Iowa looks to continue dominant streak at Wisconsin

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa is coming off its most lopsided conference dual win.

The second-ranked Hawkeyes throttled Northwestern, 54-0, topping the 53-0 win against Illinois in 1992. More than the end result was the way they produced it.

Iowa earned nine bonus-point victories, including five pins, for the biggest point total against a Big Ten foe. The Hawkeyes added a technical fall and major decision, transferring their development from the practice room to competition.

'The other thing that was real positive was the variety in what we're seeing guys do,' Iowa Coach Tom Brands said during the program's weekly media availability Tuesday at the Dan Gable Wrestling Complex in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 'It wasn't just the same thing over and over. You saw guys do the things that you see them do in here more.

'That's important to see it out there because success breeds confidence and that's what we need. We need that with a lot of our guys.'

Brands said he witnessed a lot of good things in different areas as Iowa improved to 10-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes have won 16 straight conference duals, but Brands wants to see the strides continue throughout the season.

'We're greedy, too,' Brands said. 'I want to see improvement at the highest level and going forward.'

Iowa will look for its 17th straight conference win and 16th straight on the road Friday against Wisconsin (1-3, 0-2) at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. The dual will pit two of Iowa's top wrestlers against each other as coaches. Wisconsin Coach Barry Davis and Brands hold the top two spots on the Hawkeyes' all-time wins list. Both were three-time NCAA champions and four-time All-Americans.

Davis, a former Cedar Rapids Prairie three-time state champion, had 162 wins for Iowa from 1981-85, while Brands had 158 from 1988-92. Davis is in his 24th season coaching Wisconsin, serving as an assistant for legendary Iowa Coach Dan Gable from 1986-92.

'I have a good relationship with Barry,' said Brands, who owns a 5-1 coaching mark against Davis since he took over the Iowa program in 2006-07. 'I have a relationship with Barry dating way back, and he used to hand me my lunch a lot. He taught me a lot of wrestling and he was one of the icons when I was growing up.'

Davis was a lightweight who dominated the college scene and had international success with a World silver medal in 1984 and a silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Brands said that is what he and twin brother, Terry, shared similar aspirations.

'Barry Davis was our weight class as well,' said Brands, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist and 1993 World champion. 'As far as cutting your teeth with a guy that has already done it or was in the moment doing it, there's a lot of history there that brings back good memories.'

One of those memories came during his freshman year. He had returned to Sheldon during summer break and became bored. Coincidentally, Brands said Davis called needing workout partners and he wasted little time.

'I didn't have a vehicle at the time but I giddy-upped and got on my horse and made my way down to Iowa City from Sheldon on horseback,' said Brands, drawing a laugh from media when he pointed out that he didn't really ride a horse to Iowa City. 'I got in the training with Barry because he was in the 1988 Olympics. I remember riding a bike with him, while he ran, running with him and at that point that was probably the biggest jump that my wrestling took. It wasn't during the structured workouts. It was during that time period when I trained side-by-side with the bad Barry Davis.'

WEATHERMAN EARNS BIG 12 HONOR

Iowa State's Tanner Weatherman earned Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, which was announced by the conference Tuesday. The Cyclones' 165-pound senior has won the honor for the third time in his career.

Weatherman, now ranked 11th nationally, was named Outstanding Wrestler, going 4-0 and helping Iowa State to the team title at last weekend's Virginia Duals. In the championship, Weatherman avenged a loss to Virginia Tech's David McFadden, helping the Cyclones (7-2) to a 16-14 win over the then-fifth ranked Hokies. Weatherman added a major decision, fall and led 16-2 when his George Mason opponent was disqualified for stalling.

'Tanner Weatherman had an outstanding performance,' Iowa State Coach Kevin Jackson said at a news conference Monday.

Weatherman is 21-5 and leads the Cyclones in scoring. He has 39 takedowns in nine duals.

WARTBURG, GRAND VIEW REPEAT

Wartburg and Grand View continued dominant streaks at the National Wrestling Coaches Association Multi-Divisional National Duals last weekend in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The NCAA Division III top-ranked Knights won their sixth straight national duals title, beating Wabash (Ind.), 28-12, in the championship. Grand View, coached by former Wartburg wrestler and assistant coach Nick Mitchell, won its fifth consecutive NAIA crown, topping Indiana Tech, 33-15, in the final.

Wartburg claimed its 10th national duals title, reaching the finals every year since 2002. Former Solon prep and fifth-ranked heavyweight Lance Evans is among the team leaders with 18 wins.

The Vikings posted a 35-5 overall record in four duals at the two-day event. Former West Delaware prep Dean Broghammer and former Alburnett prep Grant Henderson combined to go 7-0 for Grand View. Broghammer was 4-0 at heavyweight, while Henderson was 3-0 at 157.

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