Iowa Flexes Some Muscle, Extends Streak Over ISU

<< Back to Articles
Jeff Olson (Des Moines Register)
12/09/2002


Iowa City, Ia. - Forget all that talk about speed and strength and leverage.    Wrestling, put simply, is all about math.    Iowa scored bonus points in six of its eight wins Sunday to beat Iowa State, 34-7, for the Hawkeyes' 30th consecutive win in the rivalry of two of the sport's most accomplished programs.    "It's not like we're the Globetrotters and they're the Washington Generals," said Jessman Smith, who scored a takedown at the buzzer to make his victory over Austen Palmer an 11-3 major decision at 184 pounds. "They're tough, but we always get up for them. They're a little bit down right now, but they'll be right back up there in no time."    The second-ranked Hawkeyes ended the meet when Ryan Fulsaas caught Woodley Milord in a headlock and pinned him at 197. Steve Mocco, pacing and ready for his heavyweight match, then discovered that he would receive a forfeit.    "We're not healthy enough to wrestle against a guy like Mocco," Iowa State coach Bobby Douglas said.    Douglas told Iowa coach Jim Zalesky that he would forfeit the heavyweight match, but Zalesky didn't tell Mocco.    "We like starting meets at 125 pounds," Zalesky said. "But if everyone keeps forfeiting to him, we might have to rethink that. We might want to start at heavyweight."    In all, Iowa won seven of the nine contested matches, getting majors from Luke Eustice at 125, Matt Anderson at 157, Tyler Nixt at 174 and Smith at 184. Fulsaas' pin brought down the house.    And the Cyclones.    "We did some team talking this week," Fulsaas said. "We just got after it. You've got to treat every match like it's a championship match. That's what we did."    Iowa hasn't lost a dual meet to Iowa State since the 1986-87 season. The 27-point margin fell just short of Iowa's 37-6 win in 1991, which stands as the largest margin of victory in the 68 duals between the programs.    "As soon as you start thinking about the past, you're in trouble," Zalesky said. "As long as we keep thinking about the next meet or match, then you're on par for streaks to happen. Maybe when it's over, we can think, 'Wow, that was a great streak.' But we can't think about it right now."    The Hawkeyes might take some time to reflect on the match that served as inspiration. Cliff Moore knocked off Iowa State's Zach Roberson, 8-3, at 133.    "When Cliff wrestles offensively, he's pretty tough," Zalesky said. "When he doesn't, he gets in trouble."    Iowa State, ranked 12th nationally, is recovering from the graduation of two of its best wrestlers, Cael Sanderson and Joe Heskett. The Cyclones have just one No. 1-ranked wrestler, 141-pounder Aaron Holker.    "They were trying; they were just in over their head in most cases," Douglas said. "We can take a lot of positive from this. There's a lot of fight in this team. It will come out in time, but it will come out."    About the only troubling aspect of Iowa's performance was the team's void at 165. Jason D'Agata lost to Nick Passolano, 6-1, at 165, then bolted from the mat.    "He ran off the mat so quickly after getting beat," Zalesky said. "When you get beat, you should have to crawl off the mat. That's how much you have to leave out on the mat. We want you to run off, but you shouldn't be able to run off the mat that fast after you get beat."    Fulsaas didn't run. Instead, he celebrated by pumping his fists for a cheering crowd.    "I just did a good move and finished it," Fulsaas said. "I just exploded through the move. Hit, drive and finish."    Smith's win pushed Iowa's lead to 22-7 and set the stage for Fulsaas.    After cheering the dramatic pin with his teammates, Smith and the Hawkeyes watched with amusement as Mocco reluctantly accepted a forfeit.    "Would you want to wrestle Mocco?" Smith asked. "They want me to wrestle him. I do sometimes, but I don't want to. The guy's a monster. Can you blame them for forfeiting?"    Normally a 15-year, 30-match winning streak over your nearest rival would be cause for obnoxious celebration. Instead, Iowa downplayed the remarkable run.    "In a lot of those dual meets in that streak, if Iowa State had won one match, we would have lost," Zalesky said. "There have been some good individual performances to keep this streak alive, even when it looks like Iowa State had the better team or the better matchups that day."    On Sunday, Iowa had almost all of the matchups.    "Iowa's got a good team," Douglas said. "The way they matched up with us made them look like a great team."