By Courtney Baumann | [email protected]
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana – In just five combined matches, defending Big Ten champions Cory Clark and Sammy Brooks are on their way back to fight for first place.
The seniors, who were the No. 3 seed at 133 and the No. 2 seed at 184, respectively, cruised through their brackets during the first two sessions to earn the right to defend their titles.
The 133-pounder earned a major and two decisions throughout the day, knocking off the No. 14, No. 6, and No. 7 seeds along the way.
There will be a bit more work to do tomorrow, though, when Clark will face No. 1 seed Nathan Tomasello for the first time ever. It is Tomasello’s first year at 133 after moving up a weight class, and the Ohio State wrestler has had a perfect 17-0 season so far.
But that is not something Clark is worried about. In fact, he could have easily gone another seven minutes Saturday night, and said he wished he didn’t have to wait until tomorrow to wrestle again.
Clark did not allow his taped wrist or braced shoulder to get in the way, either. He said avoiding trouble spots for those irritated areas is something he has been working on all season.
“As the day goes on I get warm, my body gets going, and I feel better and better each match. I almost wish we could do the finals in a couple hours,” Clark said. “[Positions] are things I’ve been working on all year and I’ve gotten pretty good at them. No dings on my shoulder.”
Brooks only had to make work out of two wrestlers after receiving a first-round bye. He made his way through familiar territory with Minnesota’s Bobby Steveson and Indiana’s Nate Jackson. The senior earned a 10-2 major decision over Steveson when the Hawkeyes traveled to Minnesota in February, and although he sat out the Indiana dual, Brooks had been in the circle with Jackson twice.
The team score jumped a few points after the Brooks/Steveson match with a 4:08 fall by the Hawkeye. He was cruising in the match already, up 6-1 halfway through the second with two takedowns and a reversal.
Brooks then proceeded to knock off No. 3-seeded Jackson with a 13-6 decision.
The second period was vital for Brooks’ win. He scored seven-point differential with an escape, a takedown, and four near fall points, while not giving Jackson a thing.
The 184 weight class is one of the most competitive of the 10 weight classes, and having experience in the situation helps – especially when it comes to maintaining composure and taking it one match at a time.
“It’s something that might come with experience. I’ve been here before, and if you don’t, you’ll see what happens. There’s tons of guys in tons of brackets that maybe were either looking ahead or I don’t know what, but there’s probably plenty of guys that have a little something they’re looking back on, saying ‘Oh shoot, I wish I hadn’t done that,’” Brooks said. “You just gotta keep what’s going on in perspective and know that you gotta focus on the little things, then you can focus on the bigger picture.”
Iowa has two other wrestlers, Thomas Gilman and Michael Kemerer, in the finals as well, and there are four more still in the consolation bracket.
Iowa head coach Tom Brands wants to make sure that his wrestlers are not content with the just making it to day two.
“There’s another day tomorrow, and there’s more work to do,” Brands said. “We’re trying to answer questions when the tournament’s not over… We gotta be ready to go. We gotta be able to finish this tournament off, there’s still a lot of work to do.”
