Iowa wrestlers downed
By Brian Triplett The Daily Iowan
Iowa City, IA (U-WIRE) — For the first time since the 1966-67 season, the Iowa wrestling team has lost five dual meets in the regular season.
The No. 10 Hawkeyes defeated Minnesota, 23-14, at home on Feb. 11, but they fell, 21-11, against No. 4 Michigan in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, dropping their record to 9-5 overall, 4-3 in the Big Ten. Iowa has only one meet remaining against Indiana before hosting the Big Ten championships on March 5-6.
With seven new faces in the lineup this year, including four freshmen who wrestled against the Wolverines, the Hawkeyes didn’t expect anything to come easy this season. But the one thing Iowa coach Jim Zalesky wants to see out of his young team the most is forward progress, and he didn’t get his wish against Michigan.
“The effort is there, “he said. “But sometimes we’re making the same mistakes … We should be beyond those mistakes. “
Iowa came out strong against Michigan (13-3-1, 5-0-1), with Charlie Falck (125) and Mario Galanakis (133) winning their matches to give the Hawkeyes an 8-0 lead. But Iowa dropped its next seven of eight matches, including the next five in a row.
“Some guys do well sometimes, then the next week they don’t do so good, “said junior Ty Eustice, who lost a 3-2 decision against freshman Eric Tannenbaum at 149.
Winning the close matches was also on top of Zalesky’s list of concerns with only three weeks remaining until the postseason. Five out of Iowa’s seven losses came by five points or fewer.
“In the close matches, we’re not winning or giving ourselves a chance to win, “the Iowa coach said.
After Alex Tsirtsis, Eustice, Joe Johnston, Mark Perry, and Cole Pape suffered losses against the Wolverines, junior Paul Bradley defeated opponent Joshua Weitzel, 7-5, to keep Iowa alive in the meet.
With the Hawkeyes trailing 15-11 with two matches remaining, Iowa’s Adam Fellers (197) fell, 4-2, against Willie Breyer to put the meet out of reach. Fans began filing out of Carver before heavyweight Matt Fields lost against Greg Wagner, 8-3, to conclude the meet.
Iowa won six of its 10 matches against the Golden Gophers on Feb. 11, with Tsirtsis, Eustice, Johnston, Perry, Bradley, and Fellers tasting victory.
Zalesky said the team will go through an intense training stage this week before hosting Indiana next Sunday to conclude the regular season.
“We need a good week of training, “he said. “A lot of our guys have been a little sluggish.”
With just under three weeks remaining until the conference championships, Zalesky isn’t too concerned about his team coming around.
“I think we’re right there, “he said. “It’s not a big gap. It’s a little gap.”
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