#3 Iowa wrestling held their first home dual meet of the season on Sunday afternoon and rolled to a comfortable 25-11 win over #16 Oregon State in front of a crowd of almost 15,000 fans. The Hawkeyes used the occasion to debut a lineup full of new faces -- in all, the Iowa that took the mat on Sunday featured just two returning starters from last year's team -- #9 Brody Teske at 133 and #1 Real Woods at 141.
Some roster turnover was expected after last season, with Spencer Lee (125), Max Murin (149), and Jacob Warner (197) finally using up the last of their eligibility. But the state investigation into sports-wagering really turned the Iowa roster upside-down, especially at the upper weights. Overall, five potential returning starters from last year -- Cobe Siebrecht (157), Patrick Kennedy (165), Nelson Brands (174), Abe Assad (184), and Tony Cassioppi (285) -- were absent from Sunday's lineup and their availability for the rest of this season looks uncertain at best.
Even with a lineup full of new faces, the result was a familiar one: a lopsided dual meet victory, with the Hawkeyes winning seven of the 10 matches and earning bonus points at three weights. This is definitely an Iowa team in the midst of a rebuild, but it's also an Iowa team with some definite potential at several weights.
Among the new faces, Jared Franek (#2 at 157) and Michael Caliendo (#5 at 165), the two transfer additions from North Dakota State, look the most ready to contribute at a high level immediately. Franek earned a methodical 10-3 win over Murphy Menke in his Carver-Hawkeye debut, scoring a takedown in each period to pull away for a comfortable win. Caliendo fell into an early hole after conceding a pair of takedowns on counter-shots, but he didn't panic and was able to chain together multiple takedowns of his own to turn the match around and earn a 15-10 decision win.
That said, the most exciting new faces was probably at 174, where Gabe Arnold, a true freshman and blue-chip recruit, made an impressive debut with a 4-2 upset win over #11 Travis Wittlake, an Oklahoma State transfer. After a scoreless first period, Arnold got a quick escape in the second and then used a quick single-leg attack to score a takedown on Wittlake.
In the third period, Arnold put an impressive ride on Wittlake for almost a minute, using several strong mat returns to get Wittlake back on the canvas. The Carver crowd got loud when he took the mat -- and louder still when he secured the upset win. He's going to be a CHA favorite in no time if he continues to produce results like that.
The dual started on an off note for Iowa, with #11 Drake Ayala getting upset by #18 Brandon Kaylor. Ayala had trouble getting through Kaylor's defense at times -- and didn't go a good enough job of keeping Kaylor off his legs, either. Ayala has the potential to be an All-American at 125, but to do so he'll need to wrestle much more cleanly than he did today.
That was the only real blip in the dual meet for Iowa, though. After Ayala's loss at 125, Iowa rolled off six consecutive wins to take total control of the dual. #9 Brody Teske showed very good aggression in racking up an 18-8 major decision win on #22 Gabe Whisenhunt; he continued to push for more takedowns and more points throughout the match.
The star of this Iowa team is unquestionably Real Woods, the Big Ten champion and NCAA runner-up a year ago who enters this season ranked #1 at 141 lbs. He's the exact same dominant force he was last season, too, using his skill on the mat and tilt technique to rack up back points with ease. He cruised to an easy 18-3 technical fall over #20 Cleveland Belton.
The most exciting match of the dual may have been 149, where #9 Victor Voinovich III, an Oklahoma State transfer making his Iowa debut, found himself in a tight battle with Nash Singleton. Singleton got to Voinovich's legs early and got a takedown, which he tried to ride until the end of the match. Voinovich wasn't having much luck getting to Singleton's legs, but the volume of his attacks (as well as a very vocal CHA crowd) helped draw a pair of stalling points that sent the match to overtime. In sudden victory, Voinovich's pace finally wore down Singleton and he was able to secure the winning takedown.
The final Iowa win came at 197, where Zach Glazier was relentless in continuing to attack #31 Justin Rademacher, ultimately coming away with a 14-6 victory. Glazier's pace was impressive and he did a great job of getting to Rademacher's legs -- and finishing when he got ahold of them.
184 and 285 were the other two Iowa losses in the dual and both were expected. Brennan Swafford has made good strides over his career at Iowa, but he's not at the level of #3 Trey Munoz and that was made very clear today. Once Munoz got Swafford on the mat, he was able to do whatever he wanted and finished the match quickly. Things were a bit more even at 285, where #22 Boone McDermott beat Bradley Hill 4-1 with the lone takedown of the match.
#3 Iowa 25, #16 Oregon State 11
125: #18 Brandon Kaylor DEC (7-6) #11 Drake Ayala
133: #9 Brody Teske MAJ DEC (18-8) #22 Gabe Whisenhunt
141: #1 Real Woods TECH FALL (18-3) #20 Cleveland Belton
149: #9 Victor Voinovich III DEC (6-3 OT) Nash Singleton]
157: #2 Jared Franek DEC (10-3) Murphy Menke
165: #5 Michael Caliendo DEC (15-10) Kekana Fouret
174: Gabe Arnold DEC (4-2) #11 Travis Wittlake
184: #3 Trey Munoz TECH FALL (20-4) Brennan Swafford
197: #23 Zach Glazier MAJ DEC (14-6) #31 Justin Rademacher
285: #22 Boone McDermott DEC (4-1) Bradley Hill
