Iowa men’s wrestling getting ready for stretch run

IOWA CITY — The men’s college wrestling season is winding down, a month away from its version of March madness.

Third-ranked Iowa has four duals left — including a showdown with No. 7 Nebraska tonight at Carver-Hawkeye Arena — before the Big Ten Championships, March 8-9 in Evanston, Ill.

Iowa senior Kyle Parco is a Hawkeye newcomer, but a four-time All-American who has been though the late-season rigors at Arizona State and Fresno State.

He knows February is an important month that leads into the madness of March.

“As a veteran, this month is, I don’t want to say the toughest month, but it’s the most active for sure,” he said. “It’s the time where you can make big leaps, big jumps ... a lot of opportunities.”

The fourth-ranked Parco is 14-1 this season, but is a week removed from that one loss, falling by a 17-6 major decision to Penn State’s Shayne Van Ness. Parco bounced back with a technical fall over Maryland’s Michael Pizzuto, but he still remembers that loss.

“I need to expect more out of myself ... it was a tough match ... I think I’ll learn a lot from that,” he said. “It’s about bouncing back, proving something.”

Iowa Coach Tom Brands said he’s not “fixated” on that 30-8 loss at No. 1 Penn State, but knows the work moving forward is important.

“I know we got our ass handed to us and I know we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Brands said.

Parco thinks Sunday’s win over Maryland was a step in the right direction and tonight’s dual with the Cornhuskers can keeping moving this team in the right direction.

“We’re a really good team and I think we’re all disappointed on how we performed against Penn State,” he said. “That’s not who we are ... we’re way better than that.”

Nebraska is 9-2 (4-1 in the Big Ten) and has five wrestlers ranked in the Top 10 nationally, including Parco’s opponent tonight, second-ranked Ridge Lovett.

“We keep getting better,” he said. “One day at a time, and having fun.”

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