Hawks avoid upset in Brands’ debut at UNI
Fields’ victory allows Iowa to escape, 18-15
By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
CEDAR FALLS — The buzz generated by his first seven months on the job perhaps resonated louder than his voice when Tom Brands repeatedly told those around the Iowa wrestling program just how much work stood between the Hawkeyes and where they aspire to go.
Some may have viewed the message as a motivational ploy or a means of keeping his team grounded when expectations were soaring. But Brands’ words became clear reality Tuesday night in front of 5,831 at the McLeod Center.
Fourth-ranked Iowa needed a victory from heavyweight Matt Fields to beat unranked Northern Iowa 18-15, preventing Brands’ debut as head coach from going down as a stunning defeat.
“We expect to do better and look better than we did, “Brands said. “It does show how far we have to go. “The Hawkeyes managed to find five victories and a few highlights during a night when they extended their winning streak to 31 in the series. But mainly, Iowa uncovered authenticity to what Brands has been saying since April.
“I think a lot of guys think we’re ready to go and we have a good team — and we do have a good team, “said senior Mario Galanakis, whose fall at 133 pounds provided the Hawkeyes with the winning margin. “We might think that we’re ready to go, but I think tonight showed a good point of view that we’ve got a ways to go.
“It shows the team we do have a lot to work on to bring the old Iowa back and dominate people for seven minutes. Not everybody did that tonight.”
In fact, Galanakis was probably the only Hawkeye whose performance could’ve been chalked up as dominant Tuesday. He scored seven points in the first two minutes before cranking Brett Robbins to his back for a first-period pin.
Otherwise, Iowa collected just 10 takedowns in the other nine matches.
“We’ve got to be scoring multiple takedowns every period, “Brands said. “That’s not unreasonable to ask.”
Yet Galanakis, Ryan Morningstar and Eric Luedke were the only Hawkeyes who notched multiple takedowns on the night. Perhaps no coincidence, they were three of Iowa’s winners, along with Fields and Mark Perry Jr.
“We need to put ourselves in more scoring situations and realize when we do set up our shots and when we do move our feet and when we do move our hands and move our opponents and take shots, we score, “Morningstar said. “If we can do that and attack the whole time, we’re going to be pretty successful. Until then, it’s going to be close.”
Morningstar scored an overtime takedown to beat Moza Fay 5-3 at 157, flipping the tide back in Iowa’s favor after the Panthers won three of the first four matches, including C.J. Ettelson’s first victory in four career tries against All-American Alex Tsirtsis at 141 and freshman Kyle Anson’s win at 125.
No. 12 Ettelson rode fifth-ranked Tsirtsis for the entire third period, then scored a two-point near-fall to win a 5-2 decision.
Anson, a three-time state champion at City High, appeared unfazed by leading off a dual meet for the first time in his career, using three takedowns to handle Charlie Falck.
“I just go out there and wrestle like I know how, “Anson said. “I didn’t think of it as I’m setting the tone or anything, I just went out there and I wanted to prove to everybody that I could beat him and I’m as good as I think I am. I know it sounds kind of cocky, but when you wrestle to the best of your ability, things fall into place.”
Things certainly didn’t fall into place for the Hawkeyes, who weren’t planning to use Perry after the second-ranked junior wrestled Monday night at the NWCA All-Star meet in Dallas. But on the late-night flight home, Perry told Brands he would wrestle if Iowa was in danger.
It was.
“There’s a lot of work to be done, but we’re way better than we showed tonight — way, way better than what we showed, “Perry said. “The coaching staff we have right now is the real deal, in my opinion. Some kids are struggling right now. It might be the training conditions we’re going through right now, but people probably need to stop worrying about how they feel. The coaches know what they’re doing.”
Perry gave Iowa a lift with his 3-0 victory against No. 4 Nick Baima at 165. Luedke followed with a 7-4 win against Alex Dolly at 174, but the Hawkeyes couldn’t clinch the dual early.
Northern Iowa won the next two matches. Danny Dunning beat Phil Keddy 6-4 at 184 and Andrew Anderson beat Dan Erekson 7-5 at 197, leaving it up to Iowa’s junior heavyweight.
“I don’t like that at all, “said Fields, who won a 5-0 decision for his fourth win in four tries against Tyler Rhodes. “The first thing I was thinking is: Are you guys serious? The first dual? But it happens and I’m one of the upper-classmen on the team and I’ve got to expect that being the heavyweight. …. It’s good that it happened to me early and I got it out of the way.”
By the same token, Galanakis saw a silver lining to Tuesday night’s performance. If the Hawkeyes weren’t aware of where they stand, they do now. They know early in the season.
Brands said he saw a few items to chalk up in the positive category. Things like Keddy’s first takedown. Morningstar’s overtime win. Perry’s decision to wrestle and his victory. And Fields’ performance with the meet on the line.
“There’s some positive there, but there is a long, long ways to go and it’s clear, it’s evident, it’s very clear, “Brands said. “We have to attack, we have to be aggressive. We are not going to win very many matches with one takedown.”
IOWA 18, NORTHERN IOWA 15
125 — Kyle Anson (UNI) dec. Charlie Falck 9-4.
133 — Mario Galanakis (I) pinned Brett Robbins 2:50.
141 — C.J. Ettelson (UNI) dec. Alex Tsirtsis 5-2.
149 — Charlie Ettelson (UNI) dec. Alex Grunder 3-2.
157 — Ryan Morningstar (I) dec. Moza Fay 5-3 OT.
165 — Mark Perry Jr. (I) dec. Nick Baima 3-0.
174 — Eric Luedke (I) dec. Alex Dolly 7-4.
184 — Danny Dunning (UNI) dec. Phil Keddy 6-4.
197 — Andrew Anderson (UNI) dec. Dan Erekson 7-5.
Hwt. — Matt Fields (I) dec. Tyler Rhodes 5-0.
Reach Andy Hamilton at 339-7368 or ahamilton at- press-citizen.com.
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