IOWA CITY, Iowa — The fourth-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team defeated top-ranked Oklahoma State, 18-16, on Saturday in front of 42,287 fans, the largest dual crowd in NCAA history.
The Hawkeyes and Cowboys split 10 matches, 5-5, but Iowa scored bonus points at 125 and, after dropping three straight, regained the lead for good with a crowd-pleasing technical fall at 184.
“The hype for the fans is what’s important for me,” said UI head coach Tom Brands “That’s what it’s about, our fans, I’m selfish that way. I know it is great for wrestling, and people in Russia and Iran are going to see this, as well. This is the city that Dan Gable lives in, that’s a big part of it as well, they will know about it internationally.”
Iowa leaned on its four All-Americans to push through Saturday. Cory Clark (133), Brandon Sorensen (149), and Nathan Burak earned decisions, and Thomas Gilman (125) opened the scoring with a 9-1 major decision over Oklahoma State All-American Eddie Klimara.
But it was Sammy Brooks at 184 that turned the dual in Iowa’s favor for good. Brooks needed just 4:09 to build a 17-2 lead and put the Hawkeyes in front, 15-13.
“You should be looking for bonus points every time you go out there and sometimes last year I was a little too reserved,” Brooks said. “I just want to open it back up and keep that going against whoever steps on the matt.”
Brooks snapped a three-match stretch of Hawkeye losses that turned a 10-3 lead into a 13-10 deficit.
“A five-point win team wise, that’s big,” Brands said. “The way that he was wrestling, hitting those holds, that’s what we want. He can do that against anybody, his consistency is that good. I’ve said that for a long time.”
Burak extended Iowa’s lead to 18-13 at 197, setting up a pin-or-go-home situation for Oklahoma State at 285. The Cowboy’s Austin Marsden, a 2014 All-American, twice got to the legs of Hawkeye rookie Sam Stoll, but the fall never happened and Iowa now has its first three-dual win streak against Oklahoma State since 1995-96.
The Hawkeyes built a 7-0 lead in team score at 125 and 133. Gilman scored one takedown in each period, and Clark built a 6-0 lead on his way to an 8-2 win at 133.
“I started us off right,” Gilman said. “The pace was high. Maybe not where it needed to be, but I was able to get that major decision and help set the tone for the rest of the dual.”
“I think (Clark) could have had a little more urgency to get the major decision on his feet,” Brands said. “He is wrestling his match and we aren’t going to question him.”
Oklahoma State’s top-ranked Dean Heil (141) and Alex Dieringer (165) earned wins, and the Cowboys won at 157 and 174 in a pair of seven-minute slugfests. Fifteenth-ranked Chance Marsteller topped Edwin Cooper, 14-11, at 157, and fourth-ranked Kyle Crutchmer scored a takedown with 34 seconds left to top sixth-ranked Alex Meyer at 174.
“That W is important,” said Brands. “We didn’t wrestle well. You look at eight back-points given up in Cooper’s match, and in Meyer’s match giving up four, coming so close and just not really realizing how your opponent is feeling and how to capitalize on it and be ready. We did a good job of not letting things unravel completely.”
Interviews with Iowa wrestlers:
Sammy Brooks
Importance of bonus points:
“You should be looking for bonus points every time you go out there and I think some last year I was a little too reserved. I just want to open it back up and keep that going against who ever steps on the matt against me next.”
Good to get the win?
“It’s important but it was still five to five in matches. There were a couple we let get away from us. We left some points on the matt. So its good that we won but we I think it could have been all Iowa.”
Thomas Gilman:
First one on the mat today, set the tone:
“When I stepped on that mat, those fans were electric. I keep saying electric and I’m maybe being redundant but it really was electric out there. I started us off right. The pace was high but maybe not where it needed to be. But I was able to get that major decision and help set the tone for the rest of the dual.”
There was a lot of hype heading into this:
“Iowa City was named the wrestling capital of the United States so we proved that today. It is not just talk. Tom talks, we all talk a lot, but today we proved our talk. We had over 42,000 fans so that says a lot about the wrestling capital.”
How did it feel to be outside?
“It felt amazing. It felt better than it does in here right now. It’s too hot in here right now. I was sweating out there. It was a beautiful day out. Thank God for that. I’ve never had a November in Iowa, from what I can remember, that has been this nice.”
Important to get the win?
“It feels good. It was bittersweet because we were five to five and that’s not where we need to be. We don’t want to rely on bonus points. We want to take all 10 matches.”
Brandon Sorensen
What did you think of the atmosphere?
“It amazes me how many fans showed up today. It just goes to show how much support this program has. It was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
You came out first, built a first period lead:
“That was the plan from the get go. It didn’t matter if we were wrestling in front of two fans or the 42,000 we wrestled in front of today, we knew we were going into a battle. We came ready to take them out.”
Thank you, record-setting Hawkeye Wrestling fans!! https://t.co/zfrsnovn2u
— Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling (@Hawks_Wrestling) November 14, 2015
Interview: Iowa head coach Tom Brands
November 14, 2015
Did the match go beyond your expectations?
“Yeah, when you see the crowd, someone pointed it out to me, I notice when you walk out and you look across, there wasn’t any concrete, it was all black. That’s what we like and it’s good.”
What does something like this do for the sport of wrestling?
“I think the biggest message for a program like the University of Iowa, that is still trying to set the bar higher and higher, I think it’s a mentality and commitment to the program and administration. It goes with what we want to do; we want to get better every day and want to have better events every year.”
Did you have to remind your guys that this was more than an event, that it actually meant something?
“More reminders throughout the last month, it’s been steady. As a competitor looking back on this you can say that I was a part of it, there is going to be a lot of posters and pictures for a long, long time. The biggest thing is that they got ready to go. The performances that we had that were positive, those guys definitely got ready to go.”
What about Sam Brooks?
“Brooks gave us some bonus points, a five-point win team wise, that’s big. The way that he was wrestling, hitting those holds, that’s what we want. He can do that against anybody, his consistency is that good. I’ve said that for a long time.”
What are your thoughts when Meyer got put on his back?
“We were in trouble right away, after a while we weren’t in trouble anymore from getting pinned, we had to get off our back though because time was ticking. When they stopped it, I didn’t know why they stopped it. We did some good things to come up and we weren’t just trying to bridge but we scooted our hips close and then we were actually getting close with our hips to bump the guy forward, so he wasn’t able to get perpendicular to us and pop your head off like a dandelion.”
What was it like to coach a high level event?
“It’s good; the only thing is that more people see you when you’re high strung. It was an incredible atmosphere; you can’t deny that, even I can’t deny that. This was a performance in itself, the way the event was managed and the way that it was continually upgraded, as we went it got better. Our administration and Gary Barta gets a lot of credit for that. Everyone that we’ve talked about for a long time now should take a bow.”
You talked about setting the bar high; do you have any words for Penn State or Ohio State?
“We’ve got work to do; I don’t pretend to have any advice for them. Cael Sanderson has been talking about making the sport better for a long time, that’s where his head is at.”
What about Burak, it was a big win after Sammy’s win?
“That was a big win, a little tight, I don’t know why it had to be tight. The guy was in and out on us, doing the things they do best, we got caught a little bit early and kept our hips up, he was in deep on us and we never let him sit us or lift us, we kept heavy hips on us and after that he never really got to us. We actually had a take down after that match that was from go behinds.”
Do agree this event exceeded the hype?
“The hype for the fans is what’s important for me, that’s what it’s about, our fans, I’m selfish that way. I know it is great for wrestling and people in Russia and Iran are going to see this, as well. This is the city that Dan Gable lives in, that’s a big part of it as well, they will know about it internationally.”
How important was it to just get a win?
“There is the question, it is important, that W is important. We didn’t wrestle well, you look at eight back-points given up in Cooper’s match, and in Meyer’s match giving up four, coming so close and just not really realizing how your opponent is feeling and how to capitalize on it and you’re ready. We did a good job of not letting things unravel completely. Cooper, he gives up four nearfall, you’re going for a big move there and at the very least you end up back on top, you have to be able to feel those things and anticipate before they happen.”
This is the first time we’ve seen the new stalling calls, what are your thoughts on that?
“It was pretty consistent I thought, there was one there at the end of the 74-pound match that maybe I was begging for it, I’ll watch the film and evaluate myself, I had an issue with that one, but other than that it was consistent.”
You guys seemed to wrestle the boundary line well, have you practiced under the new rule?
“Every year there are new rules, every year there are situations. There is a finger grab rule that a lot of people don’t know about, you’re going to see a lot less of that. It is making the sport better for the most part, I think stalling is stalling for the most part. I don’t think we need an out of bounds rule. I think the way that they called it was right, and yes we do practice the rules.”
Gilman and Clark got you started well, can you want to talk a little about their performances?
“Clark got caught up in a little bit of a riding match. I think he could have had a little more urgency to get the major decision on his feet. He is wrestling his match and we aren’t going to question him. Sorensen, that wasn’t a close match and another takedown with riding time, get the takedown there. We’re in there and we’re widening the gap a little bit. What we need to do is get the 57 more aware and bring that 165 around, so what if it was a challenge for him with the No. 1 ranked guy and the best kid in college wrestling. We can get to these guys. Sam Stoll we saw the weakness, which is the bottom position, and Logan Ryan giving up wrists. Bottom position is big right now in those near falls.”
With a chance to capture a new audience, what was your take on the action as a whole?
“Better than maybe some big duals.I think there are probably some people, with the noise, that is the difference in wrestling. Where the noise comes from and why the noise is there. I think the action was okay. I think it was better than maybe a lot of times in an early season big match.”
Did you guys practice outdoors at all?
“We did a lot of that where we come here and look at the place, about two or three times, we didn’t have a mat down, but we knew where the center of the mat was and we pointed out when there was 32,000 fans where the fans would be out to on both sides, so they knew. The biggest thing is that they did a good job themselves getting ready.”
Do you feel that the product, fringe fans will get them to more meets in the future?
“You can always do more, wrestling is a sport that can be dry for people that don’t know what’s going on out there. There was a lot more out there than maybe there could have been, I think it was a lot better than it could have been, especially with Cooper coming from behind like that, maybe get the W? Now do it. Meyer the same way. You have to be able to do that, and he runs into that. Our period is the third period, there is a lot to talk about with the team as far as moving them forward.”
Do you go to Kirk Ferentz and say let’s do this again next year?
“Kirk Ferentz, he doesn’t know this is going on. He knew it was going on but he doesn’t know this is going on now because he’s focused on Minnesota. What we say to football is keep doing what you’re doing because we know where our bread is buttered and he pays the bills. We’re very gracious that we have the best coach in America and I really believe that. I say that with sunshine and not so much sunshine.”
