By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
There were questions in November about Iowa’s future middleweight puzzle and how it would fit together with the addition of two new components during the fall recruiting period.
Five months later, the uncertainty appears greater than ever, and new wrestling coach Tom Brands might end up with too many pieces to make the puzzle fit for everyone involved.
Brands inherits a program that already had senior-to-be Alex Grunder and incoming recruits Matt Ballweg and Travis Blasco as potential candidates to replace 149-pound NCAA runner-up Ty Eustice. Now it appears as if Virginia Tech freshman Brent Metcalf plans to follow Brands to Iowa and add to the cluster.
Former Iowa coach Jim Zalesky had assembled a deep collection through the middleweights for next season. The Hawkeyes have All-Americans Alex Tsirtsis (141), Eric Luedke (165) and Mark Perry Jr. (174) returning to go with freestyle Junior National champion Ryan Morningstar (157) and a strong cast of others.
“It makes it harder for me to make the lineup, but it’s part of wrestling, “Ballweg, a two-time state champion who went 99-0 during his final two seasons at Waverly-Shell Rock, said Thursday. “You’ve got to earn your spot on the team. You never know who will get hurt, flunk out of school or where people will go weight-wise. You’ve got to be positive and keep working hard.”
Blasco signed with Iowa after a last-minute change of mind in November. The standout from Blair (N.J.) Academy had been leaning toward Maryland, but the presence of Perry — his former prep teammate, Iowa’s tradition, and the opportunity to crack the Hawkeye lineup early in his career, factored into Blasco’s final decision.
“The one thing I’ve told Travis is to sit tight and see what happens, “Blair coach Jeff Buxton said Thursday. “There are worse things that could happen (than) having a great workout partner in Metcalf and Morningstar and Tsirtsis. You couldn’t be in a better situation in developing as a wrestler.”
The task for Brands is figuring out how to best utilize the wrestlers who will be in the Iowa room next season. Perry said he was at the ideal weight for a 165-pounder at the end of the season and said he would drop down to his former weight if it benefited the Hawkeyes. Morningstar might eventually grow out of the 157-pound class and Buxton said Blasco has the frame to eventually grow into that weight.
“I think there are some unanswered questions about what weight each guy is going to be, “Buxton said. “It’s kind of a logjam there.”
Meanwhile, Virginia Tech’s program is in a state of flux after the Hokies lost their head coach Wednesday. Metcalf, plus three Iowa natives who are also Virginia Tech freshmen, have expressed their intentions to follow their coach to Iowa. If granted a release from the Hokies, all four would be eligible to compete next season for the Hawkeyes.
Virginia Tech officials have said they plan to spend the next two weeks evaluating what to do with the school’s wrestling program and associate athletic director Jon Jaudon told The Roanoke Times that the school has not ruled out dropping the sport.
Blair heavyweight Jim Powers signed with Virginia Tech in November and Buxton said Powers is disappointed that Brands won’t be leading the Hokies next season.
“The uncertainty at Virginia Tech kind of scares him, “Buxton said. “But the way they supported Tom and that program, I’m very optimistic they’re going to go out and hire a good coach and continue to do a good job in promoting that program. Certainly it’s going to be a blow to that team if a lot of those kids get up and leave, but they went there for Tom Brands.
“I understand the loyalty of a kid trying to move on to another program with a coach who recruited him to Virginia Tech.”
Buxton said Blasco knows and likes what he has seen from Brands. During his stint as an assistant at Iowa, Brands helped the Hawkeyes land Perry and Steve Mocco from Blair.
But while Buxton said Blasco still expects to attend Iowa next season, the Blair coach is trying “to cover all bases “for Blasco.
Buxton said he called some of the programs Blasco was interested in prior to signing with the Hawkeyes “just to see if the same offers were available. “Buxton said some were and some were not.
“Travis is excited about the possibility of wrestling at Iowa, “Buxton said. “If Metcalf does come in there, those are things he has to deal with. Even going there for a year and trying to feel that out and seeing if it makes sense to stay there is something he could do, too.”
Ballweg seems much more firm with his future plans.
“I’m kind of bummed out that coach Zalesky got fired, “he said. “But they hired a good new coach and I’m pretty excited to wrestle for him and see what he has to say when I talk to him.”
Ballweg said he attended an Iowa wrestling camp several years ago when Brands was a clinician, but that was his only meeting with his future coach.
Ballweg said he received a phone call Saturday from Zalesky.
“He told me I had a good family and had a bright future ahead of me, “Ballweg said. “He complimented me and wished me good luck. I thanked him for spending time recruiting me and I was glad to get to know him.”
Reach Andy Hamilton at 339-7368 or [email protected].
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