Hawkeyes power past Virginia at National Duals Regional
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by Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
Iowa backup Alex Meyer (right) knocked off No. 6 Blaise Butler of Virginia on Sunday in Iowa City. Darren Miller photo.
IOWA CITY – The top-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes sat three starters, but still had more than enough firepower to prevail in its NWCA National Duals Regional.
Iowa remained unbeaten in earning a dominant 30-6 victory over No. 13 Virginia before 6,564 fans on Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa (15-0) now advances to the finals of the eight-team NWCA National Duals, set for this Saturday and Sunday in the same venue in Iowa City. Virginia dropped to 10-6.
Four Hawkeyes combined to score six bonus points in the win.
“Bonus points are good, especially in a dual meet like this when you’re wrestling three backups,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “It turns out we didn’t need them, but we’re always talking about bonus points and separation. It was a better performance than Friday (in a win over Michigan). It was a good performance today and we saw some excitement from some guys we normally don’t see.”
Hawkeye backup Alex Meyer stormed back strong to earn a wild 9-8 win over No. 6 Blaise Butler at 174 pounds. Meyer shot in for a takedown with one minute left and then rode Butler out for the dramatic win as the Carver-Hawkeye crowd erupted.
“It was another ranked kid that was supposed to be pretty good,” said Meyer, who is 12-2 this season. “It was an exciting dual. I knew the guy was getting tired and I just wrestled hard for seven minutes.”
Meyer, a sophomore, is good enough to start for most teams but he’s stuck behind two-time All-American Mike Evans of Iowa at 174.
“We love Alex Meyer,” Brands said. “He’s proven himself all year and he knows his time is coming.”
Hawkeye All-American and sixth-ranked Cory Clark sparked the Hawkeyes early, using an aggressive attack on his feet to earn a 12-3 major decision over No. 14 George DiCamillo at 133.
Sixth-ranked Josh Dziewa followed with a dominant 11-1 major over No. 13 Joe Spisak at 141. Dziewa took Spisak to his back with a four-point move in the third period to earn the major. Second-ranked Brandon Sorensen put on a takedown clinic before recording a third-period fall over Gus Sako at 149.
Michael Kelly won by decision at 157 to give Iowa a commanding 17-3 lead at the break.
Two-time All-American and fourth-ranked Nick Sulzer of Virginia started strong before holding off a late charge by No. 9 Nick Moore of Iowa at 165. Sulzer held on for an 8-7 win.
Iowa’s Sammy Brooks earned a dominant 20-7 major decision over Tyler Askey at 184. Hawkeye All-American and No. 6 Nathan Burak looked strong in an 8-2 win over No. 19 Zach Nye at 197.
Iowa backup Kris Klapprodt capped the win with a 7-2 win over Patrick Gillen at 285. Klapprodt took Gillen to his back in the final seconds to punctuate the win.
Top-five ranked Hawkeyes Thomas Gilman (125), Bobby Telford (285) and Evans were each held out of the dual Sunday.
The National Duals pairings will be announced on Tuesday.
“One week from now, a National Duals champion will be crowned,” Brands said. “And we’ve got work to do in the next week. It’s exciting to have the event here and it’s exciting for our fans. It’s our next event and we have to be ready to go.”
NWCA National Duals Regional
Feb. 15, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa 30, Virginia 6
IOWA CITY – The top-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes sat three starters, but still had more than enough firepower to prevail in its NWCA National Duals Regional.
Iowa remained unbeaten in earning a dominant 30-6 victory over No. 13 Virginia before 6,564 fans on Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa (15-0) now advances to the finals of the eight-team NWCA National Duals, set for this Saturday and Sunday in the same venue in Iowa City. Virginia dropped to 10-6.
Four Hawkeyes combined to score six bonus points in the win.
“Bonus points are good, especially in a dual meet like this when you’re wrestling three backups,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “It turns out we didn’t need them, but we’re always talking about bonus points and separation. It was a better performance than Friday (in a win over Michigan). It was a good performance today and we saw some excitement from some guys we normally don’t see.”
Hawkeye backup Alex Meyer stormed back strong to earn a wild 9-8 win over No. 6 Blaise Butler at 174 pounds. Meyer shot in for a takedown with one minute left and then rode Butler out for the dramatic win as the Carver-Hawkeye crowd erupted.
“It was another ranked kid that was supposed to be pretty good,” said Meyer, who is 12-2 this season. “It was an exciting dual. I knew the guy was getting tired and I just wrestled hard for seven minutes.”
Meyer, a sophomore, is good enough to start for most teams but he’s stuck behind two-time All-American Mike Evans of Iowa at 174.
“We love Alex Meyer,” Brands said. “He’s proven himself all year and he knows his time is coming.”
Hawkeye All-American and sixth-ranked Cory Clark sparked the Hawkeyes early, using an aggressive attack on his feet to earn a 12-3 major decision over No. 14 George DiCamillo at 133.
Sixth-ranked Josh Dziewa followed with a dominant 11-1 major over No. 13 Joe Spisak at 141. Dziewa took Spisak to his back with a four-point move in the third period to earn the major. Second-ranked Brandon Sorensen put on a takedown clinic before recording a third-period fall over Gus Sako at 149.
Michael Kelly won by decision at 157 to give Iowa a commanding 17-3 lead at the break.
Two-time All-American and fourth-ranked Nick Sulzer of Virginia started strong before holding off a late charge by No. 9 Nick Moore of Iowa at 165. Sulzer held on for an 8-7 win.
Iowa’s Sammy Brooks earned a dominant 20-7 major decision over Tyler Askey at 184. Hawkeye All-American and No. 6 Nathan Burak looked strong in an 8-2 win over No. 19 Zach Nye at 197.
Iowa backup Kris Klapprodt capped the win with a 7-2 win over Patrick Gillen at 285. Klapprodt took Gillen to his back in the final seconds to punctuate the win.
Top-five ranked Hawkeyes Thomas Gilman (125), Bobby Telford (285) and Evans were each held out of the dual Sunday.
The National Duals pairings will be announced on Tuesday.
“One week from now, a National Duals champion will be crowned,” Brands said. “And we’ve got work to do in the next week. It’s exciting to have the event here and it’s exciting for our fans. It’s our next event and we have to be ready to go.”
NWCA National Duals Regional
Feb. 15, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa 30, Virginia 6
125 – Nick Herrmann (Virginia) dec. Phillip Laux (Iowa), 12-6. 133 – Cory Clark (Iowa) dec. George DiCamillo (Virginia), 12-3. 141 – Josh Dziewa (Iowa) dec. Joe Spisak (Virginia), 11-1. 149 – Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) pinned Gus Sako (Virginia), 6:09. 157 – Michael Kelly (Iowa) dec. Andrew Atkinson (Virginia), 2-1. 165 – Nick Sulzer (Virginia) dec. Nick Moore (Iowa), 8-7. 174 – Alex Meyer (Iowa) dec. Blaise Butler (Virginia), 9-8. 184 – Sammy Brooks (Iowa) dec. Tyler Askey (Virginia), 20-7. 197 – Nathan Burak (Iowa) dec. Zach Nye (Virginia), 8-2. 285 – Kris Klapprodt (Iowa) dec. Patrick Gillen (Virginia), 7-2
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