Hlas: Even Hawkeye wrestlers get Monday blahs

IOWA CITY — The night ended appropriately, with a thud.

Iowa 285-pounder Sam Stoll had a second-period injury default against North Carolina State's Nick Gwiadowski, and that was that. The fourth-ranked Wolfpack had scored a 21-17 wrestling victory over No. 2 Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

This was a gathering of 6,056 filing out of Carver with unusual silence after never finding a reason to make big noise during the event.

This was a Monday night atmosphere, not a Friday night or Saturday. This was North Carolina State, a program fourth-year coach Pat Popolizio has transformed into a winner. But it's not an Iowa archrival that stirs souls here. The two teams had never even met in a dual since 2007.

The injury default didn't do in the Hawkeyes. Gwiadowski, who has two NCAA titles and an 82-match win streak, was well on his way to defeating Stoll. The air was sucked out of the building two matches earlier when N.C. State's Pete Renda beat Sammy Brooks in the lone result that could be classified an upset.

'The thing the fans look forward to and the thing that this program looks forward to is a battle,' Iowa Coach Tom Brands said afterward. What he meant was the fans here love to see the Hawkeyes dominate, not be equal partners in competition.

Instead, Brands said, his men spent too much time 'sitting on our butt.'

This was supposed to be the capper on an undefeated dual-meet season that began Nov. 14 with a victory over Oklahoma State in Kinnick Stadium. This was supposed to be a positive final step into the Big Ten Championships.

But it looked and felt like a labor. Whether it dims enthusiasm for the upcoming Big Ten tourney remains to be seen, but it stamps top-ranked Penn State as the clear favorite no matter that the tourney will be contested in Carver.

'We've got a team that's got guys who like to score points, that's got guys that care about bonus points,' Brands said. 'Getting knocked off here, I don't think that's a major issue unless you know something about our guys I don't.'

In the new-world, 14-school Big Ten, even wrestling schedules are altered for the worse. Iowa has yet to find itself on the same mat this season with Penn State, or with defending national-champion Ohio State.

The conference's 125-pound fireworks have yet to really be shot off. Top-ranked, defending NCAA champ Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State and No. 2 Thomas Gilman of Iowa are unbeaten, and No. 4 Nico Megaludis of Penn State has two second-places and a third in three NCAA tourneys.

Gilman, who was fourth at the 2015 NCAAs, did his part Monday by drubbing Wolfpack freshman Sean Fausz, 15-5, to start the dual. During the dual's intermission, Gilman did the thing he does second-best, which is talk.

'Nico Megaludis and Nathan Tomasello, I'm ready for them,' Gilman said. 'I'm ready for them, they better be ready for me.

'I know it's going to be a tough battle, me and Megaludis and Tomasello. But I'm a different man this year. They better be ready.'

There wasn't as much bravado from Iowa's camp when the dual was over. The Hawkeyes can't wrestle like this when Penn State and the rest of the Big Ten roll in here next week.

'I think our guys are up to the challenge,' Brands said. 'They better be.'