By Pete Ruden
Give credit where credit is due. That was Tom Brands’ message after the No. 3 Iowa wrestling team defeated No. 16 Wisconsin, 33-8 on Feb. 3. The Hawkeyes then took down No. 13 Minnesota on Sunday.
“I think sometimes you got to give yourself a little credit, so give our guys credit,” Brands said after the win over the Badgers.
The night started off the same way it ended for Iowa: with wins.
After Wisconsin drew to start at 184 pounds, No. 5 Sammy Brooks made them pay. Brooks pinned Wisconsin’s Hunter Ritter with 6.9 seconds left in the second period to let Iowa jump out to a 6-0 lead.
With Cory Clark and Steven Holloway both sitting out, bonus points were at a premium for the Hawkeyes, but they were able to pick them up throughout the night.
“You always want to get bonus points anytime you step on the mat, right?” 184-pounder Sammy Brooks said. “Maybe there’s a little more motivation when you’re starting the guys off.”
After Brooks got Iowa going with six quick team points, the Hawkeyes never looked back. Iowa, which had its second-straight win, went on to win eight of the 10 matches, scoring bonus points in five.
Things got interesting when junior Faraan Brantley, who had never wrestled in a dual in his Iowa career and is listed on Iowa’s roster as a 174-pounder, got the nod at heavyweight. He took on No. 2 Connor Medbery but lost by tech fall, 18-1.
But with another dual on Sunday against Minnesota, Brands thought resting Holloway and Clark was the right thing to do.
“It’s just the smart thing to do with these young guys. It’s been a gauntlet, and we believe in this team that they can pick up the slack in other places with bonus points and whatnot,” Brands said. “Giving these guys a little bit of R&R, without the R. A little bit of rest, without maybe the recreation.”
After losing three-straight matches, 141-pounder Topher Carton got back on the right track with a 9-1 major decision over Cole Martin.
With the three previous losses all being winnable, Carton needed some encouragement, and he got it in the form of a quote from his sister’s favorite author.
“I actually saw something come across my Facebook timeline that kind of spoke to me a little bit,” Carton said. “It was an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote that said ‘Never confuse a single loss with a final loss.’ That’s the gist of it, and I’ve kind of been thinking about that all week.”
Two days later, Iowa beat the No. 13 Gophers, 27-11.
Winning seven matches, Iowa got out to a quick 19-0 lead that it didn’t surrender. After Mitch Bowman lost by tech fall and Steven Holloway lost by decision, Minnesota cut the lead to 19-8 and threatened to beat No. 1 Thomas Gilman for the first time this season.
No. 6 Ethan Lizak scored 8 quick points on Gilman to go up 8-0 and went into the third period up 9-4.
But with just over a minute left in the final period, Gilman got into a position where he was able to pin Lizak in a crazy comeback.
“I welcome the challenge,” Gilman said in a release. “He came out there to beat me, and I really appreciate that. I genuinely mean that, too. He came out there to beat me. Not a lot of guys do that. They wrestle to keep it close. It was a good match.”
Coming off of two-straight losses against the country’s top-two teams, Iowa now has three-consecutive wins over ranked teams. The Hawkeyes bounced back. Give credit where credit is due.”
