Hawkeyes squeeze Virginia in National Duals

IOWA CITY — Tom Brands says his program trains with an eye on the future. The Iowa coach even looks forward in the postseason.

Brands held three of Iowa's top wrestlers out of the lineup as the top-ranked Hawkeyes strolled to a 30-6 win over No. 13 Virginia in the opening round of the NWCA National Duals on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa's 174-pounder Alex Meyer and heavyweight Kris Klapprodt both earned decisions in their first bouts in weeks.

'It's a matter of doing what's right for the individual, which is always the case,' Brands said. 'You get to see some excitement with some guys you don't normally see.'

Brandon Sorenson recorded his sixth fall of the season at 149 to lead the Hawkeyes, who host the National Duals this weekend. Iowa's quarterfinal opponent will be announced on Tuesday.

Cory Clark (133), Josh Dziewa (141) and Sammy Brooks (184) each earned major decisions.

Brands rested three of Iowa's best wrestlers — No. 5 Thomas Gilman (125), No. 3 Mike Evans (174) and No. 2 Bobby Telford (285) — as the Hawkeyes prepare for tournament season.

Meyer trailed Virginia's sixth-ranked Blaise Butler 8-6 early in the third period when he finished a takedown with 1:05 left in the period to tie the match.

The Pleasant Hill native needed to make a quick decision: let Butler up and go for another takedown or hold on for the rest of the period and win with riding time.

Meyer looked to the Iowa bench for guidance and decided to go for the ride-out, which he completed, despite being called for stalling with 24 seconds left.

'He was getting tired,' Meyer said. 'I know I could put a good ride on him and my corner wasn't telling me any different.'

The win was Meyer's second against a top 10 opponent. Meyer, who learned he'd be in the lineup the day before, said he treats every week like he could be called on to fill in for Evans.

'There's no drama there,' Brands said. 'There's not a long face because he's not in the lineup. (Meyer) knows. He knows his time is coming and that he's a heartbeat away.'

Klapprodt owns a 15-7 record at 197 this season, but bumped up to heavyweight to earn a 7-2 decision over Patrick Gillen. Klapprodt scored six points in the third period, including a takedown and 2-point near-fall in the final seconds.

Sixth-ranked Dziewa's 11-1 major decision over No. 13 Joe Spisak came days after Brody Grothus said he was making the cut from 149 to 141.

'There was maybe a little fire lit up under me,' Dziewa said. 'I didn't realize I was even in that predicament and maybe still am. When you gotta go, you gotta go.'

Sorenson tallied six takedowns before getting the fall with 51 seconds left in the third period. Brooks recorded a season-high 20 points on nine takedowns.

Iowa's losses came at 125 and 165.

No. 9 Nick Moore gave up three takedowns to No. 4 Nick Sulzer at 165 and never recovered in a 8-7 loss.

Red-shirt freshman Phillip Laux lost a 12-6 decision in his Carver debut.