Iowa Wrestling Dominates Weekend Duals

Hawkeyes Overwhelm Illinois, Northwestern on the Road

The University of Iowa Wrestling team cruised two a pair of dual meet victories this weekend on the road. The Hawkeyes drubbed Illinois, 36-6, Friday in Champaign. They followed it up with a 46-0 shutout at Northwestern Sunday afternoon. 

On Friday, No. 3 Iowa won eight of 10 matches against Illinois at Huff Hall. The visitors claimed six bouts via bonus points, including concluding five matchups early by technical fall or pin.

In a dual that lasted an hour and 23 minutes, the Hawkeyes took eight bouts via bonus points Sunday in Evanston. They registered 33 takedowns to Northwestern’s one.

“We are going to Michigan next week,” Iowa coach Tom Brands told HawkeyeSports.com after Sunday's dual. “We have a lot of work to do. We got a lot of bonus points again. We had two falls in this dual meet, we won an overtime match, and we have to keep it rolling.”

Fifth-ranked 125-pounder Drake Ayala kicked off the Northwestern dual with a 19-4 technical fall over Massey Odiotti in 3 minutes, 22 seconds. Cullan Schriever (133) and Brody Teske (141) matched Ayala with tech falls of their own before Caleb Rathjen pinned his guy at 149. 

Second-ranked Jared Franek was pushed by No. 19 Trevor Chumbley at 157, eventually securing a 4-1 decision in the first sudden victory period. Michael Caliendo (165) recorded a tech fall before Patrick Kennedy (174) captured a major decision. Unranked Aiden Riggins won a 4-2 decision against Troy Fisher at 184, and Zach Glazier posted a major decision at 197. 

Then it was time for decorated freshman Ben Kueter to take the mat for his second college match. He built on winning a decision against Minnesota's Bennet Tabor, 5-3, Jan. 15 with a pin of Northwestern's Jack Jessen in 45 seconds. 

“That is what Kueter does best,” Brands told hawkeyesports.com. “He is very calm, very comfortable, in positions that maybe aren’t conventional. Pretty good transition, not just bailing himself out and getting a stalemate when the guy is deep but putting a guy in trouble, and then you have to put the clamps on a guy and end it. He did that, and sometimes that is hard to do. You get the whole enchilada with him.”

“I am pretty good in that position,” Kueter told hawkeyesports.com. “I have strong hips, I guess you could say, so I was comfortable where I was at. I knew that was what I wanted to do. Just like my coaches were saying, take my first scoring opportunity, and that is what I did, finished the match.”

Ayala, Schriever, Teske, Franek, Caliendo, Kennedy, Glazier and Bradley Hill had their hands raised in Friday's domination of the Illini. The Hawkeyes improved to 56-26-1 all-time against Illinois and have won the last 13 meetings.

Iowa returns to action at No. 11 Michigan on Friday before playing host to top-ranked Penn State on Feb. 9. 

#3 Iowa 36, Illinois 6

133 – Cullan Schriever (IA) major dec. #30 Tony Madrigal (IL), 9-1
141 – Brody Teske (IA) dec. Will Baysinger (IL), 5-0
149 – #8 Kannon Webster (IL) dec. #11 Caleb Rathjen (IA), 4-1 SV1
157 – #2 Jared Franek (IA) tech. fall Joe Roberts (IL), 21-5
165 – #6 Michael Caliendo (IA) tech. fall #24 Chris Moore (IL), 17-2
174 – #9 Patrick Kennedy (IA) dec. #3 Edmond Ruth (IL), 5-1
184 – #29 Dylan Connell (IL) dec. Aiden Riggins (IA), 4-1 SV1
197 – #14 Zach Glazier (IA) tech. fall Joey Braunagel (IL), 18-3
285 – #28 Bradley Hill (IA) pinned. Peter Marinopolous (IL), 5:41
125 – #5 Drake Ayala (IA) tech. fall Justin Cardani (IL), 18-3

Attendance: 1,757
Officials: Peter Mankowich, John Hatfield

#3 Iowa 46, Northwestern 0

125 – #5 Drake Ayala (I) tech. fall Massey Odiotti (N), 19-4
133 – Cullan Schriever (I) tech. fall Patrick Adams (N), 24-9
141 – Brody Teske (I) tech. fall Kolby McClain (N), 17-1
149 – #11 Caleb Rathjen (I) pinned Aiden Vandenbush (N), 3:46
157 – #2 Jared Franek (I) dec. #19 Trevor Chumbley (N), 4-1 SV1
165 – #6 Michael Caliendo (I) tech. fall #15 Maxx Mayfield (N), 21-5
174 – #9 Patrick Kennedy (I) major dec. David Ferante (N), 11-2
184 – Aiden Riggins (I) dec. #24 Troy Fisher (N), 4-2
197 – #14 Zach Glazier (I) major dec. Evan Bates (N), 11-2
285 – Ben Kueter (I) pinned Jack Jessen (N), 0:45

Attendance: 2,007
Officials: Curt Frost, Matt Zeitz