Emotions, intensity run high in Iowa’s 22-11 win over Iowa State in Cy-Hawk wrestling dual
Cody GoodwinAMES — The lasting image of Sunday’s Cy-Hawk wrestling dual might be the small post-dual shoving match by the scorer's table, a fitting end to an evening that was packed with much more intensity than this matchup has seen in recent years.
The top-ranked Hawkeyes prevailed, 22-11, at Hilton Coliseum to improve to 3-0 this year. They’ve won 17 straight over Iowa State, now 2-1, and have also won 32 of the last 33 meetings in this series and 56 of the last 60. The Dan Gable Traveling Trophy will remain in Iowa City, the only home it’s ever known since its inception in 2010.
“A lot of juice for the Hawks,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said afterward. “It’s the next day of competition, with two teams that want to win … of course, there’s heated emotions. Of course.”
Sunday night’s scrap was memorable for many reasons, and the intensity was palpable all night.
Four of the 10 matches were decided by two points or less, another by just three points and one more by four. The Cyclones won two matches thanks to third-period takedowns — at 184 pounds, Marcus Coleman beat Myles Wilson, 4-1, at 197, Yonger Bastida topped Jacob Warner, 4-3.
Iowa scored more total takedowns, 18-9, and match points, 51-41. Jaydin Eierman scored six takedowns in a 15-7 major decision over Zach Redding at 141 to give Iowa its first lead of the night at 7-3. Alex Marinelli scored seven in a 16-5 major over Grant Stotts at 165, putting the Hawkeyes up 14-6 — which effectively put it out of reach.
More:Instant Reaction: Iowa wrestling defeats Iowa State, 22-11, in annual Cy-Hawk dual
The announced crowd of 9,272 included many fans for both teams, and each side roared all night long for their respective wrestlers. At one point, the Cyclone fans broke out in a synchronized “Cyclone … Power” chant. When the dual ended, those clad in black and gold screamed “Let’s Go Hawks” on their way out the door.
They also pleaded enthusiastically (and sometimes irrationally) for stall calls, because what’s an Iowa-Iowa State dual without the crowd begging for stalling? The refs hit the Cyclones for stalling 12 times on the night, and tagged Iowa with six. Iowa State was called for stalling just five times total in their first two duals, against Army and California Baptist. Iowa was called just once in its first two duals, against Army and Princeton.
In the second match of the night, between Iowa’s Austin DeSanto and Iowa State’s Ramazan Attasauov, the officials handed out a rare double stall call — not just once, but twice. The first came 80 seconds into the first period, and the second came with six minutes left in the match. Attasauov was hit for a third stall call. DeSanto won, 6-4.
Tony Cassioppi actually beat Sam Schuyler at heavyweight by stalling disqualification, which comes after a wrestler is hit for stalling five times. Schuyler was first called with 1:40 left in the first period, then was hit four times in the span of 1:43 of match time between the second and third periods. Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser did not like that.
“I thought the official did a really good job, for the most part, then he completely lost all of his bearings in the last match,” Dresser said afterward. “I don’t know if he let the other side get to him or if he wanted to go home and watch a movie tonight or something. He obviously wanted that match over. Maybe he had to catch a flight.
“It was unbelievable. Unbelievable with a capital U, that you end a match that fast. I won’t say any more.”
The other thing that made Sunday night’s dual so memorable was not only the intensity in the actual matches, but the extra chippiness surrounding them.
At 133, for example, DeSanto won thanks to a takedown on the edge in the second period. After scoring, he drove upward and took Attasauov out of bounds and into the scorer’s table. Attasauov responded by throwing his elbow at DeSanto’s face. The officials tagged both guys with unsportsmanlike conduct calls.
“A little bit of extra activity maybe, but these are the way the matches should be,” Kyven Gadson, a former Cyclone wrestler who announced the dual on ESPN’s online broadcast, said during that match. “It should be chippy. This is a rivalry.
“This is what you expect in rivalry matches. You’ve got two competitors trying to perform, they want to win, they want to represent themselves in a positive way. This stuff matters, and it shows.”
After Max Murin’s 3-2 win over Ian Parker at 149 — where the officials hit Murin for stalling twice in the final 30 seconds of the third period — Parker went to shake hands with the Iowa coaches. They did not reciprocate. Cyclone fans booed in response, and Murin cupped his ears and egged them on. Iowa State assistant Derek St. John made a crybaby motion toward the Hawkeye bench.
“A tremendous crowd here tonight,” said Ben Hupke, who was on the broadcast with Gadson. “I’ll tell you what, both of these coaches boxes, man, they’ve got a lot of energy.”
“No love lost,” Gadson replied.
Hupke chuckled: “That’s putting it lightly.”
After Bastida’s win over Warner, he spiked his headgear on the mat, which cost the Cyclones a team point. Then he celebrated in the middle of the mat as the crowd reached a fever pitch. On the broadcast, Gadson made a comment about how his actions in the 2014 Cy-Hawk dual resulted in Iowa State also losing a team point.
In the heavyweight match, Cassioppi led 6-0 and was on top of Schuyler when they went out of bounds with 23 seconds left in the second period. As both guys walked back to the center, Schuyler threw his shoulder into Cassioppi’s back. Iowa assistant coach Terry Brands shook his head. Tom Brands pointed to the officials and asked for a call.
Bobby Telford, another Iowa assistant pointed toward the Iowa State bench and yelled, “That’s tough guy stuff!”
The Iowa crowd also reacted — and so did DeSanto, who stood behind Gadson on Iowa’s bench.
“Commentate that!” DeSanto yelled toward Gadson.
Gadson laughed.
“DeSanto,” he said on the broadcast, “you want the mic, buddy?”
After the official issued a fifth stall call to Schuyler, ending the match, Dresser stood up and expressed his unbelievable disappointment toward the officials. Terry Brands jogged over to the Iowa State bench and said something. The two teams went to shake hands, and that’s when the small fracas began.
The whole thing lasted less than a minute. There was some shoving and yelling. Francis Duggan, an Iowa State wrestler, pushed Telford backward. A handful of wrestlers and coaches jumped in to break it up. Some of them still shook hands — Stotts, Cassioppi, David Carr and more. The officials docked Iowa a team point afterward.
“It’s a sport, we’re passionate, and we love our guys,” Carr said afterward. “Both teams are very passionate, and it got a little rowdy a little bit. It’s normal. When you love your teammates, you want to have their back.”
They all went their separate ways, but while the Hawkeyes doubled up the Cyclones and kept their in-state win streak intact, the lingering feeling while leaving Hilton on Sunday night was one of excitement — that Iowa is still the bigger and better team, for sure, but at least on this night, Iowa State embraced challenge.
Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.
No. 1 Iowa 22, No. 18 Iowa State 11
- 125: Kysen Terukina (ISU) dec. Jesse Ybarra (IA), 8-2
- 133: Austin DeSanto (IA) dec. Ramazan Attasauov (ISU), 6-4
- 141: Jaydin Eierman (IA) maj. dec. Zach Redding (ISU), 15-7
- 149: Max Murin (IA) dec. Ian Parker (ISU), 3-2
- 157: David Carr (ISU) dec. Kaleb Young (ISU), 6-2
- 165: Alex Marinelli (IA) maj. dec. Grant Stotts (ISU), 16-5
- 174: Nelson Brands (IA) dec. Joel Devine (ISU), 3-1 (SV)
- 184: Marcus Coleman (ISU) dec. Myles Wilson (IA), 4-1
- 197: Yonger Bastida (ISU) dec. Jacob Warner (IA), 4-3*
- 285: Tony Cassioppi (IA) over Sam Schuyler (ISU) by stalling disqualification**
- *Iowa State was docked a team point after Bastida spiked his headgear post-match.
- **Iowa was docked a team point after the 285-pound match for unsportsmanlike conduct.