Iowa wrestlers cruise by Indiana on senior night
Dargan SouthardIOWA CITY, Ia. — With two road duals upcoming and the postseason looming, Iowa didn’t need any drama Friday night. No problems there.
The Hawkeyes capped a perfect home slate with a 37-9 senior night win over Indiana at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa (13-0, 8-0 Big Ten Conference) picked up wins at eight of 10 weights. The usual suspects rolled through their matches with little resistance.
Spencer Lee kicked off the night at 125 pounds with a fall in three minutes and change. Austin DeSanto had 133 wrapped up in less than a period, tech falling in 2:47. Pat Lugo (149) and Alex Marinelli (165) both delivered swift pins.
The only real suspenseful match was at 174, where senior Mitch Bowman delivered a dramatic takedown for a 3-1 win over Indiana’s Jacob Covaciu. The decisive move came with 4 seconds to go.
"It feels incredible to get a win on senior night, the last time out," Bowman said. "Ton of fans out here, and that was awesome to go out to that. Carver is known for great finishes, and I thought that was a pretty good finish.
"I thought that was a really hard-fought match. It was low-scoring, but there was a lot of action, a lot of shots, a lot of could-be scores. I just thought it was a great way to go out."
Bowman’s win was the first of two senior victories in the final four matches. After Cash Wilcke's 5-2 victory over Norman Conley at 184 and Jacob Warner’s win at 197, heavyweight Sam Stoll capped the senior dominance with a 16-6 triumph over Fletcher Miller.
"It was just another night, except everyone telling me it was last night in Carver," Stoll said. "I'm like, 'I'm not dead.' Tonight's over, but I'll be back tomorrow. I think more people probably thought about it than I did, but there's still wrestling to be had."
Indiana (5-11, 1-7) did pick up two victories at 141 and 157. Hoosiers redshirt freshman Kyle Luigs picked up a fall over Max Murin midway through the third period. Indiana initiated a coaches review in the second, asking that a Murin takedown be reviewed. It was ultimately overturned.
Indiana’s Jake Danishek landed the other Hoosiers win over Jeren Glosser, who slid in at 157 for Kaleb Young.
"When you get beat, you have to be able to get back on the horse and gallop," Iowa coach Tom Brands said,."You have to gallop with a purpose."
With the victory, Iowa keeps alive its chance for the program’s first perfect dual season since going 23-0 in 2009-10. The Hawkeyes didn’t lose a dual the following year either, but they did have a tie.
The current squad finishes with Sunday’s match at Wisconsin and the Feb. 24 biggie at Oklahoma State.
"We've got to know that when we wrestle, teams are going to give us everything they have," Stoll said. "That's something for our young guys that I think they're picking up on. It's a big deal when teams wrestle the Iowa Hawkeyes. They don't want you to feel good. This will be a big, big test for us."
No. 3 Iowa 37, Indiana 9
125: No. 2 Spencer Lee (IA) pinned Elijah Oliver (IN), 4:12; 6-0 133: No. 3 Austin DeSanto (IA) tech. fall Paul Konrath (N), 18-3; 11-0 141: Kyle Luigs (IN) pinned No. 14 Max Murin (IA), 6:15; 11-6 149: No. 12 Pat Lugo (IA) pinned Fernie Silva (IN), 1:22; 17-6 157: Jake Danishek (IN) dec. Jeren Glosser (IA), 5-1; 17-9 165: No. 2 Alex Marinelli (IA) pinned Dillon Hoey (IN), 2:10; 23-9 174: Mitch Bowman (IA) dec. Jacob Covaciu (IN), 3-1; 26-9 184: No. 10 Cash Wilcke (IA) dec. Norman Conley (IN), 5-2; 29-9 197: No. 5 Jacob Warner (IA) major dec. Jake Kleimola (IN), 16-5; 33-9 285: No. 7 Sam Stoll (IA) major dec. Fletcher Miller (IN), 16-6; 37-9
Dargan Southard covers Iowa and UNI athletics, recruiting and preps for the Des Moines Register, HawkCentral.com and the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.