Wrestlers battle rated foes at Iowa Duals

Matched up against three formidable foes from different divisions, the No. 5 Cornell wrestling team came away with a 1-2 record at the University of Iowa Duals Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Rams opened the day with a 26-12 loss to Iowa Central, the No. 1 team in NJCAA. Cornell then fell 42-0 to NCAA Division I's top-ranked University of Iowa. Head coach Mike Duroe's squad bounced back in the finale to beat NAIA's 15th-ranked Baker, 25-9.

Cornell (2-2 overall, 1-0 Iowa Conference) showed some good individual moments, although not nearly enough to suit Duroe even against this caliber of competition.

"Overall I was not happy with our team performance over the weekend. We lost more than half of our matches (10-20), and that's an F," Duroe said. "I have higher expectations for this team. I expected us to be more competitive in the individual bouts. We look for tough competition and we also look to compete well against tough competition. I thought we were ready and obviously we're not."

Seniors Joe Hambleton, ranked third at 165 pounds, and Nicholas Loughlin, No. 3 at 157, both finished 2-1 to lead the Rams. Hambleton picked up two impressive wins, earning a 7-3 decision over Iowa Central's seventh-ranked Colin Hewitt and recording an 18-1 technical fall over Baker's eighth-ranked Nathan Sommer.

Hambleton lost by fall to Iowa's 15th-ranked Mike Evans. Hambleton moved his season mark to 10-2.

"Joey is our most consistent guy right now," Duroe said. "We need to get more performances like his."

Loughlin posted a 7-2 win against Iowa Central and a 10-1 major decision over Baker. He battled Iowa's second-ranked Derek St. John in a 12-6 loss. Loughlin left the weekend as the team's season leader for wins with an 11-4 record.

Senior 125-pounder Timothy Hood collected Cornell's lone other win against Iowa Central, a pin in 4 minutes, 15 seconds. The Rams were on the short end of three decisions, two decided by two points or less.

"Iowa Central came out aggressive and we were tentative," Duroe said. "There's no way to sugarcoat it."

Sophomore Alex Coolidge at 197 and freshman Nicholas Drendel at 149 battled tough against the host Hawkeyes, who extended their dual unbeaten streak to 80 matches. Coolidge fell 4-3 to second-ranked Grant Gambrall, a match decided by riding time. Drendel dropped a 5-2 decision to Jacob Ballweg.

The Rams scored bonus points in three of their seven wins against Baker, including an 11-3 major decision from sixth-ranked Tigue Snider at 133. Ben Rosen at 125, Michael Buhr at 141, Brent Hamm at 174 and Coolidge at 197 all won by decision.

Coming up - Cornell has a full week to prepare for the UW-La Crosse Candlewood Suite Duals Saturday, Dec. 3 in La Crosse, Wis. The Rams meet UW-Eau Claire at 9 a.m., No. 6 Saint John's at 11 a.m., and No. 21 UW-Stevens Point at 1 p.m.

"We gave our guys two days off after the Iowa Duals, and now we'll go back to work and try to correct our mistakes," Duroe said. "This is another real important weekend for us. We're going to have to wrestle better if we want to end up with the kind of year and success we're striving for."