Iowa Hawkeyes Use A Ferrari to Roll Past the Cowboys 21-16

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A name from the past ended up coming back to haunt the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Iowa City. In a dual that was supposed to be a roller coaster that might finish with the hero being Oklahoma State heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson, a Ferrari stole the show. Remember when Oklahoma State had A.J. Ferrari and he won an NCCA individual national championship and his brothers were all set to go to OKlahoma State. They had even moved to wrestle high school at Stillwater. It was going to be a team of Ferrari. That fell apart, but Angelo Ferrari surfaced at Iowa on a night full of surprise wrestlers and his upset win in sudden victory over the Cowboys No. 3-ranked 184 pounder Dustin Plott was the biggest win of the night. No. 2 Iowa beat the No. 3 Cowboys 21-16 in front of a packed house of 14,847 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It was the fifth straight dual win by Iowa over Oklahoma State. The Cowboys haven’t won in Iowa City since 2012.

Plott came out and wrestled confident. Ferrari had trouble scoring this season. He was 10-1 coming but had only wrestled in two duals and was 1-1. The scout on Ferrari was excelent on defense, but he had trouble scoring. That was not the case against Plott as he ended up with a single leg coming out of a second period scramble and he kept chasing and finally got the takedown. He led 3-1 and really controled the match from there.

University of Iowa Athletics

Iowa corner and bench reacts to Ferrari’s win in sudden victory.

Plott started the third period down 3-2 and still looking for a takedown of his own. Instead he rode Ferrari out in the third erasing the riding advantage Ferrari had and gaining it for himself to force sudden victory. It was close as it appeared Ferrari had escaped twice late in the third period.

In sudden victory, Ferrari was the aggressor and the second time he had a chance was the charm as he worked the takedown on the mat. Before the official signaled, Ferrari looked straight at the Oklahoma State corner and Cowboys head coach David Taylor and he signaled with three fingers up. 

It was a devastating result and left the Cowboys in a dire situation in the dual.

“It was amazing,” Ferrari said of the win. “Coach (Tom Brands) tells me I’m going to be in this position everyday and he puts me in those in practice with Gabe Arnold, Steve Buchanan, Patrick Kennedy and Nelson Brands. I wouldn’t be here without my coaches and all of them. He (plott) might ride me, but there is no way if I’m taking down Stephen Buchanan that I can’t take down that guy.” 

University of Iowa Athletics

Buchanan gets a major decision on Surber.

The Cowboys only hope after the upset win by Ferrari was for Luke Surber to pull the upset at 197 over longtime rival Stephen Buchanan. Instead, Surber lost to Buchanan for the third time as the now top-ranked Buchanan has beaten Surber wrestling for three  different schools (Wyoming, Oklahoma, and now Iowa). In the third period with control of the match, Buchanan finally got a tilt and earned the first near fall points of the night, he got four and that led to a 10-1 major decision to clinch the dual on the team scoreboard 21-11.

A small consolation but No. 3 Wyatt Hendrickson did what was expected at heavyweight against hometown heavyweightr Ben Kueter with a quick takedown, some near fall points, another takedown, later a reversal, and then four more near fall points at the end of the second period for the 18-3 tech fall. That got the dual to the final score of 21-16 for Iowa. 

Oklahoma State University Athletics

David Taylor had his first time in Iowa City wearing orange.

The dual started with the 125 pound weight, which really favored Oklahoma State as the Cowboys were favored at 125 and favored at the closing match – heavyweight. The Cowboys got what was expected and maybe a little more with No. 4 Troy Spratley who came out and got the single leg on No. 16 Joey Cruz and then was able to pull his head out of Cruz chest to get the takedown and a 3-0 lead. Spratley rode out the rest of the first period to give him a 3-0 lead and riding time of 1:59 after one. 

He quickly got the escape to start the second and then another takedown for a 7-0 lead and then turned a single leg into a double and another takedown to lead 10-1 after the second with 2:35 riding time. Spratley worked hard in the third period toward the tech fall, but just missed with a 17-3 major decision. Oklahoma State led 4-0.

The Hawkeyes knew they needed to keep up and after a scramble No. 2 ranked Hawkeye Drak Ayala got the trip to finish freshman Rin Sakamoto as the decorated native of Japan got his first action in the orange singler. Reece Witcraft had been suited up and ready to go with the head gear on aand David Taylor pulled him seconds before the start. 

Sakamoto was competitive, but Ayala got his major decision at 11-1 to tie the team score at 4-4.

At 141 pounds it was Iowa’s turn to pull a surprise as they brought out Jace Rhodes to take on the Cowboys No. 5 141 pounder Tagen jamison. Jamison started it and got the takedown after controling the ankle of Rhodes. The takedown came at the end of the first period. Then in the second Jamison was in complete control with a quick escape. Jamison then got the takedown for a 7-0 lead. In the third period, Jamison rode Rhodes the entire two minutes and closed out an 8-0 major decision. Oklahoma State led 8-4. 

Iowa was hoping to keep it even with the favored No. 3 Kyle parco at 149 pounds against No. 18 Carter Young. Young seems to know how to keep from giving up bonus points and he did it again. After a scoreless first period, Parco got his 1-0 lead with a stall call against Young. In the third period, Parco got a quick escape coming from the down position and then got the riding time advantage. He added a takedown and a stall, but in the end it added up to a 7-1 decision. Iowa still trailed 8-7 on the scoreboard. 

The Hawkeyes led at the break as Iowa’s No. 3 Jacori Teemer, who had injuries hold him back some this season used a bull rush approach to a single leg on the first takedown and then later just a bull rush to put Caleb Fish on the mat. It was tight as Teemer was called twice for stalling and in the end only scored a 10-6 decision. Iowa had a 10-8 lead.

Iowa kept the surge on after the break at 165 pounds with No. 2 Michael Caliendo scoring a 10-1 major decision on Cameron Amine, who may have suffered at least a mild knee injury in the match. 

The Cowboys got an 8-1 decision at 174 pounds from No. 3 Dean Hamiti Jr. as he stayed unbeaten knocking off another back-up wrestler as Iowa sent out unranked Nelson Brands instead of No. 8 Gabe Arnold. Hamiti Jr. won 8-1. It wasn’t enough, but even a fall there would not have been enough.

It was Ferrari’s night and it was Iowa’s night. The Hawkeyes will no doubt move back into No. 2 in the rankings as they finish the dual season 14-1. Oklahoma State loses for the first time in the final dual and finishes 13-1.