STILLWATER — It was an exciting dual in front of the third-largest crowd in Gallagher-Iba history, 13,721, and through the first five matches between Oklahoma State and Iowa, but the Hawkeyes took the advantage in the middle weights to roll to a 22-9 win over the Cowboys.
It marked the fourth-straight loss to the Hawkeyes for the Pokes and gave them their first loss of the season, moving the Cowboys to 14-1 overall and 8-1 in GIA.
The day started off between No. 12 Troy Spratley and No. 4 Drake Ayala at 125 pounds. The dual started off incredibly close and Spratley and Ayala finished the third period tied 1-1. Spratley defended a decent single leg by the Hawkeye, but Ayala switched and hooked up a cradle towards the edge of the mat in the sudden victory period and rolled to an 8-1 win to out the Hawkeyes up 3-0.
No. 3 Daton Fix did was Daton Fix does as he faced Brody Teske in the second match of the day. After a takedown with just over a minute remaining in the first period, Fix scrambled for an escape early in the second period and recorded a second takedown towards the end of the second period to go up 7-1. Fix would allow another escape in a tight third period to secure the 7-2 win in his final home dual in an Oklahoma State singlet to move to 13-0 overall on the season and tie the dual up at 3-3.
The Hawkeyes took the lead back in the third match of the day as No. 2 Real Woods beat No. 8 Tagen Jamison 4-1.
The Cowboys tied the dual back up a 6-6 with a solid 7-3 win for freshman Jordan Williams, ranked No. 18 in the country, against former Oklahoma State wrestler, Victor Voinovich, who transferred to Iowa during the offseason. The win tied things back up at 6-6.
The mostly orange crowded roared as Williams took a 3-1 lead into the second period and a 4-2 lead into the third, as Williams recorded a duck-under less than one minute into the third period for the three-point takedown before an inconsequential escape by Voinovich towards the end of the match.
Not a lot of action in the first period of the 157 match between No. 10 Teague Travis and No. 5 Jared Franek, with each wrestler feeling each other out in the first three minutes. Franek took the down position to start the second period and recorded an escape after 47 seconds and then a quick takedown for a 4-0 lead. Travis recorded an escape to get it back to a three-point match before another takedown before the end of the second period to go up 7-1. Another takedown and a few more escapes gives Franek a 10-4 decision to put the Hawkeyes up 9-6 after five.
The Hawkeyes extended their lead by six points following the sixth match of the afternoon at 165 pounds, No. 3 Izzak Olejnik and No. 7 Michael Caliendo. Caliendo went up 6-1 with a quick low-level takedown in the second period. Trailing 7-2 with 25 seconds in the match, Olejnik attempted a late takedown, but wasn’t able to complete it for the loss to make it a 12-6 team score to make it 12-6 Hawkeyes.
True freshman Brayden Thompson, ranked No. 21 in the country, faced No. 7 Patrick Kennedy at 174 in the seventh match of the day. Kennedy scored a quick three-point takedown just over 30 seconds in the match. After an escape for Thompson, Kennedy entered the second period with a 6-1 lead. Thompson was hit with a second stall, awarding a point to Kennedy before Kennedy recorded an escape towards the end of the second period to go up 8-1.
Kennedy extended his lead to 12-3 for a major decision, which extended the Hawkeyes’ team lead up to 10, 16-6, after seven matches.
No. 2 Dustin Plott faced unranked Gabe Arnold, a freshman for the Hawkeyes at 184 pounds. Plot recorded an early takedown to go up 3-0, before recorded an escape in the second period to go up 4-0 entering the third. After a tight third period, Plott rolled to a 5-1 win over Arnold to get the Pokes back within single digits, 16-9.
No. 16 Luke Surber faced No. 11 Zach Glazier in the 197-pound match. Like most of the matches, the first period was incredibly tight with each guy figuring each other out. Surber scored first as he recorded an escape in the second period and did a good job to enter the third period with the same score. Glazier started the third period in the down position and was brought back down hard by Surber early before recording an escape after a great defensive effort by Surber to avoid giving up a reversal. Tied 1-1 with a minute left in the match, Glazier shot in for a takedown, which was defended well by Surber who scrambled through for a near-takedown. However, it was Glazier who came out on top for a takedown in the final 15 seconds for a 4-1 decision, taking Iowa back up by 10 points, 19-9.
In the final match of the day, No. 11 Konner Doucet faced Ben Kueter in the heavyweight match. Doucet, who’s lost four out of his last five matches, entered the second period tied 0-0 and started in the down position. Doucet recorded an escape in 30 seconds to go up 1-0 and did a good job of keeping that lead going into the third period. Kueter started in the down position and recorded a reversal towards the end of the mat, as well as two near-fall points to go up 4-1 before running Doucet off the edge. Doucet granby rolled towards the edge out of the whistle, but Kueter did a good job of holding on and recorded a minute of riding time for a 5-1 win over the redshirt junior.
