Hawkeyes are matinee idols
Bulldogs prove no match for No. 8 Iowa, a 30-7 winner at the Save Mart Center.
By Andy Boogaard / The Fresno Bee
Iowa, as the most dominant college wrestling program in the land over the past 30 years, does the sport a promotional favor when it travels to oppose teams outside of the mighty Big Ten Conference.
The problem for host schools, such as Fresno State on Sunday at the Save Mart Center, is it requires optimum performance just to hang with the Hawkeyes.
The Bulldogs delivered the opposite in a 30-7 loss, leaving 24-year coach Dennis DeLiddo livid as a paid crowd of 6,863 left the matinee mismatch.
“We really were embarrassing, “he said. “They just grinded us down, wore us out and our guys just wilted under pressure.”
This isn’t novel against Iowa, ranked eighth this season after finishing second at the NCAA Championships a year ago and a 20-time national champion since 1974. Oklahoma State, with five titles, has the next-best total.
The Hawkeyes functioned without peer under coach Dan Gable from 1976-97 and now are under the thumb of Iowa three-time national gold medalist Jim Zalesky.
Little has changed.
Only one wrestler in Iowa’s 10-man starting lineup didn’t arrive at Iowa City with a state high school championship on his résumé. And that wrestler, 133-pound junior Mario Galanakis, was 154-9 with 90 pins and three state bronze-medal finishes at Nodaway Valley High in Iowa.
The Hawkeyes’ remaining nine starters Sunday represented 26 state prep titles in seven states. The message is obvious: Basically, Zalesky has his pick of the land in regard to recruiting.
“Most of the time I think we do, “he said. “We sell tradition and the chance of being on a national championship team. Those things are important to kids.”
It’s also important ” in a sport whose NCAA membership has shrunk significantly under the federal law-driven weight of gender equity ” that marquee programs such as Iowa flash their mettle from coast to coast.
Their presence was most responsible for the ticket sales Sunday, one year after Fresno State drew 9,750 fans for a 26-15 loss to Iowa State (which would finish sixth nationally).
“There’s great wrestling out here, “Zalesky said. “You’ve got to look at the [2004 USA] Olympic team, and California put three wrestlers on it. Plus, Dennis runs a good program, he’s got quality guys and we want to come out and help promote the sport.”
Actually, given Iowa’s six freshman starters, this was a year the Hawkeyes appeared a bit vulnerable.
The Bulldogs, in the best-case scenario, could have competed to about a five-point loss. But they lost three close ones ” 5-4 by Christian Bowerman to Charlie Falck at 125 pounds, 8-5 by Jim Medeiros to Joe Johnston at 157 and 3-1 in overtime by heavyweight Clint Walbeck to Matt Fields.
The Medeiros-Johnston match was the feature, pitting a 14th-ranked Bulldog against a No.7 Hawkeye.
Medeiros (13-5) took a 2-0 lead on a takedown 12seconds into the bout. He trailed only 6-5 before Johnston (11-3) took him down with 50seconds remaining in the third to chill the drama.
Typically, the Bulldogs were aggressive for a period before being overpowered by the better-conditioned Hawkeyes.
The exceptions occurred at 174pounds, where Fresno State’s Chris Gifford of Las Vegas narrowly avoided being taken down at the buzzer for a 7-6 win over fellow freshman Luke Lofthouse, and at 197pounds, where seventh-ranked Bulldogs senior Marcio Botelho of Lemoore whipped freshman Dane Pape 15-4.
“Competing against a big-time school like Iowa, a win is pretty satisfying, “Botelho said after improving to 10-4. “I’m pretty happy.”
As opposed to his coach, who draws more high-octane competition to town than any sport on campus, save perhaps softball.
No.1 Oklahoma State was on campus three weeks ago, and No.10 Oklahoma will appear Saturday.
“I’m trying to help the team, but this doesn’t help me, “DeLiddo said. “This is a mental depressor for me. In the long run, I hope we learn a lesson: If you want to be an All-American, you’ve got to put up with 7 minutes of heat.”
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