2.
197 — Philip Davis (PSU) dec. Dan Erekson 7-1.
Hwt. — Ryan Fuller (I) dec. Joel Edwards 7-4.
125 — Tim Haas (PSU) pinned Lucas Magnani 1:01.
133 — Jake Strayer (PSU) dec. Daniel Dennis 10-7.
141 — Alex Tsirtsis (I) dec. DeWitt Driscoll 6-2.
149 — Ty Eustice (I) dec. James Woodall 7-3.
Reach Andy Hamilton at 339-7368 or ahamilton@ press-citizen.com.
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