By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
The drill started around 5 p.m. as a conclusion to Iowa’s wrestling practice Tuesday, but there were times when it seemed there would be no end — at least not until the Hawkeyes got it right.
Iowa coach Jim Zalesky counted down 30 seconds as the wrestlers on the practice mat around him fought for takedowns. He wouldn’t let the Hawkeyes go home until the 10 starters penciled in for tonight’s dual against Illinois all scored in the same time frame. He wouldn’t settle for 90 percent.
So the routine repeated itself while Zalesky took inventory of who scored and who failed. Nine starters scored a takedown and eyes turned toward the one who didn’t. Then eight scored. Then nine again. Then Zalesky went on a tirade about how close Iowa has been this season, how close isn’t cutting it, and the 30-second countdown started over.
The Hawkeyes scored seven takedowns. Then nine again. And tempers flared.
“That’s good, though, “Iowa assistant coach Tim Hartung said. “We don’t see enough of that. We don’t see enough attitude.”
There was plenty as the clock ticked toward 5:30 and the Hawkeyes were still looking for 10 starters to score in 30 seconds. This was no simple task considering some of the accomplished opponents.
Senior 157-pounder Joe Johnston was wrestling assistant coach Troy Steiner, a four-time All-American and NCAA champion for the Hawkeyes. Sophomore 141-pounder Alex Tsirtsis was up against Mike Zadick, a member of the U.S. National freestyle team, fresh off winning the Dave Schultz Invitational.
“We were going at it pretty hard, “Tsirtsis said. “It’s good, though. It forces you to attack and be on the offense all the time because you don’t know when the other nine are going to get (a takedown), so you have to give it your full effort every single time.”
At last, Zalesky got what he wanted. Ten starters. Ten takedowns.
He didn’t count how many tries it took. But some starters estimated it took at least 20. Others said that was a low estimate. “I didn’t count, “Tsirtsis said. “But I heard someone say there were 30 or so.
“I think Zalesky was trying to point out that we can’t depend on each other to win the national tournament. We have to do it individually. All 10 of us.”
The drill starts over for the No. 10 Hawkeyes again at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena when wrestle the eighth-ranked Illini. Both teams started the season with Big Ten title expectations. Both teams are coming off winless conference weekends.
But the Hawkeyes are trying to fix a pair of their own problems — their inconsistency throughout their lineup and their inability to win close matches.
Iowa is 6-6 in the past five weeks with four dual losses against the top four teams in the country. During that 12-meet stretch, the Hawkeyes are 6-11 in one-point matches.
“That’s killed us, “Zalesky said. “It’s killed us in every dual meet. Every dual meet we could’ve won except we lost the close matches. … We’ve got to turn that around and win those close matches. That’s the difference between a championship team and a team that’s going to finish down the rungs.
“You’ve got to find a way to win those close matches. Right now, we’re finding ways to lose them.”
Thus, the search for a solution continues. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons for rigid approach to the 30-second drill at the end of Tuesday’s practice.
“In the tough situations, in a lot of the situations you want guys to step up and conquer, we’re not quite stepping up yet, “Hartung said. “We’re trying to put our finger on the reason why. Guys just aren’t taking enough ownership of how hard they work.”
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