Iowa men's wrestling, shown here against Iowa State, is fighting to get back to number one. | facebook.com/iowahawkeyewrestling/photos/4407887839308586
Iowa men's wrestling, shown here against Iowa State, is fighting to get back to number one. | facebook.com/iowahawkeyewrestling/photos/4407887839308586
The Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team took their fight for the top national ranking on the road Friday, Jan. 14 as they challenged Northwestern at Welsh Ryan Arena.
The Hawkeyes are locked in a close battle with Penn State for the number one rating, a title they held recently until ceding to Penn State in a split vote. The Nittany Lions got eight first-place votes, while the Hawkeyes received six.
“You make adjustments, and when you make adjustments and you see positive results from those adjustments — and it’s no credit to us, it’s credit to our guys — you’re definitely headed the right direction,” head wrestling coach Tom Brands said after the team beat Purdue on Jan. 9, Hawk Central reported.
Iowa was 8-0 on the season heading into the Northwestern match. Northwestern is ranked 23.
When they hosted Purdue on Sunday, the Hawkeyes won nine of the 10 matches and earned bonus points in five of them, finishing with a 36-4 Big Ten Conference victory over the 15th-ranked Boilermakers, Hawk Central reported.
That competition featured a strong outing by Drake Ayala, who scored takedowns in the final two periods for a 6-1 win over fifth-ranked Devin Schroder.
The Hawkeyes brought a winning streak of 26 straight duals into Northwestern. Another balanced attack led to a 33-6 win there, keeping Iowa undefeated at 9-0.
Penn State is undefeated at 10-0 and edged Iowa by three points, 344-341, in the final voting tally to gain the top ranking.
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