Iowa No. 1 and then some

When Tom Brands was hired as Iowa's head wrestling coach four years ago, Iowa went from national contender to national champion.

Yes, Brands has a lot to do with Iowa's consecutive national titles the last two seasons, but so does the senior class that said goodbye to Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday night.

Seniors Daniel Dennis, Brent Metcalf, Ryan Morningstar, Jay Borschel and Dan Erekson won their matches during the No. 1 Hawkeyes' 32-3 rout of No. 3 Ohio State (18-2, 7-1 Big Ten) before 9,194 fans.

It was closer than that match score looks. The Hawkeyes (20-0, 7-0) won nine of 10 bouts, but four of those victories were by five points.

“There were a lot of close matches and I'm really careful about looking at a team score and feeling good,” Brands said. “We're winning close matches, that's important, but you have to widen the gap, too.”

After the meet, PA announcer Phil Haddy called Iowa's senior class the “greatest ever.”

Yes, this class has been part of two national titles and has a dual streak of 60 straight victories. But the seniors aren't quite in “greatest ever” mode. Not with the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments still out there.

The feature match was No. 1 Metcalf against No. 2 Lance Palmer at 149. Metcalf (28-0) scored a first period takedown and an escape to hold off Palmer (24-2), 3-1, and score his 100th career victory.

“I think my head is probably thinking right now about scoring more takedowns and I don't want him to get at my legs,” said Metcalf, who was asked what was going through his head on his last match in Carver-Hawkeye. “I don't know if that's what you want me to be talking about, but that's what I'm thinking.”

The Linn-Mar High school duo of Jay Borschel and Matt McDonough scored major decisions.

Borschel, top ranked at 174, took down No. 11 Dave Rella three times en route to a 9-0 victory. McDonough, a freshman who's No. 4 freshman at 125, scored three take downs and a reversal for a 9-1 win.

“Right now, (greatest class ever) doesn't mean much,” said Borschel, who improved to 27-0 this season. “That kind of talk is for when we're all done and looking back.”

Erekson, a heavyweight from Eagle, Idaho, lit up Carver with a pin in the first period. Iowa's Aaron Janssen (157) and Luke Lofthouse (197) cruised.

No. 2 Reece Humphrey scored Ohio State's only victory with 9-5 decision over Iowa's No. 7 Montell Marion at 141.

The rest were close, flinch-and-you lose close. Iowa picked off all of them.

At 133, Dennis improved to 15-2 with a 3-2 win over Ian Paddock. At 165, No. 4 Morningstar (23-3) scored an escape with 33 seconds left for a 1-0 victory over No. 6 Colt Sponseller. At 184, senior Phil Keddy (20-6) held off Mike Pucillo's single-leg bid in the final seconds for a 3-2 win.

All seniors, all winners. Close calls, but winners.

“Phil Haddy kind of built them up and he should build them up, but there's a lot of wrestling to do,” Brands said. “Let's reserve judgment before we start crowning them the best.”