Hawkeye wrestlers blank Hokies and ex-school great and assistant coach Brands.
By DAN McCOOL
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
January 8, 2005
Iowa City, Ia. – The Iowa-Virginia Tech wrestling meet Friday night was hyped as the return of former Iowa NCAA champion and assistant coach Tom Brands.
In reality, the ninth-ranked Hawkeyes’ 38-0 victory might have been a coming-out showcase for Iowa freshman 125-pounder Charlie Falck.
Iowa won as many matches by forfeit – two – as Virginia Tech’s squad had takedowns in posting its first shutout since a 54-0 blanking of Southwest State of Minnesota last season. Freshmen Alex Tsirtsis at 141 and Mark Perry at 165 scored major decisions to lead the Hawkeyes, who are 3-1 and leave today for two duals in California on Sunday.
Brands, who received a warm round of applause from the announced crowd of 5,220 when introduced in his first trip back to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, said he found a lot of areas where the Hokies (8-3) need to work.
“The only difference between someone being the best at something and being a run-of-the-mill person is that in a certain area of his life, a guy works extremely hard, he’s a fanatic, “Brands said. “Our guys may think they’re fanatics, but they got a long way to go.”
Brands said a quick review of what he saw from a fight standpoint did not rank well.
“We’d get a zero out of 10, “Brands said.
Brands the competitor was always about a cause – attacking and never going backwards, an insatiable thirst for points. The Hokies did not show much of that.
“I’ll take my medicine, “Brands said. “That’s the head coach’s fault. I’ll take it 100 percent.”
Falck, a true freshman from Strawberry Point by way of Apple Valley High School in suburban Minneapolis, scored four takedowns and had 1 minute 45 seconds of riding time to post a 9-5 victory over Justin Staylor.
Falck (8-5) evened his dual-meet record at 1-1.
“I just came out more aggressively, “Falck said. “I attacked more I guess, took shots and gave myself more opportunities.”
Seventh-ranked Joe Johnston at 157 needed a five-point headlock in the final 11 seconds to beat Reed Carpenter, 14-9, and second-ranked Paul Bradley at 184 broke a 5-5 tie on a takedown with 4 seconds left for a 7-5 victory over Steve Borja.
MEET SUMMARY
Hwt-Matt Fields (I) beat Mike Faust, 1-1, 3-1 (3 OT).
125-Charlie Falck (I) beat Justin Staylor, 9-5.
133-Mario Galanakis (I) beat David Hoffman, 8-4.
141-Alex Tsirtsis (I) beat Donny Ooton, 11-2.
149-Ty Eustice (I) beat Tyde Prater, 12-5
157-Joe Johnston (I) beat Reed Carpenter, 14-9.
165-Mark Perry (I) beat Chris Stith, 13-2.
174-Luke Lofthouse (I) won by forfeit.
184-Paul Bradley (I) beat Steve Borja, 7-5.
197-Dane Pape (I) won by forfeit.
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