Real Woods Loses in NCAA Final

The 2023 NCAA Wrestling Tournament is over and, unfortunately, it did not end on a high note for Iowa wrestling. The Hawkeyes placed one wrestler in Saturday night's final session, #1 Real Woods at 141 lbs. Woods was facing #2 Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado in the night's only matchup of unbeaten wrestlers. Unfortunately, Woods was not able to become an NCAA champion, suffering a narrow 6-4 defeat in the final.

The first period featured a lot of circling and a lot of hand-fighting. Woods generally controlled the center of the mat and looked for low-angle attacks, but neither wrestler was able to create many truly threatening attacks. The period ended 0-0.

Alirez chose the down position to start the second period, which was an interesting choice, given Woods' potent skills from the top position. Woods has been effective at both riding opponents to accumulate riding time this season and (more importantly) getting tilts to score near fall points. Woods' tilt technique is very similar to the trapped arm tilts that Spencer Lee has mastered down at 125 lbs, and just as effective.

Woods was able to put his top game skills to use in the second period. He rode Alirez hard and racked up over 90 seconds of riding time. Near the end of that ride, he also finally managed to tilt Alirez for two near-fall points, after Alirez had blocked several earlier attempts. Those swipes put Woods up 2-0, but as he was going for more, Alirez was able to force a reversal when Woods went for a body lock instead of conceding the escape.

Alirez was not only able to get a reversal, he was also able to expose Woods' back to the mat for near-fall swipes of his own. The official originally said he got just two swipes, which was challenged by the Northern Colorado coaches, who argued that he should have received four near-fall points. The challenge led to a lengthy video review by the centralized review panel at the NCAA Tournament.

The review process took almost as long as the match itself (it was over six minutes) and ultimately resulted in the call on the mat being overturned and Alirez being awarded four near-fall points. Was that the correct call? It looked very close. Alirez may have had Woods' back exposed for four counts, but it also seemed like Woods was repositioning himself near the end of the count. Regardless, the four-count was given, which made the score 6-2 in favor of Alirez with under 30 seconds remaining in the period.

Woods got a quick escape after the restart, but was unable to convert any attacks before the period ended. Trailing 6-3 entering the third period, Woods chose the down position. He got an escape to cut Alirez's lead to 6-4, though it came after his riding time advantage had been erased. Still, a takedown and a ride-out would be enough for Woods to win the match -- and the NCAA title. Unfortunately, Woods spent too much time in underhooks and tied up with Alirez and he was unable to get to his opponent's legs and score a takedown.

Alirez didn't make any notable attacks in the third period, and received no stall warnings, though most of Woods' attempted attacks were half-shots, which is rarely enough to generate a stall call from the officials. Woods also trailed by two points, so a single stall point would still have left him down a point in the match.

Woods' strength all season came from racking up big point totals early in matches. He was excellent at getting at least one first-period takedown, and he often managed to get near-fall points off tilts after those takedowns. That gameplan didn't work in this match as Woods wasn't able to get to Alirez's legs in the first period and couldn't finish any attacks.

It was a disappointing way for Woods' season to end, but it was still a very good season overall. Woods, who transferred from Stanford after last season, wrestled brilliantly this season, won a Big Ten championship, and had his best-ever finish at the NCAA Tournament. Now the mission is to take a step up the podium next season and become an NCAA champion. Congratulations to Woods on a strong season, and here's hoping for an even better one next year.

The rest of the NCAA Tournament wrapped up on Saturday morning, with the medal matches. Iowa had five wrestlers in the consolation bracket to enter the day, although only four wrestled. Spencer Lee medically forfeited both of his consolation round matches and finished in 6th place. He was reported to be in attendance at the BOK Center and cheering on his teammates in the consolation semifinals and finals.

In terms of those results:

And in the 3rd and 5th place matches:

After a brilliant consolation round session last night (6-0), this morning's matches were more of a struggle. Tony Cassioppi was the only Iowa wrestler to win his semifinal and put himself into the 3rd place match, picking up a comfortable 4-0 decision win over Missouri's Zach Elam. Cassioppi didn't fare as well in the 3rd place match, where he became the latest foe to get stuck by Air Force's Wyatt Hendrickson, one of college wrestling's most prolific pinners this season (17 total).

Max Murin had a rough morning, dropping both the consolation semifinal and the 5th place match, but he should still hold his head high for deservedly earning All-America honors. He wrestled well at this tournament and a few losses at the end of the consolation bracket don't change that.

Nelson Brands and Jacob Warner were able to end their NCAA Tournaments with victories and 5th place finishes. Brands used a strong attack in overtime to knock off Oklahoma State's Dustin Plott, while Jacob Warner bounced back from an early 2-0 deficit to record an easy 7-3 victory thanks to a pair of escapes, a takedown, a two-point near fall, and an escape point. Job well done to both Brands and Warner, who far exceeded their seeds with their finishes at this year's NCAA Tournament.