Sunday night's season-ending dual meet between #3 Iowa wrestling and #2 Oklahoma State was heralded as one of the biggest of the season -- and it largely lived up to that hype, with both teams trading haymakers and wins in a back-and-forth dual meet. Each team recorded a trio of bonus point wins, with Iowa claiming wins at six weights to Oklahoma State's four to come away as 21-16 winners in the dual meet.
After Oklahoma State recorded major decision wins at 125 and 141 to take an early lead in the dual, Iowa hit back with three straight wins at 149, 157, and 165 to wrest control of the dual back in the Hawkeyes' favor. But the dual wasn't decided until the one upset of the night at 184, where Iowa's star true freshman Angelo Ferrari scored a thrilling sudden victory win over #3 Dustin Plott to put the dual firmly in Iowa's control.
#3 Iowa 21, #2 Oklahoma State 16
The dual started on an inauspicious note for the Hawkeyes, as #4 Troy Spratley routed #16 Joey Cruz 17-3 at 125 lbs. Cruz had been on a nice run in recent weeks, but Spratley controlled the match from start to finish, getting to Cruz's legs early and often and finishing attacks frequently. The only saving grace for Cruz is that he was able to prevent a 15-point margin of defeat and avoided conceding a technical fall to Spratley.
The Hawkeyes hit back with a major decision of their own at 133, with #2 Drake Ayala methodically dispatching Rin Sakamoto, 10-1. Ayala picked up takedowns in the first and second periods to take control of the match but needed one more late to lock up the major decision. It took some effort, but Ayala finally secured the additional takedown with time ticking down in the third period.
Oklahoma State went back up by four at 141, as #5 Tagen Jamison picked up his own methodical major decision over Jace Rhodes -- takedown in the first, takedown in the second, hard ride in the third period. It all added up to an 8-0 win for the Cowboy.
The tide began to turn in Iowa's favor at 149, where #3 Kyle Parco dominated #18 Carter Young to the tune of a 7-1 decision win. Parco left things a bit too late, though, as he wasn't able to get enough scoring from neutral to earn a major decision win of his own. Parco was again smothering on top and difficult to break down from neutral, but his own occasionally-shaky offense from neutral is the one knock against him.
The Hawkeye train kept running at 157, where #3 Jacori Teemer showed off multiple seriously impressive freight train double-leg takedown attacks in earning a 10-6 decision win over #14 Caleb Fish. Teemer's motor wasn't as impressive -- he definitely looked gassed in the third period -- but when you can hit explosive attacks like Teemer can, it gives you a lot of wiggle room on the other things.
At 165 #2 Michael Caliendo made it three wins in a row for Iowa in the first match out of intermission. Caliendo, like a few other Iowa wrestlers had to grind to earn his bonus points, but he didn't shy away from that in the slightest, continuing to push the pace and look for attacking angles on #6 Cameron Amine; he was rewarded for that pressure with a sharp takedown in the final seconds to wrap up the 10-1 victory.
Nelson Brands got the nod for Iowa at 174, but wasn't able to pose much danger to #3 Dean Hamiti, Jr. The Wisconsin transfer was able to finish a few slick attacks against Brands and rode him hard as well. That said, Brands' dogged battling to get an escape late in the third and deny Hamiti a major decision win was an impressive moment, especially in a dual that was razor-thin at that point. After seven matches, Iowa and Oklahoma State were dead-even on match points at 42 apiece.
In such a tight dual, with both teams favored at five weights apiece, the difference was always going to come down to bonus points and/or upsets. Bonus points ended up being close to a wash, but the one upset in the dual went in Iowa's favor, with Angelo Ferrari making himself an instant Carver-Hawkeye legend by toppling #3 Dustin Plott.
After a scoreless first period, Plott got a quick escape to go up 1-0. Ferrari's low-angled approach, with one leg often hugging the mat, was keeping Plott at bay defensively, but he hadn't been able to get to Plott's legs himself -- until he finally did with a low ankle attack that he finished well. Another Plott escape made the score 3-2 entering the third period, where Ferrari chose down.
Despite some impressive scrambles late in the period, Ferrari wasn't able to get free from Plott's impressively clingy ride and the match was tied 3-3 after three periods. Sudden victory saw more Ferrari single-leg attacks and a few more impressive scrambles -- until Ferrari finally broke through and finished another attack midway through the overtime. A star is born.
The final Iowa win of the night came at 197, where #1 Stephen Buchanan had one more dominant display for the CHA faithful. Buchanan got an early takedown to open up his lead, then added some near fall points late in the bout to ensure that he would get the major decision as well. Match won, dual meet won.
At 285, #3 Wyatt Hendrickson absolutely dominated #11 Ben Kueter to the tune of an 18-3 technical fall -- in just two periods of work. Hendrickson scored attacks early and often, added a reversal in the second period, and flipped Kueter on his back late in the match for four near fall points -- and likely would have had a pin if the period had been five seconds longer.
The dual was Iowa's fifth-straight win over Oklahoma State and a largely positive note for Iowa to wrap up the regular season. Hawkeye wrestlers got bonus points at several weights and showed an aggressive, point-scoring mindset in most of their matches. That's a good approach to have with the biggest matches of the season looming in March.
NEXT: Dual meet season is over -- now it's tournament time. First up is the Big Ten Tournament, which will take place in Evanston, Illinois, on March 8-9.
