Iowa Wrestling Weekend That Was: Spencer Lee’s comeback highlights Hawkeyes’ 2-0 Big Ten start

Wrestling action resumed at full-throttle this weekend. College teams competed at all levels with conference duals and multi-divisional national duals. High schools held their first Saturday of tournaments since the break. Here is the Wrestling Weekend That Was.

Iowa opens Big Ten 2-0

The second-ranked Hawkeyes kicked off their Big Ten Conference duals with a lackluster 25-19 victory over Illinois Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa responded nicely Sunday, whipping host Purdue, 37-6.

The Purdue dual had a lot of notable performances and occurrences. The most attention-grabbing match was at 125 pounds. Spencer Lee won by fall, but that, obviously, was not the surprising part.

Purdue’s eighth-ranked Matt Ramos stunned wrestling fans with an opening takedown and followed it by throwing Lee to his back for a six-point move and an 8-1 advantage in the first couple minutes.

“That’s what wrestling’s about,” Lee said after the dual. “Anything can happen in wrestling, the guy was game, went out, took me down and threw me. He took it to me a little bit, but the thing is you have to keep wrestling. The next score, next point. If you don’t get pinned in that throw, you have to get off your back and belly and keep scoring.

“That’s what wrestling is about. It’s a never quit sport, never quit attitude.”

Lee was unfazed and mounted a comeback, but it wasn’t a match-long battle to get back into it. The three-time NCAA champion and two-time Hodge Trophy winner fought off his back, regrouped and immediately started to take control. He escaped, took down Ramos, scored his signature tilt and then turned Ramos for a pin in 2:56.

A shocking big deficit, a comeback to tie the score and a pin against the No. 8 guy in the country, all in 2:56. It’s hard to fathom how good he is.

Lee demonstrated some emotion after the match. He spent time afterward being asked about the harmless display, noting that he didn’t mean to be disrespectful at all and even apologized, if he did. Lee noted that excitement is always present, but he doesn’t wear it on his sleeve to keep from showing anyone up.

The fact that Lee was even pressed about it was silly. Wrestling is an emotional sport. Even though the bar for him is set to unreasonable heights by others because of his dominance, he has the competitive spirit of any other athlete and he just finished a furious fight. As much as he is business-like, it was fine to see that fiery reaction.

After Lee, the Hawkeyes welcomed Brody Teske back to the starting lineup, his first match since the opener against Cal Baptist. Teske, an NCAA qualifier at 125 for Northern Iowa who transferred to Iowa before this season, improved to 2-0 with a 16-4 major over Dustin Norris at 133. Another good sign for Iowa, which was without 141-pounder Real Woods for a second straight dual after his Soldier Salute title.

Caleb Rathjen moved back to 157 after a drop to 149 at the Soldier Salute and filled in admirably for Cobe Siebrecht, battling No. 4 Kendall Coleman to a 3-2 decision. Freshman Aiden Riggins became the fourth Iowa freshman to appear in the lineup, wrestling at 165 for Patrick Kennedy. Riggins surrendered the opening takedown, but answered with two reversals and four nearfall for a 9-4 decision over Stoney Buell. He joined Joel Jesuroga, Drake Rhodes and Carson Martinson as freshman starters this season.

Nelson Brands also returned to the lineup, losing a one-point decision to Illinois’ No. 6 Edmond Ruth and rebounding with a 4-0 decision over Purdue’s Cooper Noehre.

“It’s on to Northwestern,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands. “We have to be healthy and put our best team on the mat.”

UNI splits Big 12 duals

UNI throttled Wyoming last Thursday night. The Panthers won nine matches in a 33-3 beatdown of the Cowboys. Former Lisbon four-time state champ Cael Happel posted a 6-4 decision over Job Greenwood at 141, while former Union Community prep Derek Holschlag topped No. 9 Jacob Wright, 4-3, at 157.

The 12th-ranked Panthers (3-2, 1-1) battled but came up short at No. 10 Missouri on Sunday. Holschlag was one of four UNI wrestlers to win, beating Logan Gioffre, 3-1. Kyle Biscoglia (133), Austin Yant (165) and two-time All-American Parker Keckeisen (184) scored decisions in a 24-12 loss.

Upper Iowa drops No. 2-ranked Lopers

Upper Iowa was one of a number of teams to compete at the National Wrestling Coaches Association Multi-Divisional Duals last weekend in Louisville, Ky. The Peacocks finished sixth in the NCAA Division II field.

Upper Iowa improved to 4-2 this season with a 3-2 mark at the national duals, but wrapped inside the two-day tournament was a marquee win over D-II power and second-ranked Nebraska-Kearney. The Peacocks won six matches against the Lopers, receiving a pin from Tate Murty at 141. Former Monticello prep Chase Luensman added a decision at 165 and Dalton Hahn continued his comeback with a decision at 197.

Upper Iowa notched wins over McKendree and Fort Hays State before falling to national power St. Cloud State on Friday. It rebounded Saturday morning with the win over UNK before a loss to No. 5 Lander.

Wartburg upset; Grand View wins 11th straight

Top-ranked Wartburg finished third in the D-III bracket of the NWCA duals. The Knights were knocked off by Johnson & Wales, 21-19, in the semifinals.

The biggest blow, which proved to be the difference, was a pin from JWU’s William Hughes. The unranked Hughes landed a big throw and pinned the Knights’ top-ranked David Hollingsworth in 6:55. JWU added another upset when 13th-ranked Ryan DeVivo posted a 15-6 major decision over Wartburg’s No. 4 Jordan Bushey at 184.

Wartburg rebounded with a 27-9 win over Wisconsin-La Crosse for third. Augsburg handled JWU, 35-8 in the finals.

Grand View continued its dominance in the NAIA division. The Vikings won their 11th straight NWCA Duals title, handling No. 2 Life University, 22-8, for the title. Grand View also shut out 12th-ranked Reinhardt in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Doane in the semifinals. The Vikings are 7-1 overall with their lone loss coming to Iowa State.

Vinton-Shellsburg 2nd at Anamosa

Vinton-Shellsburg placed second at the Anamosa girls’ wrestling tournament Saturday. The Vikings scored 168 points, finishing 78 points back of champion Cedar Falls and four ahead of Linn-Mar.

Bree Swenson (110) and Chloe Sanders at 130 and 140-pounder Sadie Burke each won titles. Paige Clemensen (100), Ellie Weets at 115 and 155-pounder Dakota Cornell were third.

Prairie 3rd at Mendenhall

Cedar Rapids Prairie’s boys finished third in the Jack Mendenhall Invitational at Ames. The Hawks received runner-up finishes from Dylan Munson at 106 and 120-pounder Blake Gioimo. They tallied 147 points, six back of second-place Fort Dodge. Ankeny won with 211.5 points.

Heavyweight Carter Dawley was third for Prairie.

Iowa City High managed fifth as a team, crowning three champions in Cale Seaton at 126, 182-pounder Gabe Arnold and Ben Kueter at 220. Kueter, who played in the Under Armour All-American football game in Florida and missed Thursday’s dual at Linn-Mar due to canceled flights, pinned his way through the field. He logged three pins in 3:34. Kael Kurtz (132) and Jake Mitchell (138) both placed second for the Little Hawks.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com