By DAN McCOOL
Iowa City, Ia. – He is no longer using soup cans for weight training, but Iowa wrestler Mario Galanakis has returned to his wrestling roots to get some success this season.
Galanakis, a senior 133-pounder from Greenfield, brings a string of two consecutive first-period pins into his scheduled match against Iowa State’s Nick Gallick Sunday at 4 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Iowa-Iowa State meet will be televised live by Iowa Public Television.
The pin is what made Galanakis (6-1) a four-time placewinner in the state tournament for Nodaway Valley High School. After a season away from the mat because of academic deficiency – he had to buy a ticket to watch last season’s Iowa-Iowa State duel – Galanakis is back with an attacking style that was missing his first time with Iowa in 2004-05.
“I can definitely say that just by being coached by Tom Brands has helped me be a lot more aggressive and a lot more on the attack than I used to be, “said Galanakis, who was an all-American at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls before joining the Hawkeyes.
One of Brands’ last duties as an assistant at Iowa, prior to his two-season stint as head coach at Virginia Tech, was to have an official recruiting visit with Galanakis, who prepared for youth tournaments by using cans of soup as barbells.
“I say he’s gotten back to his roots, “Brands said. “The kid got pretty good. Pretty good doesn’t cut it unless you’ve got a work ethic.”
Brands said Galanakis has bought into the attacking style that Brands learned from ex-Iowa coach Dan Gable, who is now an assistant with the Hawkeyes.
That’s better than the deer-in-headlights look Gable remembered Galanakis having when he started at Iowa. That was when Galanakis could scramble pretty well.
“He came out of some holds that, when you throw somebody off the roof, if they land on their feet they’re pretty good and he landed on his feet a couple times, “Gable said. “He’s much more ready to do what he’s capable of doing because of that year he had two years ago.”
Galanakis said Brands pushes the idea of one takedown deserves more. That widen-the-gulf mentality was how Nodaway Valley coach Rory Benton coached him in high school, Galanakis said.
“Even though you’re ahead, you’ve got to keep building your lead and breaking the guy down to where there isn’t a chance he can score a last-second takedown or something, “Galanakis said. “I can definitely say that’s been my mentality already, and I think it’s going to continue to get stronger and stronger as the year goes on.”
Galanakis is glad to be back in competition. That means he won’t need to buy a ticket for Sunday’s meet. Doing so last season was tough.
“It was definitely hard on me, knowing I could have been in an Iowa singlet, “Galanakis said. “Not knowing that I was ever going to be back in wrestling … it was definitely different sitting in the stands.
Galanakis drew attention off the mat in July of 2005 for an incident at a Creston residence. An original charge of second-degree attempted burglary – a Class D felony – was later amended to trespassing and public intoxication. He was fined $500 plus court costs on each charge and ordered to make restitution.
Galanakis beat Iowa State’s Jesse Sundell 6-3 in the 2004 meet. Galanakis was the only high school wrestler in Iowa to beat Ogden’s Sundell in 135 high school matches.
“I definitely want to go out and prove myself (Sunday), “Galanakis said.
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