Iowa wrestling's final dual meet of December (and final dual meet for almost a month -- they don't have another dual meet scheduled until the Big Ten opener against Illinois on January 6) featured a road trip to Chattanooga and a meeting with the Mocs (which is, officially, short for Mocs and nothing else). The Mocs were 2-5 on the season and boast only a handful of ranked wrestlers (and only one inside the Top 25 at their respective weight), so expectations were low in terms of this being a competitive dual meet.
For the most part, those expectations were borne out by the reality of the action on the mat -- Iowa won six of 10 matches and got bonus points in five of those matches, including a pair of technical falls and a pin from Tony Cassioppi in a little over a minute. Iowa's best wrestlers, by and large, dominated their matches. The four losses came from three back-ups pressed into service and Nelson Brands who lost a toss-up bout at 174 lbs. Iowa's three back-ups (at 125, 133*, and 149) struggled in their matches, but they don't figure to be on the mat for Iowa at the business end of this season, either.
* It does seem a little harsh to characterize Cullan Schriever as a back-up when he's started six of Iowa's seven dual meets this season, but I also do not think he will be the first choice option at 133 when Brody Teske is healthy.
#2 Iowa 27, Chattanooga 12
| WT | WINNER | RESULT | LOSER | TEAM SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | Logan Ashton | DEC (1-0) | Charles Matthews | CHAT 3-0 |
| 133 | #27 Brayden Palmer | DEC (3-1 SV) | Cullan Schriever | CHAT 6-0 |
| 141 | #2 Real Woods | TECH FALL (16-0) | Dayne Dalrymple | CHAT 6-5 |
| 149 | #27 Noah Castillo | DEC (3-2 2OT) | Joel Jesuroga | CHAT 9-5 |
| 157 | #24 Cobe Siebrecht | DEC (6-2) | Lincoln Heck | CHAT 9-8 |
| 165 | #14 Patrick Kennedy | TECH FALL (23-8) | Jackson Hurst | IOWA 13-9 |
| 174 | #16 Rocky Jordan | DEC (3-1) | #14 Nelson Brands | IOWA 13-12 |
| 184 | #8 Abe Assad | MAJ DEC (14-4) | #31 Matthew Waddell | IOWA 17-12 |
| 197 | #6 Jacob Warner | MAJ DEC (10-1) | Jake Boyd | IOWA 21-12 |
| 285 | #3 Tony Cassioppi | FALL (1:15) | Logan Andrew | IOWA 27-12 |
A few thoughts:
* Charles Matthews got the nod at 125 instead of Aidan Harris and while the margin of defeat was much smaller with him on the mat, he wasn't able to get much going in the match. His decision to go neutral and eschew trying to get an escape point became even odder when he didn't take many legitimate attacks or try to score from neutral.
* Schriever, in contrast, did take several attacks in his match... but wasn't able to finish any of them. He was able to get to Palmer's legs quite easily, but the Mocs man was equally good at turning those attacks into stalemates -- until the end of sudden victory, when he countered a Schriever shot into a takedown of his own. I think it would have been wiser for Schriever to inject some more variety into his attacks.
* While Spencer Lee was not in action tonight, Real Woods did a fine job of making sure that Tilt Town did not go without visitors tonight. He got a quick takedown and then went to work on the mat, rolling up four sets of near fall points (three four-point swipes and one two-point swipe) to get a 16-0 win -- in the first period. Just complete and utter domination from Woods, which is what you want to see from one of your best wrestlers.
* Max Murin got the night off at 149, which gave a start to freshman Joel Jesuroga. He was game, and a had a nice-looking attack in sudden victory that he wasn't quite able to finish, but he fell in the ride-out overtime periods. It would have been good to see Jesuroga show the same urgency in regulation that he did in sudden victory, but this wasn't a terrible debut by any means.
* The dual fully turned around for Iowa at 157 and 165. Siebrecht got things going with a controlled 6-2 decision win at 157 -- his first non-bonus point victory of the season, but still a pretty solid win all the same. Patrick Kennedy brought some relentless attacks at 165 and racked up takedown after takedown (plus a little back point action on a quick turn) en route to his technical fall victory. Excellent attacking tempo from Kennedy and some good variety in his attacks as well.
* Nelson Brands was the only regular Iowa starter to lose his match in this dual, dropping a 3-1 decision to Rocky Jordan (a graduate transfer from Ohio State) on a third-period takedown. They traded escapes in the second and third, but Jordan was able to finish the winning attack in the third. There wasn't enough attacking from Nelson when they were in neutral. He also came up with a bit of a limp after the takedown by Jordan -- hopefully that was nothing major and he'll be fine.
* Iowa wrapped the dual up with three consecutive bonus points, starting with a 14-4 major decision from Abe Assad. Assad got a pair of takedowns in the first period, then added several more in the second, and a final one in the third to lock up the major decision. In the past, that might have been a match that Assad only won by 2-3 points, so it was good to see him instead keep the pedal down and look to score more -- that's a mindset he needs to maintain throughout the season.
* Warner seemed to be on track for a similar result after a quick takedown gave him an early 2-0 lead, but he didn't do much more from neutral in the rest of the first period (or the second), though he did do enough to generate a stall point against Boyd. Warner took a page out of Woods' book in the third period, though, and used a cheap tilt to get some back points and turn a low-scoring match into a lopsided result. There are lots of ways to earn bonus point wins, after all.
* Tony Cassioppi lived up to his "Tony Pins" nickname tonight, overpowering Andrew for a quick takedown, then swiftly manuevering him into position for a pin in just 1:15 of action. Woods and Cassioppi were barely on the match for over four minutes combined in their matches tonight -- work smarter, not harder, right? This was classic Cassioppi, just bulldozing over an overmatched opponent and getting his fifth pin in seven wins this season.
27-12 obviously doesn't look as dominant as, say, 36-3. But the guys who you would expect to dominate for Iowa in this lineup did dominate, by and large. We can quibble about wanting to see a few more takedowns from, say, Warner, but that's mostly just splitting hairs. The wrestlers deeper down the depth chart struggled tonight and while it would have been nice to see them look a little better, they're not who Iowa is going to be relying on in February and March. Brands losing a close match to a mid-tier opponent like Jordan was frustrating -- that's the sort of guy he'll need to beat in March to have more than a very short stay in the NCAA Tournament -- but hopefully he can learn from this defeat.
NEXT: Iowa is off for a few weeks and returns to the mat for the Soldier Salute tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville on December 29-30.
