Hawkeyes Edge ISU Cyclones, 23-17

<< Back to Articles
Larry Nugent (USA Wrestling)
12/09/2000


In a match that lived up to its excitement "hype", The Iowa Hawkeyes edged the Iowa State Cyclones, 23-17.    The first two weight classes went Iowa's way, despite traffic problems in Iowa City causing a delay in seating the the mostly partisan 12,145 fans.    Iowa's heavily favored Doug Schwab, barely lit the pilot light in the first round with the Cyclones redshirt freshman, Zach Roberson, but he steadily increased the heat as the match went along. In the end, Schwab had a 13-4 win and the Hawkeyes had the momentum and a 4-0 lead.    The 149 pound match was pivitol, and Mike Zadick upened up on Iowa State's Billy Maldonado in the third period with a takedown and some nice work on top that gave the Hawkeye a riding time point. That was all Zadick needed and he left the mat with a 4-1 win and Iowa had a 7-0 lead.    At 157 pounds, Iowa State's Cole Sanderson attempted to send a message to T.J. Williams by shooting directly across the center circle at William's legs on the opening whistle. It served to keep Williams at bay for a while, and several excellent scrambles entertained the crowd, but in the end, the Hawkeye was too much for the Cyclone. Williams scored a 10-5 victory over Sanderson.    After three straight wins for Iowa, it was up to Iowa State's Joe Heskett to stop the "bleeding". He did! In fact, it appeared that Heskett had to slow down building up points, with a 15 point "technical Fall" coming too fast and not enough opportunities to score a fall. However, Iowa State's Head Coach Bobby Douglas happily accepted Heskett's 7-1 win over Iowa's Ben Shirk which put points on the board for the Cyclones. After 165 pounds it was Iowa 10 Iowa State 5.    Another pivitol match was at 174 pounds where Iowa State's Perry Parks went up against Iowa's Gabe McMahan. This match really caught the crowd's interest because McMahan was clearly the aggressor, but Parks avoided several traps set by the Hawk sending these encounters into wild scrambles. Despite those exciting moments, McMahan scored a solid 12-6 win over Parks. After five matches, the team score was Iowa 13 Iowa State 5.    At 184 pounds, a wrestler without a blemish on his entire collegiate record step out for the Cyclones. Cael Sanderson is undefeated after two years of NCAA wrestling competition...and that didn't change Friday night in Iowa City.    Sanderson used only two minutes and seventeen seconds before pinning the  Hawkeye's Jessman Smith. With Iowa State beginning to flex its muscles, it appeared there was hope for the Cyclone to win the meet. Going into the 197 pound match, the score was Iowa 13 Iowa State 11.    At 197 pounds Last years runner-up at the Nationals, Iowa State's Zach Thompson, made two takedowns, a penalty point and an escape hold up for a 6-4 victory over Iowa's Ryan Fulsaas. Despite the closeness of the score, Thompson's careful style and the inability of his counterpart to score offensive points against him, kept the Cyclone in control, and it gave Iowa State their first lead of the night. With three matches left to wrestle, Iowa State led 14-13.    Perhaps the most exciting match was at heavyweight. Iowa's Ryan Fulsaas and Iowa State's Mark Knauer were tied going into the third period 2-2. Fulsass appeared to gain the upper hand with a hard fought takedown, but Knauer reversed him and immediately cranked the Hawkeye over to his back. Knauer won 8-4 and Iowa State increased its lead to 17-13.    Seemingly in an attempt to "out do" Cael Sanderson's pin at 2:17 of the first periond at 184 pounds, Iowa's Jody Strittmatter mauled Jacob Moore, scoring a fall in 2:56 of the first period.    The Hawkeyes were back on top 19-17 with one match left to wrestle.  At 133 pound, defending NCAA Champ Juergens never let Iowa State's Azevedo into the match. After a dizzying succession of takedowns, Eric Juergens scored a 20-8 victory that gave the Hawkeye faithful a final team score of Iowa 23 Iowa State  17.