New names, ‘no drama’ for Iowa wrestling in sweep at Iowa City Duals

IOWA CITY – Kaleb Young exemplifies the mental makeup of the new-look Iowa wrestling team.

After narrowly missing a spot atop the lineup at 174 pounds, the redshirt freshman stepped in for the healing Alex Marinelli and recorded three convincing wins at 165 as the eighth-ranked Hawkeyes swept three opponents at the Iowa City Duals Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

'He knows what his role is,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. 'And that is what I love most about this entire team. There's just no drama. There's no drama. He nutted up and went into the lineup at 165 and it was asked of him and he did it. And next week, he might have to do it again against Rider. He might have to do it again against (Isaiah) Martinez against Illinois. We're going to just keep bringing Marinelli along as well, and he'll be wherever we need him to be.”

Iowa (3-0) opened with a 48-0 shutout of Iowa Central, then dispatched Buffalo, 33-6, and North Dakota State, 38-6. The Bison received three votes in the latest coaches poll.

'We've just got to keep getting better every day,” Brands said. 'Our guys are doing it. They come to work and it's easy for me to be a committed coach and being in the room like I need to be if it's entertaining. These guys come to work that way, so I think there's a lot of good things happening.”

During preseason wrestle offs, Young dropped a 4-2 decision to teammate Joey Gunther at 174. Friday, he scored a technical fall and a major decision before a 3-2 decision over 20th-ranked Andrew Fogarty of North Dakota State.

With an undetermined return for Marinelli, Young is conceding nothing.

'Wherever they need me, I need to be ready to wrestle,” Young said. 'I need to be ready to go. I need to be the man at a weight. I don't want to just be the substitute. I need to work my way up to just being the guy, a guy they can rely on at a weight. Pick it and go kick some butt.”

Sophomore Vince Turk - who missed all but one match last season due to injury - was a force at 141. The two-time Illinois high school state champion collected a whopping 50 points via two technical falls and a major decision.

'Right before we went out there, in the locker room, Tom said to me, ‘You've got to wrestle like a pinball machine today, rack up the points,'” Turk said. 'That's what I did.”

Both Young and Turk were wrestling on the home mats for the first time. Gunther, Mitch Bowman (184), Cash Wilcke (197) and heavyweight Sam Stoll - in his first competition since Jan. 15 - also posted three wins, as did returning All-Americans Brandon Sorensen (149) and Michael Kemerer (157), who are both ranked second at their respective weights.

Replete with new contributors, the Hawkeyes are anxious to prove there will be no drop-off.

'It's not a place that we're familiar with because we've got some tough guys out there that are used to being the guy,” Kemerer said. 'If the expectations are different on the outside, but for us it's the same. We're in it to wrestle hard and dominate people and that's what we're going to do.”

IOWA CITY DUALS

At Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Iowa 48, Iowa Central 0

125 – Justin Stickley (I) tech. fall Kevin Radcliffe (ICCC), 2:49; 133 – Phillip Laux (I) dec. Todd Small (ICCC), 8-5; 141 – Vince Turk (I) tech. fall Eric Clarke (ICCC), 18-3; 149 – Brandon Sorensen (I) tech. fall Yar Aldiva (ICCC), 24-8; 157 – Michael Kemerer (I) pinned Alex Leone (ICCC), 2:47; 165 – Kaleb Young (I) tech. fall Tyler Helfrich-Meyers (ICCC), 20-5; 174 – Joey Gunther (I) major dec. Jonah Eglie (ICCC), 22-10; 184 – Mitch Bowman (I) pinned Brady Vogel (ICCC), 3:17; 197 – Cash Wilcke (I) dec. Tyree Sutton (ICCC), 10-4; 285 –

Sam Stoll (I) pinned Jordan Hill (ICCC), 1:49.

Iowa 33, Buffalo 6

125 – Kyle Atkins (B) dec. Justin Stickley (I), 8-4; 133 – Bryan Lantry (B) dec. Paul Glynn (I), 2-0; 141 – Vince Turk (I) major dec. Blake Retell (B), 12-2; 149 – Brandon Sorensen (I) pinned Jason Estevez (B), 4:40; 157 – Michael Kemerer (I) pinned Kobe Garrehy (B), 1:34; 165 – Kaleb Young (I) major dec. Derek Holcomb (B), 12-4; 174 – Joey Gunther (I) dec. Austin Wiegel (B), 3-1; 184 – Mitch Bowman (I) dec. Brett Perry (B), 10-4; 197 – Cash Wilcke (I) major dec. Joe Ariola (B), 14-3; 285 –

Sam Stoll (I) dec. Jake Gunning (B), 4-3 SV2.

Iowa 38, North Dakota State 6

125 – Paul Bianchi (NDSU) pinned Justin Stickley (I), 1:53; 133 – Phillip Laux (I) tech. fall Tirso Lara (NDSU), 16-0; 141 – Vince Turk (I) tech. fall Sam Hampton (NDSU), 19-4; 149 – Brandon Sorensen (I) major dec. Kyle Gliva (NDSU), 14-6; 157 – Michael Kemerer (I) tech. fall Clay Ream (NDSU), 17-2; 165 – Kaleb Young (I) dec. Andrew Fogarty (NDSU), 3-2; 174 – Joey Gunther (I) major dec. Dylan Urbach (NDSU), 10-2; 184 – Mitch Bowman (I) dec. Tyler McNutt (NDSU), 5-4; 197 – Cash Wilcke (I) dec. Cordell Easton (NDSU), 5-3; 285 -

Sam Stoll (I) pinned Dan Stribal (NDSU), 6:13.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com