The Hawks' streak lives on

IOWA CITY - University of Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands shared a quote from legendary Hawkeye head coach and former Iowa State NCAA champion Dan Gable in post-meet news conference.

The message simply states, “Iowa State: Been there. Done that. Iowa: Been there. Still doing it.”

It seemed a fitting statement. The sixth-ranked Hawkeyes won their seventh straight dual over rival Iowa State, beating the Cyclones, 22-13, in the 77th meeting between the two programs last night in front of 11,895 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes (5-0) won six bouts to secure their 59th win of the series. Positives prevailed but at times things were ugly.

“From our perspective a lot of good things,” Brands said about the winnign performance,“but also a lot of slop.”

Even with eight new full-time starters in the lineup, facing their toughest test of the young season, the Hawkeyes answered questions about their toughness and how they would respond in a big meet.

“The toughness factor is there,” Brands said. “There is a bigger barometer of that – smart - that goes along with it. I think we were smart.”

The youngsters stepped up, with four of the seven freshmen or sophomores in the lineup scoring bonus points and another adding a memorable win to go along with some of top in the series.

Sophomore Matt McDonough, the defending 125-pound NCAA champion, red-shirt freshman Tony Ramos, Derek St. John, a red-shirt freshman and sophomore Grant Gambrall all scored major decisions. Youth isn't a factor.

“There's no separation in my mind,” Brands said. “Four major decisions that's 22 points. That's big. That's what we want.”

Ramos wrestled at 133 in place of ninth-ranked Nate Moore. Ramos learned of the decision during McDonough's match. he responded, by handling Brandon Jones, 14-5, scoring six takedowns. he made a statement about being the full-time guy at 133.

“I've got to do whatever I can to keep my spot,” Ramos said. “I'm going to go out there and score points. I'm going to do whatever I can.”

It was his first experience in one of the nation's top rivalries. he said the fans were amazing and the atmosphere was unmatched as the crowd rallied behind him.

“I could hear it get louder and louder every time I was scoring points,” Ramos said. “To please the fans here you have to wrestle seven minutes non-stop. It doesn't matter if you're winning or losing you got to go the whole time.”

The crowd may have peaked in the following match where Iowa sophomore Mark Ballweg faced Chris Drouin, a senior transfer from Arizona State where he was a two-time All-American. Ballweg scored a takedown in the final 11 seconds to win, 3-1.

Ballweg (5-0) didn't consider himself an underdog.

“I know I can wrestle with anybody,” Ballweg said. “That's the kind of mentality I went out there with. I was going out there to win. That's what I want to do. That's how I train.”

Ballweg kept the score close fending takedown attempts in the first two periods, rololing through when Drouin reached his legs. Drouin looked to have his best scoring attempt with 24 seconds to go, but Ballweg rolled, came through Drouin's legs, sat back and turned into Drouin for the winning score.

“It's like that every day in the room,” Ballweg said about defending shots. “Wrestling the best guys in the nation, in the world. I'm fighting there a lot in practice, so I've had good practice.”

McDonough handled Patrick Hunter, 14-4, at 125. St. John and gambrall made their Iowa-Iowa State dual debut successful. St. John handled Trent Weatherman, 12-3 at 157, while Gambrall dropped Cole Shafer, 12-3, at 184, to cap the meet and extend the Hawkeyes' school record win streak to 66, including 28 straight at CHA.

Winning the dual of one of the nation's top rivalry - which will be competing for the Dan Gable Wrestling Trophy starting next year - is a big deal to Brands.

“It's important to both programs,” Brands said. “I don't mince words on that. It's very important to us. It is to supremacy in the state.”

Iowa State opened with a win when Jerome Ward scored an overtime takedown to beat Luke Lofthouse, 5-3, at 197, giving Iowa its first match loss in duals this season. Nate Carr Jr. (149), Andrew Sorenson (165) and Jon Reader (174) added wins for the Cyclones (4-1).

Iowa State coach Kevin Jackson was disappointed with the Cyclones' fight.

“I really believe it was a missed opportunity,” Jackson said. “I'm disappointed with the competitiveness of a couple of our guys.”

Photos by Jim Slosiarek

[nggallery id=427]