#2 Iowa 18, #7 Iowa State 15: The Winning Bonus

CyHawk showdowns are rarely boring affairs and that was true again Sunday when #2 Iowa and #7 tussled on the mat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. In a dual marked by back-and-forth action and swings in momentum (the only back-to-back wins all day were by Iowa State at 184 and 197), as well as post-match antics on both sides after several bouts, Iowa topped Iowa State with a Tony Cassioppi win at 285 that gave Iowa an 18-15 win on the day. Both teams won five bouts in the match, but the difference was bonus points -- Iowa had three major decision victories (125, 157, 174), while Iowa State had none. 

The victory continued Iowa's dominance in the series -- 18 in a row overall, 17 in a row for Tom Brands as Iowa coach, 12-0 for Iowa in the history of the Dan Gable Traveling Trophy (a trophy which still has never traveled outside of the grasp of one team), and 33 of the last 34 -- but it was not a particularly dominant win for the Hawkeyes. Iowa got emotional and exciting season debuts from #1 Spencer Lee (125) and #2 Real Woods (141) -- and Iowa absolutely needed them both. Iowa probably loses both of those weights without Lee or Woods in action and if that happens, Iowa's epic winning streak in the series would have come to a screeching halt. 

The blueprint for Iowa State's near-victory? They won the match they were supposed to (165), won basically all of the toss-up weights (133, 149, 184) and got a key upset (197). (Although you can argue how much of an "upset" it truly was, given that Warner was ranked #2 and Bastida was #6 -- and Bastida beat him in the dual last year.) The close matches mainly went their way too -- four of Iowa's five wins were by at least seven points and only one (141) was decided by two points or fewer. By contrast, four of Iowa State's five wins were by a combined six points. Iowa won this dual, but they also leave it knowing that they have a lot of things to work on, from conditioning to finishing more attacks to avoiding costly mistakes. 

#2 Iowa 18, #7 Iowa State 15

A few thoughts: 

* It was certainly great to see Spencer Lee back on the mat and doing his thing -- Tilt Town is officially welcoming visitors once again -- but he was also far from his best. He looked a bit tentative in the first period, though he was a force on the mat when he did get a takedown. His gas tank was fading by the end of the first and he seemed to be dragging a bit in the second and third periods, though he did have enough sharpness to get a final takedown off a sloppy shot from Cabanban in the third period. I don't think there's much to worry about with Spencer from his performance -- it was his first match back in over 11 months. I think his cardio will improve as he settles into the rhythms of the season. 

Dominant 16-5 major decision for @LeeSpencerlee36 in his season debut!

Check out his two near falls in under a minute. @Hawks_Wrestling x @B1GWrestling pic.twitter.com/4jhSiwxMnu

— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) December 4, 2022

* Cullan Schriever again got the nod at 133 and while he fought hard, he came out on the short end after giving up a takedown in the final seconds of the third period. Schriever was a bit more aggressive than Attasauov throughout the match, but he couldn't turn that aggression into finished attacks. If he's the guy at 133 -- and since we haven't seen hide nor hair of Brody Teske in several weeks, I think we have to assume that this is Schriever's position, at least for the time being -- hopefully Schriever can make some strides in the next few months. 

* If Spencer Lee looked a bit tentative at times in his return to the mat, Real Woods was quite the opposite in his Iowa debut -- he looked like he was shot out of a cannon. Granted, he wasn't returning after a year-long absence or recovering from double-ACL surgery, but he had plenty of energy -- and no small amount of swagger, either. It took him only a few minutes to earn fan favorite status at CHA. The highlight of Woods' match was probably the mean ride he put on Swiderski in the second period -- he absolutely smothered him. It would have been good to see a takedown or two from Woods, but that will no doubt come. In the meantime, he found a way to get a win over a good opponent and he did flash some very nice attacks in the process. Credit to Swiderski, too. He was a Top 5 overall recruit last year and he looks the part -- he's going to be a menace for the next few years. 

* I predicted that 149 would be a one-takedown match and, sure enough, that's exactly what it was. Unfortunately, it wasn't Murin who got that one takedown -- it was ISU's other impressive freshman, Paniro Johnson. Murin was too cautious throughout the match and it caught up with him in the final seconds of sudden victory, when Johnson exploded with an attack that got to Murin's legs and led to the match-winning takedown. This is a Murin match we've watched a lot over the past 5+ years and he's running out of time to change that narrative. 

* Speaking of newfound fan favorites at CHA... Real Woods wasn't the only newcomer getting the Iowa crowd to stand up and take notice. Siebrecht continues to make the 157 spot his with some impressive performances. This week he hit a big throw off an inside trip to take his opponent directly to his back, jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead. The match slowed down a bit after that, but Siebrecht still looked good -- and his ability to finish a takedown in the third and finish out a strong ride to secure a major decision win was very impressive. We'll see how Siebrecht fares against the better opponents at this weight, but so far he's passing every test with flying colors. 

TIMBERRRRR

Cobe Siebrecht goes big at 157 pic.twitter.com/o89GTLbwDh

— Go Iowa Awesome (@IowaAwesome) December 4, 2022

* 165 was the one weight in the dual meet where Iowa State had a clear advantage and David Carr displayed the full extent of that advantage in his comprehensive 10-4 win over Patrick Kennedy. Carr got four takedowns in the match with some very slick attacks; once he got to Kennedy's legs, there was little the Iowa man could do to avoid the takedown. Hopefully this was a good learning experience for Kennedy -- there are some real sharks at 165 and if Kennedy wants to swim among them and get a spot on the podium in March, he's going to need to continue to up his game. This match gives him an idea of how far he needs to go to hit that level. 

* Iowa State wrestled another freshman at 174 and while M.J. Gaitan was a game opponent for Nelson Brands, Nelson did a nice job of using his experience and savvy to methodically earn a bonus point win. He took advantage of Gaitan's inexperience and hit him with repeated single-leg and double-leg attacks that sent Gaitan directly to his back on multiple occasions. Just a very controlled, solid performance for Brands here. 

* 184 was another one-takedown match and it was another one that didn't go Iowa's way. Assad didn't necessarily wait too long to attack in this match -- he had some solid attacks during the match, but he wasn't able to finish those shots and turn his attacks into points. That left him vulnerable at the end of the match, when Coleman finally countered an Assad attack into a takedown of his own. Assad and Warner both had opportunities to finish shots and failed to do so in their matches at 184 and 197; that's one thing they'll need to improve on this season if they want to achieve their goals in March. 

* Bastida has definitely proven to be a difficult opponent for Warner in their two bouts so far -- his quickness and power can make it hard to stop his attacks, while his flexibility can make it hard to score on him. Warner found himself tripped up by a lightning-quick ankle pick by Bastida in the first and again by an explosive attack in the second. Meanwhile, Warner was able to get to Bastida's legs on a few occasions, but Bastida's impressive flexibility made it hard for Warner to finish those shots. A frustrating match, but hopefully one that Warner can study and learn from for the future. 

* With the dual tied 15-15 after nine matches, Iowa needed Tony Cassioppi to get a win at heavyweight in order to secure the dual victory. Cassioppi got a takedown in under a minute and proceeded to ride the hell out of Schuyler for the rest of the period, though he wasn't able to turn him for any back points or a pin. When Cassioppi got another takedown and ride-out in the second period, it seemed like a major decision was on the table -- Tony just needed an escape and another takedown (and ride-out) in the third to do that. Instead, he got taken down himself and Schuyler briefly had Cassioppi in a cradle. Tony was able to wriggle free before Schuyler could get him on his back for any near fall points or a pin, but that was till far too close for comfort in a match that Cassioppi had been dominating to that point. This was a match that Cassioppi dominated for 90%, but there was also about 2-3% when he was in serious peril. 

To give the devil his due, this was a very solid Iowa State team -- Kevin Dresser has put together the best Cyclone team since Cael Sanderson was roaming the sidelines there, 15 years ago. There's a lot of talent up and down the lineup and the wrestlers were competing hard at every weight. That wasn't the case for ISU a few years ago. If this keeps up, the Iowa-ISU rivalry could return to the heights it hit during the 80s or that brief window in the '00s when Cael was at ISU and Brands was at Iowa. This dual meet should also have served as a wake-up call to the Hawkeyes: they've been running the show in Iowa for almost two decades now, but little brother is fighting back and Iowa's going to need to continue working hard to maintain the upper hand in this rivalry.