Win at 197 keys Hawks past Gophers
By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen
There haven’t been many opportunities for Adam Fellers to pump his fists and celebrate this season.
But he had one Friday. And he’s hoping it leads to more in the next five weeks.
Fellers, wrestling up two weight classes from where he started the season, clinched Iowa’s 23-14 victory Friday against seventh-ranked Minnesota with his first win since Nov. 20.
The junior from Fort Dodge used an overtime takedown to win a 3-1 decision at 197 pounds against Matt Koz, a highly-touted member of the Gopher freshman class.
“Hopefully this springs me into Sunday (against Michigan) and next week (against Indiana) and I get three wins in a row, get seeded in the Big Ten tournament, qualify for the nationals and help my team win the Big Ten title and the national title, “Fellers said.
Where this team victory springs No. 10 Iowa is anybody’s guess.
This wasn’t the typical Border Brawl with both teams absent from the top five in the national rankings. On top of that, it was hard for the Hawkeyes and the Gophers to gauge Friday’s dual after late lineup changes shuffled three individual match-ups.
Iowa wrestled without 125-pound starter Charlie Falck, who had the flu and backup Luke Magnani wasn’t prepared to make weight, coach Jim Zalesky said.
The Gophers went without blue-chip freshmen C.P. Schlatter at 157 and Roger Kish at 184. Both were held out with skin infections.
But Zalesky saw positives. He saw the Hawkeyes (9-4) win six matches and pick up a fall from Joe Johnston, major decisions from Alex Tsirtsis and Paul Bradley, and overtime wins from Mark Perry Jr. and Fellers.
Zalesky saw the Hawkeyes pick up their first true victory of the dual season at 197. Iowa’s only other win at that weight class came when the Hawkeyes won by forfeit against Virginia Tech.
Asked to help fill the hole at 197, Fellers, who is nearly 10 pounds under weight, was originally reluctant.
“I won’t say I took one for the team, but I stepped up as a junior on this team when we needed someone to wrestle 197, “he said. “Obviously, I didn’t want to wrestle 197 (because) 174 is where I thought I was best fit. I kind of felt sorry for myself and I’ve been a month behind, but I’ve been getting better every week and this week I had a great week of practice.
“I’m behind right now, that’s the way I’m looking at it. I’ve been talking to (former Iowa coach Dan) Gable a lot and he’s been instilling a lot in me mentally about how I’ve got to believe in myself and go out there and wrestle seven minutes, or eight minutes.
It initially looked as if a victory from Fellers might be essential for an Iowa victory.
The Gophers won the first two matches, getting a technical fall from All-American Bobbe Lowe and a 2-0 win from 133-pounder Mack Reiter, a four-time Iowa high school state champion.
But Iowa won the next four matches to seize a 16-8 lead.
Tsirtsis, who went through an offensive slump in January, thrashed 18th-ranked Tommy Owen 11-1 at 141.
“I was having some mental mistakes and going out there and worrying about the score a little too much, “Tsirtsis said. “Going out there and just wrestling, everything takes care of itself.”
Tsirtsis built a 7-1 lead thanks to two takedowns, an escape and a two-point near-fall. In the third period, with Iowa in need of bonus points, he locked Owen in a “suicide cradle “that sealed the major decision.
“Roll to your back to put him on his back, “Tsirtsis said. “I saw it was there and I had confidence in it.”
After Iowa’s Ty Eustice won a 4-2 decision against Quincy Osborn at 149, Johnston pinned Danny Williams at 157.
Perry completed the four-match sweep for the Hawkeyes with a 3-1 overtime win against No. 10 Matt Nagel at 165. The Iowa freshman used a slick version of a duck-under to get behind Nagel and then slammed the Gopher to the mat for the winning takedown.
Perry said he picked up the move watching film of Nate Carr, who won three NCAA titles for Iowa State during the early 1980s.
“I’ll go to it a lot of times because you don’t really put yourself in danger if it’s open and if a guy is really just pushing into me and not trying to do anything, “Perry said.
“(Nagel is) a good hand-fighter and he was just pushing. I knew trying that shot, I wasn’t going to risk giving up a takedown.”
Fellers found a way to get his first victory since the Kauffman-Brand Open in November.
“By no means is this going to turn my whole season around, “he said. “I can’t be content with just one win against Minnesota. That’s not going to get me through the Big Ten tournament and the national tournament. But it’s a good starting point.”
IOWA 23, MINNESOTA 14
125 – Bobbe Lowe (M) tech. fall Matt Morkel 21-6 in 7:00.
133 – Mack Reiter (M) dec. Mario Galanakis 2-0.
141 – Alex Tsirtsis (I) major dec. Tommy Owen 11-1.
149 – Ty Eustice (I) dec. Quincy Osborn 4-2.
157 – Joe Johnston (I) pinned Danny Williams 3:36.
165 – Mark Perry Jr. (I) dec. Matt Nagel 3-1 OT.
174 – Gabe Dretsch (M) dec. Luke Lofthouse 11-7.
184 – Paul Bradley (I) major dec. Jeremy Larson 12-4.
197 – Adam Fellers (I) dec. Matt Koz 3-1 OT.
Hwt. – Cole Konrad (M) dec. Matt Fields 2-0.
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