Passolano's vision comes true - Iowa State ends the streak

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John Fuller (TheMat.com)
12/07/2003


Ames, Iowa - The streak is over. 5,149 fans, including USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach Kevin Jackson, witnessed it on Sunday afternoon in Iowa State's Hilton Coliseum.    Not only did Iowa State end a 30-dual losing streak to in-state rival Iowa, but the Cyclones ended it in style - with a pin.    165-pound Nick Passolano used a half nelson to roll Iowa's Cole Pape to his back to in the first period to give Iowa State a 21-13 victory in front of a frenzied crowd.    "Coach (Bobby Douglas) told us not to worry about the streak and just go out and wrestle for seven hard minutes," Passolano said. "Last night, I had a dream about wrestling the last match. I told coach Douglas that I was going used a crab ride, which he hates, and then a half to pin (Pape). He just said that he would be just fine with that result."    The Cyclones won six of the 10 matches in the dual meet, including the last five to seal its first win since 1986.    The dual meet started at 174 pounds as Iowa's Tyler Nixt dominated Nels Matson in a 19-8 win. Nixt scored nine takedowns in the match, but was unable to score any points from the top position, something the Hawkeyes would struggle with throughout the entire dual meet.    Freshman Kurt Backes was then able to fire up the Cyclone crowd with a 4-3 decision over Iowa's Paul Bradley at 184 pounds.    It appeared that Bradley may come away with his second consecutive win over Backes this season after scoring on a takedown with 42 seconds remaining in the match to take a 3-1 lead. But after an injury timeout by Bradley, Backes earned an escape and then used an inside trip to take a 4-3 lead with 27 seconds left.    Backes rode out Bradley the rest of the match for the win.    "I wasn't as aggressive as I wanted to be out there. When he took that lead, it forced me to attack," Backes said.    The Hawkeyes then received wins from Ryan Fulsaas at 197 pounds, Ryan Fuller at 285 pounds and Luke Eustice at 125 pounds to take a 13-3 lead into the intermission.    But the Cyclones dominated the dual meet from there.    In one of the premier matchups, Iowa State two-time All-American Zach Roberson controlled Todd Meneely in a 10-5 win at 133 pounds. Roberson scored three takedowns in the match and racked up over three minutes of riding time in the victory.    At 141 pounds, the Cyclones received a great performance from Nate Gallick, who defeated All-American Cliff Moore 6-3.    Gallick shot in on Moore as soon as the opening whistle blew, and finished that takedown attempt for a quick 2-0 lead. Gallick would never look back, as he controlled Moore both on his feet and on the mat.    Two more Cyclone freshmen - twins Trent (149 pounds) and Travis Paulson (157) - were able to show Cyclone fans the future of this program with wins to give Iowa State a 15-13 lead over the Hawkeyes heading into Passolano's bout.    Trent Paulson defeated Ty Eustice 5-1 in overtime. The two wrestlers traded escapes during regulation, but in overtime, Paulson was able to lock a bear hug and put Eustice on his back for the win.    Travis Paulson was able to score a takedown in the first two periods to take a 5-0 lead over Joe Johnston.    In the third period, Johnston made a frantic comeback, scoring an escape, a takedown and another point off a second stall warning against Paulson to cut the lead to 6-4, but was unable to score again on the freshman.    "This is a big win for our program," stated Cyclone head coach Bobby Douglas. "Our guys wrestled smart and they wrestled hard. It's good to have this streak over, but it's also good to see our guys wrestle the way they did."    Iowa coach Jim Zalesky did not seem surprised by the final result.    "We wrestled hard, but we don't train the way we should be," Zalesky said. "We need to work on a lot of things, and this dual showed that."