Analysis: Thoughts on Iowa wrestling's Cy-Hawk victory, including Hawkeyes' poise
Are you not entertained?!
Sunday's dual between Iowa and Iowa State was as advertised, with the Hawkeyes pulling out a thrilling 18-14 victory over the Cyclones.
Iowa had won 18 straight and 48 of the last 50 matchups against Iowa State. Despite that, the Cyclones were seen as favorites heading into the 2023 edition of the rivalry, with one of the best lineups Iowa State has had in recent memory.
The Hawkeyes didn't bat an eye, winning three of the last four matches of the dual to stay undefeated as a team on the season.
"I don't ever look at it like that," Iowa coach Tom Brands said when asked if his team was overlooked. "Competitors focus on the things that they can control."
The Hawkeyes did exactly that, controlling particularly the late stages of Sunday's dual to win their 19th in a row against Iowa State. Here are three takeaways from Iowa's victory:
Iowa does what championship teams do, move forward
All year long, that's what the Hawkeyes have done. Move forward.
When the gambling probe struck the program back in May, Iowa went out and added two All-Americans to the lineup in Jared Franek and Michael Caliendo to solidify the middle of the lineup.
With glaring holes to be filled at the upper weights, Iowa looked to its guys in the room and challenged them to step up. It started with Zach Glazier at 197 pounds, who has been the top guy since Day 1 in that weight class for Iowa this year. Through seven competitions, the senior who had paid his dues in this program is now 7-0, with two matches won by fall, another two by technical fall, two by major decision and a 7-3 victory on Sunday.
Then you look at Gabe Arnold, who has taken the task of "shocking the world" and run with it by defeating two All-Americans to start the year. Follow that with Patrick Kennedy, who returned from an injury to defeat MJ Gaitan by a whopping score of 14-13 on Sunday in his season debut.
You could apply this to nearly every guy in the lineup in some shape or form, like Drake Ayala, who moved on from his loss last week to beat a tough Kysen Terukina to open up the Cy-Hawk dual.
On Sunday, Iowa looked the part of a team that has been there and done that. The big cameras from ESPN and anticipation for this dual didn't faze the Hawkeyes. For the first time this season, the Hawkeyes looked the part of a championship team that they expect to be.
They have a tall task ahead of them with Penn State still the heavy favorite at the top of the wresting world, with five of the top 20 pound-for-pound wrestlers in the country. For now, though, Iowa will take this win and move on to the next one.
"We have a lot of work to do," Brands said. "That's where I'm at, we're moving forward."
Iowa's lineup shakeup pays off at 174 and 184 pounds
Iowa made some unexpected changes to its lineup, with Kennedy getting his first start of the year, shifting up to 174 pounds to face Gaitan. That forced Arnold up for a tough matchup at 184 with Iowa State's Feldkamp.
Those two bouts came at a critical time in the dual for Iowa, after David Carr secured the first bonus-point victory of the day and pushing Iowa State to a 10-9 lead.
Kennedy came out hot with three takedowns in the first period, then held off Gaitan's late surge in the third period to win 14-13. It was an impressive start for Kennedy, who ran out of gas without having that conditioning from previous matches to keep his offense going. But he did just enough to turn the tide.
"We were in the driver's seat," Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser said. "174 is what got us."
Arnold held strong for a true freshman despite wrestling a bigger, taller and wider opponent in Feldkamp. Feldkamp tried to impose his strength on the top of Arnold's body while hand fighting. Late in the first period, Arnold broke the grip on the back of his head and snapped to the right leg of Feldkamp and thrust him upward and down for three points.
Those coaching decisions were critical to the outcome as Iowa a 15-10 lead and control of the afternoon.
It was a gutsy call to throw Arnold in against an experienced guy like Feldkamp. For a guy who was supposed to be smaller and not as strong, Arnold quickly changed everyone's minds with that throw for a takedown in the first period. He should earn that starting spot moving forward by thoroughly beating one of the biggest and toughest guys you'll find at 184 pounds. Arnold still has two matches that he can wrestle before officially burning a year of eligibility, but he's proven he's one of the Hawkeyes' best 10 guys. He has All-American potential if he continues to wrestle like this.
For much of this season, the questions about Iowa have lingered about the upper weights. With Kennedy, Arnold and Glazier all holding undefeated records right now, some of those concerns have been eased. Especially when you consider that after the Iowa football team's bowl game, Ben Kueter has a chance to solidify the heavyweight position if he can have an Arnold-like impact.
Iowa State's reevaluated season outlook
For all that's said about Iowa and its poise, the Cyclones coaching staff took time to look inward on their decisions after the match.
There were a few controversial moments in this dual, starting with the bout at 141 pounds when it appeared that Anthony Echemendia may have had a takedown before the end of the third period that would have beaten Real Woods. Dresser chose not to challenge.
His reasoning afterward was that the referees weren't budging on their complaints from the side, and that usually indicates that they aren't going to get their way on a challenge, so it was better to hold on to the brick in that spot.
Then at 156 pounds, Cody Chittum looked to have done the same thing. However, after an official's review, the takedown was ruled to be too late, giving Franek a victory.
The most damaging miscalculation came in the 174-pound match. Gaitan picked up a takedown with a few seconds left in the match, but was told by the coaches not to cut Patrick Kennedy loose because they thought he had the riding-time advantage (which would have been worth a point). However, Gaitan did not, so Kennedy held on for a 14-13 win instead.
"174, that one will keep me awake for months and months and months, years," Dresser said. "Sometimes, when you're in the corner, things get moving fast. Coach (Brent) Metcalf and coach (Derek) St. John, I think we all got confused with the riding time situation. For a split second there, I think we thought we had riding time in the heat of battle and we didn't have riding time. There's no guarantee MJ Gaitan would have gotten one more takedown there, but it sure looked like it with the way things were trending in that match.
"That's on us."
There's no panic button being hit for Iowa State, Dresser said, and there shouldn't be. Those three moments didn't go the way of the Cyclones, and ultimately that was the difference in Sunday's dual. Despite the loss, Iowa State had four more takedowns than Iowa on the day, with Carr and Yonger Bastida racking up a good portion of those in bonus-point victories.
There's a lot to be excited about in Ames and Sunday was a showcase of that. Evan Frost had a huge day with a top-10 victory over Brody Teske, Casey Swiderski looked dominant in his win, and Carr and Bastida did exactly what you expect your veterans to do with the lights shining bright.
Dresser said after the match he felt like he let the fans down. But this team showed the potential of being a trophy winner by season's end.
"We're freaking here, we're going to get a trophy later this year," Swiderski said. "We're building. The switch is getting flipped."
Sunday's results
125 pounds: Iowa's Drake Ayala dec. Iowa State's Kysen Terukina 7-2 (Iowa leads 3-0)
133: Iowa State's Evan Frost dec. Iowa's Brody Teske 8-1 (tied 3-3)
141: Iowa's Real Woods dec. Iowa State's Anthony Echemendia 4-1 in overtime (Iowa leads 6-3)
149: Iowa State's Casey Swiderski dec. Iowa's Victor Voinovich III 6-3 (tied 6-6)
157: Iowa's Jared Franek dec. Iowa State's Cody Chittum 4-2 (Iowa leads 9-6)
165: Iowa State's David Carr major dec. Iowa's Michael Caliendo 16-4 (Iowa State leads 10-9)
174: Iowa's Patrick Kennedy dec. Iowa State's MJ Gaitan 14-13 (Iowa leads 12-10)
184: Iowa's Gabe Arnold dec. Iowa State's Will Feldkamp 3-2 (Iowa leads 15-10)
197: Iowa's Zach Glazier dec. Iowa State's Julien Broderson 7-3 (Iowa leads 18-10)
285: Iowa State's Yonger Bastida major dec. Iowa's Bradley Hill 17-6 (Iowa wins the dual 18-14)
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa vs. Iowa State wrestling: Takeaways from Cy-Hawk dual
