National Duals Brackets

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Nebraska's Paul Donahoe is the returning NCAA champion at 125 pounds.

He entered the weekend unbeaten and ranked No. 1.

But that didn't mean anything to Iowa junior Charlie Falck when the Hawkeyes battled the Huskers in the finals of the National Duals.

The fifth-ranked Falck came out with the relentless, aggressive, attacking mentality that Iowa coach Tom Brands has been preaching. That approach enabled him to earn a 3-2 win over Donahoe that provided a huge spark for the second-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes.

The rest of the Hawkeyes followed suit in a big way, ending the Cinderella run by the unseeded Huskers with a dominating 24-6 thrashing of Nebraska before 7,715 fans Sunday afternoon at the UNI-Dome.

Even the fiery, hard-nosed Brands admitted he enjoyed his view of the dual from the Hawkeye bench.

"It's as relaxing as it can be when you have guys out there you love to watch," Brands said. "And you're proud of the way these guys are wrestling. We like owning the mat."

The win capped an impressive weekend where Iowa steamrolled its four opponents by winning 32 of 40 total matches. The Hawkeyes rebounded from a home loss to Oklahoma State last Saturday by making a resounding statement with a superb showing.

Iowa won the National Duals for the fourth time and for the first time in 12 years. The Hawkeyes beat Nebraska in the 1996 finals. Nebraska equaled its best finish in this event. The Huskers also were second in the 1993 National Duals.

"They outwrestled us in every area," Nebraska coach Mark Manning said. "They beat us on our feet, they beat us on the mat, they beat us on top and bottom. They were a better team today."

The best example of Iowa's domination was the performance turned in by super sophomore Brent Metcalf (149), who certainly looked like the best wrestler in the building as he earned convincing wins over NCAA runner-up Josh Churella of Michigan and No. 6 Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska. Metcalf did not allow an offensive point in four matches over the weekend and was named Outstanding Wrestler.

Metcalf embodies the Iowa style with his pressuring style, where he is in his opponent's face for the entire seven minutes.

Falck's win sparked Iowa to wins in the first five weight classes. Second-ranked Joey Slaton of Iowa followed with a 11-4 win over No. 6 Kenny Jordan at 133 and Iowa's Dan LeClere then came back to earn a 5-4 win over Mike Rowe at 141.

"It's a big win for me," said Falck, who also beat Donahoe in this event last year. "But it's also January and we obviously know you've got to do it in March. It feels good, but I don't want to get too happy. We just needed to stay on our attacks and not get out of position. Everyone wrestled awesome all the way through the lineup."

Nebraska, ranked 10th nationally, was the story of the tournament over the first three rounds as it knocked off No. 8 Northwestern, No. 1 Penn State and No. 5 Minnesota. But all that momentum came to a screeching halt in the blowout loss to the Hawkeyes.

"Oh man, it was really tough sitting there and watching that dual," said Nebraska's Craig Brester, who won at 197. "They took it to us. We backed up and played into their style. We need to learn from this."

Nebraska's only wins came against Hawkeye backups. NU's Stephen Dwyer outlasted Iowa backup Aaron Janssen 8-6 at 165. Brester beat Chad Beatty 4-0. NCAA champion Mark Perry (165) sat out the dual with Nebraska after wrestling in Iowa's first three matches of the weekend. He reportedly injured his knee in his first match Sunday. Beatty is Iowa's No. 2 174-pounder.

Nebraska became just the second unseeded team in the event's 19-year history to make the finals. But that provided little consolation late Sunday afternoon.

"We came here to win this and we wrestled a heck of a tournament up until the finals," Brester said. "We train to be the best. We didn't come here to finish second. It's disappointing."

Iowa's dominant performance provided a glimpse of what Brands has been preaching since he took over as Iowa's coach nearly two years ago.

"Everybody in the program believes in what the coaches are preaching now," Falck said. "And everybody on this team believes in each other. We want to go out and dominate everybody we wrestle."

The remainder of the champions crowned at the National Duals on Sunday included Minnesota State-Mankato (Division II), Wartburg (Division III), Lindenwood (NAIA), Iowa Central (Junior College), Grand Valley (NCWA) and Oklahoma City (Women).

In the semifinals, Iowa powered to a 23-13 win over No. 6 Michigan. Perry won the featured bout by downing top-ranked Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan 4-1. Perry shot in on a double near the edge of the mat before eventually finishing in a scramble for a takedown with just under a minute gone in the match.

Iowa's 11th-ranked Jay Borschel (174) earned a 3-2 win over No. 2 Steve Luke. Michigan's top-ranked Kellen Russell (141), who lost his first two matches of the weekend, trailed in his match with LeClere before throwing LeClere to his back for a fall.

In the other semifinal, Nebraska rallied for a 24-13 win over No. 5 Minnesota. Nebraska's 10th-ranked Vince Jones launched No. 2 Roger Kish to his back with a hip toss in the closing seconds of the match to record a dramatic pin. Jones trailed 2-1 before delivering with a huge throw with 10 seconds left. He recorded the fall with four seconds to go.

The Huskers trailed 13-11 in the team score prior to the win by Jones. Nebraska clinched the win when Brester followed with a major decision at 197. Nebraska trailed 9-0 and 13-5 in the team score during the dual.

Minnesota took charge early in the dual when third-ranked Jayson Ness pulled off a 6-4 overtime win over Donahoe at 125. Fifth-ranked Mack Reiter of Minnesota followed with a comeback win over Jordan at 133. The Gophers were without past NCAA champion Dustin Schlatter (149), who is out with a hamstring injury. Burroughs scored a technical fall over Minnesota's backup at 149.

NATIONAL DUALS FINALS: IOWA 24, NEBRASKA 6

125 - Charlie Falck (Iowa) dec. Paul Donahoe, 3-2. 133 - Joey Slaton (Iowa) dec. Kenny Jordan, 11-4. 141 - Dan LeClere (Iowa) dec. Mike Rowe, 5-4. 149 - Brent Metcalf (Iowa) dec. Jordan Burroughs, 6-2. 157 - Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) dec. Chris Oliver, 7-2. 165 - Stephen Dwyer (Nebraska) dec. Aaron Janssen, 8-6. 174 - Jay Borschel (Iowa) dec. Brandon Browne, 9-4. 184 - Phil Keddy (Iowa) dec. Vince Jones, 8-1. 197 - Craig Brester (Nebraska) dec. Chad Beatty, 4-0. Hwt. - Matt Fields (Iowa) dec. Jon May, 1-0.