IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa wrestling team opened its dual season with three wins Friday at the Iowa City Duals on Mediacom Mat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes combined for a 29-1 individual record and totaled 19 falls in wins over Baker University (55-0), Iowa Central (49-3) and Cornell College (55-0).
The home crowd was treated to a few fresh looks in the Iowa lineup. All-American Cory Clark made his home debut at 133 pounds and walked off the mat with two pins and one technical fall.
Michael Kelly and Topher Carton were also perfect in six matches. Kelly, who moved up to 157 after competing the majority of the last three seasons at 149, recorded two first-period pins and a decision to improve to 8-0 on the year.
Carton recorded a pair of technical falls in his first appearance at home. The sophomore weighed in at 141, but with three 149-pounders set to compete at the Joe Parisi Open on Saturday, Carton was called to make his Carver-Hawkeye Arena debut at 149.
“We like what we saw (from Carton),” said UI head coach Tom Brands. “There was some reaching down inside there a little bit there and that’s what you need to be able to do when it’s time to do it.”
Nick Moore and Bobby Telford both finished the day with four falls. Telford never made it past the 1:52 mark at 285. Moore recorded a second-period pin in his opening match before closing with falls in 2:45 and 0:55 at 165.
Sammy Brooks pinned his final two opponents at 184, and likely would have had a clean sweep had his opening match not been terminated. Brooks led 14-0 before Baker’s Bryant Guillen was forced to medically forfeit following an inside trip.
“We came out and did what you’re expected to do, which is go out and wrestle hard. You don’t change how you wrestle depending on the competition, and I think I did a good job of wrestling hard every position,” said Brooks. “Not getting the first pin is disappointing because the ultimate goal is to dominate your opponent, and the best possible (way to show domination) is to get a fall.”
Thomas Gilman recorded two pins and a technical fall at 125. Josh Dziewa and Mike Evans did the same at 141 and 174, respectively.
Iowa’s lone loss was at 197, where Kris Klapprodt lost, 11-6 to Iowa Central’s Patrick Downey, a former FILA Junior World silver medalist. Klapprodt opened the day with a 9-4 decision and recorded a first-period pin in his last match.
“Every day you’re looking to get better and every day you’re building,” added Brands. “You get into your home arena and you compete. It’s your second weekend, and it’s the weekend before Iowa State. Now we’re not looking forward to Iowa State, we’re at Iowa State. It’s no longer on the horizon. It’s no longer like you’re looking head, the next thing on the list is Iowa State. That is the asterisk. That is the highlight. We have to be ready to go.”
Iowa hosts Iowa State in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series on Saturday, Nov. 29. The dual begins at 7 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Mat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa has won the last 10 meeting in the series.
