The No. 3 Hawkeyes beat the Scarlet Knights, 29-6, on Thursday night
By Courtney Baumann
Iowa’s match against Rutgers on Thursday night had just about everything: cheers, jeers, new faces, and an overtime win in the final match of the night.
Although Rutgers walked into Carver-Hawkeye Arena trying to prove itself, its only wins came at what have proven to be Iowa’s weakest weight classes this season.
The No. 3 Hawkeyes finished the night topping Rutgers, 29-6.
In what has become the norm this season, No. 2 Thomas Gilman fired the crowd up early. The 125-pounder earned a technical fall over No. 18 Sean McCabe
“It’s psychological warfare. The results guys see are going to scare them,” Gilman said. “[McCabe] might have some close matches with high-ranked guys, but I go out there and tech-fall him and throw him around, it sends a message to those other guys, even though I haven’t wrestled them yet.”
No. 3 Cory Clark extended the lead to 9-0 after a major decision win against Anthony Giraldo.
Redshirt freshman Logan Ryan has wrestled at 141 for the Hawkeyes every dual meet so far, posting a 2-4 record, but last night Topher Carton made his first appearance for the Hawkeyes this season. The junior found out he would wrestle just minutes before the meet started.
Brands had both Carton and Ryan suit up and weigh in, and during warm-ups, he made his decision.
“We told Topher and Logan that Logan was going to go. I said, ‘Topher, make sure you warm up like you’re wrestling,’ ” Brands said. “He warmed up like he was wrestling, and that’s what changed my mind.”
An upset from Edwin Cooper Jr. put the Hawkeyes up 17-3 heading into the break.
All three of Cooper’s losses this season have come to ranked opponents, but his win Thursday night against Richie Lewis, who is ranked No. 17 by Intermat, broke that streak.
With an 11-5 decision over Nicholas Gravina, No. 9 Sammy Brooks secured a win for the Hawkeyes, putting the team up 23-6 with only two matches left to go.
The match was Brooks’ first of the season that did not result in a pin or a technical fall.
Brooks, a junior, scored only 3 points during the first two periods. In every one of his matches so far this season, he has more than doubled that number. However, he ground it out and put up 8 more in the third period, including a 4-point near-fall.
Heavyweight Sam Stoll put an exciting cap on the night – the redshirt freshman defeated No. 9 Billy Smith in overtime.
There was visible frustration on Iowa’s bench and coaches while Stoll wrestled. Stoll scores many of his points on opponents’ stalling —his last opponent was disqualified because of this — but he did not get any stalling calls during the match.
At the end of the third period, the two were tied 1-1.
No wrestler from the Hawkeyes has gone into overtime yet this season. Within 20 seconds of the extra period, Stoll took down Smith for the second upset of the night.
“Maybe last year I didn’t think that I could hang with a guy like that,” Stoll said. “I know I can go out and beat these guys. I know with my pace and the way I train I can wrestle a full seven minutes at a high level that guys don’t want to wrestle.”
The dual was Iowa’s last until the team returns to action at the Midlands Tournament in Evanston, Illinois, Dec. 28-29.
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