Hawkeyes Wrestling: Clark had his shot, relishes another

IOWA CITY - Tyler Clark finally got his shot in Iowa's lineup.

The junior became the fourth Hawkeye wrestler to see dual action at 133 pounds this season, joining Tony Ramos, Nate Moore and Nick Trizzino. Even though it ended with an 11-4 loss Sunday to Oklahoma State's top-ranked Jordan Oliver, Clark is working on earning another chance.

The next opportunity could be today when the eighth-ranked Hawkeyes (8-0-1, 1-0 Big Ten) host Ohio State (2-5, 1-1) at 3 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Fans are encouraged to wear gold in what is being described as a “Gold Rush” event.

Clark, a state finalist for Bettendorf, opened his career as a two-time NCAA qualifier at Iowa State.

He red-shirted while sitting out last year after transferring to Iowa.

Clark is focused on improving after being on the wrong end of the most lopsided match in the Hawkeyes' 15-15 tie with the Cowboys.

“Everything I'm doing starting from when we got back (Monday) is building to the next meet. That's going to be Ohio State,” said Clark, who is ranked 10th by Amateur Wrestling News and InterMat. “Hopefully, I'll get a shot at (Jordan) down the road at NCAAs, but right now I just have to take lessons that I learned, continuing to attack on my feet and put that toward my next match and build off that for the next match. Then we're going to get something going from there.”

Clark said he dug too big of a hole against Oliver, who built an 8-2 lead. He wasn't dwelling on the loss, he said, but rebounding by being more aggressive and offensive.

“I really need to focus to do the stuff I'm good at on my feet and my ties, angles and explosiveness,” Clark said. “Definitely, take it as a challenge.”

Ramos (10-3) won a tournament in Omaha last weekend. Both guys are listed as possibilities to take the mat against the Buckeyes. Either will have a test againste Ian Paddock, ranked as high as 11th.

That could be one of three matches pitting ranked foes.

At 165, either No. 16 Aaron Janssen or Jake Kerr could face No. 8 Colt Sponseller. In a battle of ranked red-shirt freshman, Ethen Lofthouse, ranked 14th, will face the Buckeyes' No. 12 Nick Heflin.

The Hawkeyes won last year, 32-3, but they are focused on this dual meet, looking for improvement.

“We need to make progress quicker,” Brands said. “We need to see some things happen. We talked about it.

“All radar is on Saturday.”