By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Much of the talk surrounding the Iowa wrestling program in recent months has been about the beginning of the new era, but Saturday felt like old times at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Tom Brands and Dan Gable were sitting side-by-side in the Hawkeye corner. The guy with the striped black and gold scarf was leading the I-O-W-A cheer again. Energy, excitement and optimism were back.
Most of all, though, the Hawkeyes were dominating like they used to dominate.
Iowa won nine matches during a 39-3 demolition of No. 25 Arizona State in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 4,905.
“I think they were looking for something to cheer about, “Brands said after his first home meet as Iowa’s head coach, “and one positive is, we gave them something to cheer about.”
The eighth-ranked Hawkeyes (2-0) gave their fans something to cheer about in every match.
Phil Keddy and Mario Galanakis provided pins. Alex Grunder collected nine of Iowa’s 24 takedowns on his way to a technical fall. Eric Luedke won by major decision. Charlie Falck, Alex Tsirtsis and Dan Erekson bounced back with victories after losing Tuesday at Northern Iowa, and Mark Perry Jr. recovered from a slow start.
In the end, the Hawkeyes had their most lopsided home victory since January 2005 when Brands led his first Virginia Tech team into Carver-Hawkeye Arena and left with a 38-0 loss.
The only thing that kept the Sun Devils (2-1) from getting blanked was NCAA runner-up Brian Stith’s 3-1 overtime victory against freshman Ryan Morningstar at 157. In fact, Arizona State never even led a match until the second period of the ninth bout when Stith scored an escape.
This was more like the show Brands wanted to see after the Hawkeyes slid past unranked Northern Iowa 18-15 on Tuesday.
“I think we were real disappointed with the way we performed (Tuesday), and everybody went out there and tried to get back what they missed out on Tuesday night, “Keddy said. “We had a real emphasis on working hard and trying to keep pressure on the guy this week.”
The pressure was applied early and often Saturday. Four Hawkeyes scored takedowns in the first 20 seconds and two tacked on near-fall points. Collectively, Iowa scored 34 points in the first period.
“We showed progress, but we’ve got to learn to smell blood and put guys away and not be so indecisive as to how we’re going to do it or when we’re going to do it, “Brands said. “It’s almost like we’re waiting for the other guy to put his head down before we really turn it on. We’ve got to take it away from the guy. I feel like we made a step toward that today, but it’s hard to tell. The tougher matches, they’re the ones that are telltale in that situation.”
Brands wasn’t ready to take inventory or make glowing statements afterward. He said it was too early to make evaluations, but Brands said he liked the five-day turnaround, and perhaps nothing excited him more than Keddy’s performance.
The freshman 184-pounder scored 18 seconds into his match against Greg Gifford, a two-time NCAA qualifier who joined the Sun Devils this season after Fresno State dropped its program.
Keddy picked up two quick backpoints and cranked Gifford to his back for a 48-second fall.
“I just wanted to go out there and start off wrestling hard, wrestling aggressive and stay on him the whole time, whether it was going to be a pin right off the bat or whatever, “Keddy said.
Said Brands: “He took him down, and instead of building riding time or holding, he clamped on him and ran him over and pinned him. That’s what I like to see.”
Keddy’s fall was the second lengthy ovation of the day. The first was for Iowa’s new coaching staff. Brands returned from Virginia Tech in April and hired Gable — the man who led the Hawkeyes to 15 NCAA titles in 21 years — as his top assistant.
Craving something to cheer for after the Hawkeyes tumbled from their perch atop the college wrestling world, Iowa’s fans were eager to get behind their team Saturday.
“Everybody’s been excited for Iowa wrestling with Gable and Brands back, “Galanakis said, “and I think we kind of wanted to show them we’re going to be all right.”
The fans roared when Galanakis decked Shawn Jones in the first period at 133. They gave their approval for Falck when he scored four first-period takedowns at 125. They booed when Arizona State forfeited to Matt Fields at heavyweight. They applauded and stomped for Morningstar until second-ranked Stith scored a quick go-behind with 28 seconds remaining in overtime.
“We know (Morningstar) can wrestle with anybody in the country, “Brands said. “But it’s a matter of sending a message, and you send a message by getting to a guy and putting him down when it’s time to put him down. I know he’s disappointed because he expects to win, but I don’t know if we really want to be getting into tactical matches in those situations.
“We’ve got to go out and take it from him. That comes with a little bit of being comfortable in those situations and a little bit of experience. But there’s no better way to make yourself experienced in those situations than going out and taking it away when you have an opportunity, so I feel like we missed an opportunity there to beat a pretty good wrestler.”
Second-ranked Perry capped the meet by scoring the final seven points of an 8-4 victory against No. 8 Patrick Pitsch at 165. The day ended with cheers for the Hawkeyes, and it felt like old times at Carver-Hawkeye Arena again.
“There’s no better place to wrestle, “Brands said. “They’re educated fans, they expect a lot, and when you’re doing a good job they’re going to stand up and give you an ovation. That’s what we want to do — we want to create opportunities for ourselves so we can get ovations from the crowd. And when we’re not doing our job, we’re going to hear it, too, and that’s what we need — we need to be held accountable when we’re not performing like we need to perform.”
IOWA 39, ARIZONA STATE 3
174 — Eric Luedke (I) major dec. Alex Pavlenko 12-1.
184 — Phil Keddy (I) pinned Greg Gifford :48.
197 — Dan Erekson (I) dec. Jason Trulson 3-2.
Hwt. — Matt Fields (I) won by forfeit.
125 — Charlie Falck (I) dec. Tyler Bowles 15-9.
133 — Mario Galanakis (I) pinned Shawn Jones 2:45.
141 — Alex Tsirtsis (I) dec. Pat Payne 6-2.
149 — Alex Grunder (I) tech. fall Cameron Smith 22-7 in 7:00.
157 — Brian Stith (ASU) dec. Ryan Morningstar 3-1 OT.
165 — Mark Perry Jr. (I) dec. Patrick Pitsch 8-4.
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