By Courtney Baumann
The Iowa wrestling team picked up its fourth win of the season and earned head coach Tom Brands his 200th in his career Dec. 2 at South Dakota State.
Third-ranked Iowa downed the No. 20 Jackrabbits, 29-8, winning eight of the 10 matches.
It was Iowa’s 20th-straight road win — the last time the team lost such a dual meet was Feb. 23, 2013, at Minnesota.South Dakota State set a school record with 4,087 in attendance, making the atmosphere intense, much like Brands predicted it would be earlier in the week.
“Everywhere you go, you’re going to get the best shot and biggest crowds and it’s a situation that you love and embrace,” Brands said in a release. “There is no better feeling than wrestling in front of your fans, except maybe when you can quiet a rabid arena on the road. We have great fans, so that’s saying a lot if you can compare those two things.”
Sammy Brooks, Thomas Gilman, and Topher Carton all tacked on bonus points in their bouts — Carton won by major decision, and Brooks and Gilman won by technical falls.
Brooks, one of the senior veterans on the team, opened the gap for the Hawkeyes when he increased the team lead to 17-0. The 184-pounder took down Martin Mueller six times and scored 8 nearfall points in the second round.
“That’s part of the philosophy we have as Hawkeyes,” Brooks said in a release. “If I go out there, and put the hammer down, and I do my job, the next guy is going to go and do the same. There is no beating that. In a place like this, that may be even more important, when the crowd believes they’ve been close and they’re still in it. I didn’t hear much cheering from them in my match.”
Gilman followed up Brooks’ performance a few rounds later. The No. 1 ranked wrestler at 125 tallied 12 takedowns in his match to win 26-10.
Redshirt freshmen Michael Kemerer, Joey Gunther, and Steven Holloway all grabbed wins for the Hawkeyes as well. Kemerer, the No. 7 wrestler at 157, defeated No. 18 Colin Holler, 7-3.
Iowa lost only two matches, both against highly ranked South Dakota State wrestlers, No. 4 Nate Rotert and No. 7 Seth Gross.
Iowa’s next competition will be Saturday in Carver-Hawkeye against Iowa State.
