Zach Glazier seals another dual victory for Iowa men’s wrestling at Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. — Iowa senior Zach Glazier wants to wrestle his match every time he steps foot on the mat.

A simple approach has helped Glazier come up with key wins in key matches so far this season for Iowa.

Glazier came up with another huge dual-sealing win, dominating 11th-ranked Silas Allred 12-2 and helping Iowa to a 22-10 win over Nebraska Friday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Big Ten dual meet action.

“I’m going out there just calm, cool and trying to let it fly,” Glazier said. “I want to wrestle my match. I’m thankful to be out there. I just let it fly.”

Glazier took control early in the match, scoring the first takedown a minute in and leading 3-1 after three minutes. Allred escaped in the second, but it was all Glazier from there. He scored a beautiful takedown at the center of the mat for a 6-2 lead, building up 1:49 of riding time in the process. Glazier added an escape, another takedown, then the riding time point for the final margin.

Glazier’s relaxed mindset helped him dominate Allred, a returning Big Ten champion.

“He goes out there. He’s composed and he picks people apart — good caliber kids like that, he picks them apart,” said Iowa graduate senior Jared Franek. “Having a guy like that at the upper weights is super fun to watch.”

Glazier now has had key wins to seal duals against Iowa State, Penn and Nebraska.

“He’s taking everything that’s thrown at him and he’s handling it,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said.

Glazier’s mindset is similar to that of many of the Hawkeyes right now, and that is translating in to good things on the mat.

“These guys are taking anything that’s thrown at them,” Brands said. “They know it’s an important time of the year. It’s getting closer and closer to the postseason. They keep getting better. They keep getting tougher in tough situations. That’s what we love about them and that’s what they love about the sport, and it’s showing up out there.”

A key match came at 157 as Franek, ranked second, scored a late third-period takedown to earn a 5-4 win over third-ranked Peyton Robb.

Franek had to fend off a Robb takedown in the first, but scored the first points of the match in the second with an escape. Robb scored a takedown late in the second, but Franek quickly escaped to cut the lead to 3-2. Robb escaped to start the third, but good pressure from Franek throughout the third eventually paid off with the winning takedown.

Iowa led 9-6 after five matches.

The Hawkeyes went on to win seven of 10 matches.

“It feels good,” Franek said. “I’ve made a lot of improvement in a lot of areas of my game.”

Iowa also picked up wins from Drake Ayala at 125, earning a 10-3 decision over Caleb Smith; Real Woods with an 8-2 win at 141 over Brock Hardy; Michael Caliendo, 8-3, over Antrell Taylor at 165; Patrick Kennedy, 9-5, at 174; and Bradley Hill, 4-1, over Nash Hutchmacher at 285 pounds.

With the win, Iowa coach Tom Brands moved to 15-0 against Nebraska.

Iowa (6-0, 1-0) is back on the mat at 7 p.m. Monday against Minnesota at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (BTN).