Lofthouse, Ramos earn big wins while Hawkeyes dodge bullet

IOWA CITY - Bulletproof, not vulnerability.

University of Iowa head coach Tom Brands wants the former, but might have seen too much of the latter for his liking Friday night.

The top-ranked Hawkeyes took the best shot from No. 6 Illinois and managed a 20-13 win in their Big Ten opener at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa won six of 10 matches, ending with consecutive major decisions by Tony Ramos at 133 and 141-pounder Montell Marion.

“We looked vulnerable,” Brands said. “That's good news for a lot of people out there, trying to take something away.”

The Hawkeyes (4-0, 1-0) were close to bulletproof in two of the marquee matchups while their most bulletproof wrestler fell to Illinois red-shirt freshman Jesse Delgado.

Ramos and 174-pounder Ethen Lofthouse won bouts, featuring highly ranked wrestlers.

Lofthouse, ranked sixth by W.I.N., dropped No. 3 Jordan Blanton, 6-1.

“I expected to win,” Lofthouse said. “I knew he's a good opponent. I just got ready like every other match, and just came out and scored points.”

Lofthouse (8-1) fought off three strong takedown attempts by Blanton (10-1) in the opening period and then turn the tables, opening up and scoring the only takedowns in the match with one in each the second and third.

“(Coach Brands) said to start and get on my offense,” Lofthouse said. “If I'm on my offense, he's not on my legs.”

Lofthouse amassed 2:41 in riding time for an extra point. He broke Blanton in the third.

“I felt him look up at the score clock with 1:20 left and he was done,” Lofthouse said. “There was nothing left in him.”

Ramos (9-0) was impressive, tallying five takedowns in a 13-5 win over Futrell (9-1). Ramos had a little extra fire after Delgado scored an 11-7 upset over two-time NCAA finalist Matt McDonough the previous match. He didn't like the chants of “Jessie” from Illinois fans in of the crowd.

“I knew I had to score quick, score fast,” Ramos said, “and get the (Iowa) crowd back in it.”

Ramos scored at will, racking up two takedowns in the first two periods, building a 9-4 lead.

Ramos, who has worked to improve his wrestling on the mat, escaped immediately in the third and had more than two minutes of riding time. He was strong in all three positions.

With a commanding lead and team bonus points in hand with four seconds remaining, Ramos was still offensive shooting in for another takedown, trying to widen the gap with Futrell.

“It's a message to everyone,” Ramos said. “I'm going to keep going no matter what. ... I'm going to attack and I'm going to attack until the ref tells me to stop.”

Brands said Ramos getting the Hawkeyes back in front of Illinois (6-1, 0-1) and setting up Marion's final bout was important for Ramos and the team.

“That's a big, big win and that's a big win for the program, too,” Brands said. “That's a big match. You can look back on it, it looked easy but that's a big match when you have No. 2 vs. No. 3, we're down by (three points) and we had to have that match and we end up with a major.”

Delgado (10-1) scored the biggest individual win of the night, getting a takedown and two nearfall points in overtime to beat former NCAA champion McDonough (8-1) at 125.

“It doesn't mean much,” Delgado said. “That's what we're all winning for is to win in March.”

Delgado came out immediately with a takedown, but trailed 3-2 after the first. McDonough increased his lead to 6-2 and seemed to be in control until Delgado earned a crucial reversal in the final moments of the second. He couldn't recall the situation, but Brands identified the effects,

“We put ourselves there,” said Brands, pointing out the emotional swing in that match. “I could see, I could feel that coaching staff over there just inflate. It was like a blowfish. You have to be a tough nut to beat that momentum.”

Delgado added a takedown in the third and McDonough needed a stall call in the final 10 seconds to tie it 7-7 and force overtime, where Delgado shot in and caught McDonough on his back for the four-point win.

Derek St. John (157) and Mike Evans (165) scored back-back-decisions, leading up to Lofthouse's win that gave the Hawks a 9-3 lead. Brands credited Evans with a solid performance. Montell Marion sealed the win for Iowa, claiming an 11-2 win over Daryl Thomas, and heavyweight Bobby Telford also won.

Brands remained his straightforward self, grading his team's performance as a “D-minus.” Brands stressed he was being genuine, noting some will make a "Brands being Brands" in wanting better effort.

“I know what this team has for firepower,” he said. “I'm not making a prediction, because I know what this team has for firepower and I tell you what, we didn't let loose. We did not let loose. We need to let loose.”