Gambrall pulls out win and secures NCAA berth

EVANSTON, Ill. - It is a wonder if Grant Gambrall's coaches, family or fans have any fingernails remaining.

The University of Iowa sophomore has had a habit wrestling in nailbiters, and his latest accomplishment was claimed by one of them.

Gambrall scored a takedown in the final 16 seconds of his 184-pound quarterfinal against Purdue's A.J. Kissel, winning 5-4, and securing a top-6 finish during the first day of the Big Ten Conference Wrestling Championships at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena. Just by reaching the semifinals, Gambrall secured one of the Big Ten's six automatic NCAA berths at 184.

“It's big time now that I'm qualified,” Gambrall said. “Now it's about doing as well as I can this tournament and setting up the next tournament.”

Gambrall has made a habit of keeping things close. Of his 23 matches, through the Big Ten quarterfinals, 10 have been decided by four points or less, and eight of those were decided by two or less.

“Sometimes you have to go with it until you get things to really go your way,” said Gambrall, who does lead the Hawkeyes with seven major decisions. “You want to dominate every time out, but if it's close you've got to get mentally tough."

He isn't going through it alone. The coaches are right there with him, wearing out the edge of their chair when energy doesn't force them to stand.

“You're battling in there with him,” said Iowa Coach Tom Brands, noting that the entire staff of Terry Brands, Mike Zadick and Kurt Backes are fighting with the athletes. “There's a lot of battling going on there.”

Gambrall had to battle down to the very end, especially in the first and third periods. He scored a takedown with six seconds remaining in the first for a 2-0 lead. Kissel rode him the entire second period before making it a 2-1 match with an escape in the third.

Things got hairier in the third when Kissel scored a takedown to go up, 3-2, which was actually 4-2 since Kissel had amassed more than a minute of riding time. Gambrall remained composed to score an escape to set up the winning takedown.

“Sometimes you have to go with it until you get things to really go your way,” Gambrall said. “You want to dominate every time out, but if it's close you've got to get mentally tough."

Gambrall would prefer a dominant performance, but the victory is what matters most, especially in the postseason.

“The match didn't go exactly according to plan, but just stay with it and this time of year you find a way to win,” Gambrall said. “It doesn't matter if it's ugly. Get the win and move on.”

Gambrall was just one of a handful of Hawkeyes who gutted out wins in the quarterfinals, helping Iowa post a 9-0 mark in that round.  Tony Ramos used a takedown with 14 seconds remaining to edge, Minnesota's David Thorn, 4-3, in a 133-pound quarterfinal. Heavyweight Blake Rasing scored a takedown in the final 30 seconds for a 3-2 win over Wisconsin's Eric Bugenhagen at heavyweight. Iowa's Ethen Lofthouse, seeded fifth, beat No. 4 seed Luke Manuel of Purdue, 5-2, with an escape and takedown in the third, accumulating enough riding time for an extra point.

Aaron Janssen (165) and Luke Lofthouse (197) pulled away late for tough quarterfinal wins. By the end of the first session Ramos, Montell Marion (141), Derek St. John (157), both Lofthouses and Rasing had already earned one of the Big Ten's automatic NCAA berths, along with Gambrall.

The Hawkeyes are still improving from efforts earlier in the year.

“A continuation of what was going on at the middle part of the year, where they're making progress,” Brands said. “But, now again, we're back into a second session. A lot of work to do.”