Brooks sparks Iowa, record crowd in win over Oklahoma State

IOWA CITY — The moment and the atmosphere consumed Sam Brooks.

The University of Iowa 184-pounder couldn't resist demonstrating his excitement, flashing his guns to an ignited record-setting crowd.

'I try to think that I'm not one to celebrate and flex like that but there was no stopping myself,' Brooks said. 'It felt like a lightning bolt.'

Brooks sparked the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes with a technical fall, leading to an 18-16 victory over No. 1 Oklahoma State in front of 42,287 fans Saturday at the Grapple on the Gridiron at Kinnick Stadium. The crowd dwarfed the old dual attendance mark of 15,996 set by Penn State on Dec. 8, 2013.

At the heart of a spectacular and historic day for the first NCAA Division I dual held in a football stadium, was the battle between college wrestling's most successful programs with a combined 57 national crowns. Brooks was caught up in the atmosphere, but that ended when the 12th-ranked Brooks toed the line.

'The minute I stepped on the mat it's all business,' Brooks said. 'It's cool. I'm watching my teammates wrestle. I'm soaking it in and it's unbelievable. Then, I step on the mat and it's business.'

Brooks dominated No. 15 Jordan Rogers, 17-2, giving the Hawkeyes a 15-13 lead that they didn't surrender. He tallied two takedowns and two trapped-arm tilts for a 12-1 lead at the end of one. His fourth takedown of the bout ended the match with 51 seconds left in the second.

'Big time,' Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. 'The way that he was wrestling and how hard he was hitting those holds and how he was finishing that's what we want.'

The showing was indicative of Brooks' potential against the top competitors.

'He can do that against anybody,' Brands said. 'His consistency can be there against anybody. He's that good. I've said that for a long, long time.'

Nathan Burak followed with a 5-3 win over Nolan Boyd at 197, forcing the Cowboys to need a technical fall to tie or pin to win at heavyweight. Burak was focused on the win, but wasn't aware of the previous match result.

'Coming into the match I knew I needed a victory but I also knew I needed to get bonus points, which I didn't do,' Burak said. 'I'm a little frustrated with that. Brooks and (Thomas) Gilman, I give a lot of credit to them, they really hustled out there and got the job done.'

Gilman takes his role as Iowa's opening dynamo seriously. He delivered by getting the first win — and first major decision — in Kinnick.

Fourth-ranked Gilman scored three takedowns in a 9-1 win over No. 7 Eddie Klimara at 125.

'I started us off right,' Gilman said. 'The pace was high, but maybe not where it needed to be high. I got the major decision and set the tone for the rest of the dual meet.'

The conditions were perfect, including sunny skies and mild temperatures. Only one word came to Gilman's mind.

'When I stepped on that mat, those fans were electric,' Gilman said. 'That mat was electric. I keep saying electric, electric, electric. Maybe I'm getting a little bit redundant. I need a new word, but it was electric out there.'

Cory Clark added to Iowa's early lead with an 8-2 win over Gary Wayne Harding at 133, coming inches away from a fall and sending the fans into a frenzy. Clark opened with a takedown and near fall but had to settle for a regular decision, putting the Hawkeyes up, 7-0.

'Clark got caught up in a little bit of a riding match,' Brands said. 'You know when you score those back points. I think he could have had more urgency to get the major decision on his feet.

'He's wrestling his match and we're not going to question him,' Brands said of Clark. 'But, we have to get those major decisions. The thing is, we're close to those majors, so that's positive. Now, you have to get the majors.'

Brandon Sorensen added a decision at 149, helping Iowa take a 10-6 lead at the midway point.

'The biggest thing is they got ready to go,' Brands said. 'The performances that we had that were positive, those guys definitely got ready to go.'

Sorensen said the support was awesome.

'When you start hearing that chant or the cheers, you're going that much harder and trying that much harder to get the win, takedown, escape or whatever it is,' Sorensen said. 'I've never experienced anything like this before. I'm going to take it with me the rest of my life.'

Oklahoma State stormed back after the break, receiving a major decision from Alex Dieringer at 165 and an 11-10 win by Kyle Crutchmer over Alex Meyer at 174 for a 13-10 lead.

Crutchmer almost shocked the crowd, coming out with a quick duck-under and transitioned to a headlock to put Meyer on his back. Meyer fought until time was stopped when the hold was ruled illegal. Meyer rebounded and tied it twice with enough riding time for an additional point but Crutchmer scored the winning takedown in the final minute.

The Cowboys still had a chance to win when fifth-ranked Austin Marsden faced Iowa red-shirt freshman Sam Stoll. Marsden managed a 6-1 victory, but it wasn't enough.

Oklahoma State Coach John Smith said his team didn't push scoring well.

'It seemed like we let people in the match, a few of them,' Smith said. 'We just didn't push the pace enough.

'I'm not sure we were ready to do that this time of the season. It definitely showed where we can really improve.'

Smith said the event was fun, even better than he expected when he was first approached with the idea. He said he didn't think the circumstances impact the Cowboys' performances.

'No, I don't think the event caused anything out there,' Smith said. 'I think if anything it was probably a plus being in that environment.'

Brands noted this event will provide lasting memories for those involved, including posters and pictures documenting it. Expect that in the future. Right now, the Hawkeyes were far from satisfied.

'It feels good,' Gilman said. 'It was bittersweet because we were five to five and that's not where we need to be. We don't want to rely on bonus points. We want to take all 10 matches.'

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