Led by Cobe Siebrecht's big win, Iowa wrestling beats Northwestern in 300th dual meet at Carver
Cody GoodwinIOWA CITY — There were no scary Friday-the-13th vibes for the Iowa wrestling team on Friday night. Just mostly good vibes in a 27-9 win over No. 11 Northwestern at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
This dual — the program's 300th dual meet at Carver — had the potential to get weird if the second-ranked Hawkeyes didn't bring their best effort. Northwestern's lineup features four All-Americans and nine total wrestlers ranked by InterMat. They're among the many teams that'll battle for an NCAA trophy in March.
Iowa didn't let it get weird, winning seven of 10 matches for a comfortable three-possession win over the Wildcats, who drop to 2-1 overall and 1-1 against Big Ten opposition. The Hawkeyes have now won 15 in a row over Northwestern, and improve to 10-0 and 3-0 against the Big Ten this season.
The highlights (there were quite a few):
Real Woods made Carver Real Loud with a 17-2 technical fall over Frankie Tal-Shahar at 141 pounds. Woods scored a takedown 15 seconds in and built a 14-0 lead on a trio of tilts. Tal-Shahar scored a takedown in the second, but Woods scored twice on escapes and added another point of riding time for the technical fall.
"My top game, I feel like, is top-tier," Woods said. "I want to take advantage of that every time, so immediately, when I get a takedown, that's what I'm looking for. It's really important to me. I like to put points on the board, and the best way is to start right away."
Cobe Siebrecht notched a top-10 win by scoring two takedowns in a 6-3 win over No. 9 Trevor Chumbley at 157. Siebrecht scored on a Drake Ayala-esque slide-by in the first period, nearly had another in the second, converted another shot in the third, then defended well enough in the final moments to earn a riding-time point, too.
"Just moving my feet, moving my hands," Siebrecht said. "I felt my hand-fighting and moving my feet was better this match. I could feel him fading, and when I got the opportunity to get in on a shot, I put him down hard."
"Me and Drake, we live together. I grab him and we just wrestle around. Drake Ayala taught me everything I know."
Abe Assad scored four takedowns in a 10-2 major decision over Evan Bates at 184. Assad led 6-0 on a couple of takedowns in the first two periods, then chased bonus points in the third and was rewarded by scoring a couple of takedowns. Assad, Woods and Spencer Lee — who pinned Michael DeAugustino in the first period at 125 — accounted for Iowa's three bonus-point wins on Friday. Nelson Brands also scored two third-period takedowns to pull away for an 8-2 win over Ankhaa Enkhmandakh at 174.
"He can start sooner, where he gets a major also," said Iowa coach Tom Brands of Nelson Brands. "Those bonus points are huge, for a lot of reasons — for a lot of reasons that are psychological but also help the team."
In a battle of All-Americans, Tony Cassioppi converted a clean single-leg shot in the third period to beat fourth-ranked Lucas Davison, 3-2, in a thrilling heavyweight match. Cassioppi also showcased some stellar defense throughout the match, fighting off a litany of shots from Davison, including one as time expired in the third.
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"Too strong," Brands said. "Really strong. I don't know how good he felt out there, but he's too strong. That first shot, the guy got in, I said, 'Too strong, we're too strong.' That's not bulletin board material, that's just facts. Great balance, great athlete."
These two have a significant history. Cassioppi beat Davison in a best-of-three-match series to make the U23 men's freestyle world team in 2021. Cassioppi went on to win U23 world gold that summer and has since become a two-time U23 world medalist.
Spencer Lee closed the dual down with a first-period pin over third-ranked Michael DeAugustino (yes, ranked No. 3 by InterMat, and a returning All-American). Lee scored a quick takedown and nearly flipped DeAugustino to his back, but DeAugustino wiggled free and escaped. Lee then scored another quick takedown and landed with DeAugustino in a cradle for the fall in 2:01.
The commercial break before Lee's match was longer than his actual match. Lee is now 8-0 this season with 8 bonus-point wins, including five pins.
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"We should wrestle Spencer Lee last every match," Brands said. "That's what it's supposed to look like."
Max Murin dropped a tough 3-2 decision to No. 5 Yahya Thomas at 149. Murin beat Thomas twice last year — 4-3 in the dual, then a 6-5 thriller at the Big Ten Championships — but Thomas kept out of Murin's handfight and ultimately converted a quick shot for a takedown in the final moments of the third period to win. That gave Northwestern a 6-5 lead after three weights. Siebrecht won the next match, put Iowa back on top for good.
"He's upset with himself," Brands said of Murin. "We have to do more to get to guys. It doesn't have to be slow."
Zach Glazier pinch-hit for Jacob Warner at 197 and nearly pulled off an upset. He ultimately fell to 28th-ranked Andrew Davison, 7-6. Davison scored two takedowns for a 4-1 first-period lead — including one off of Glazier's shot — but Glazier battled back to tie it 5-5 early in the third. Davison tacked on one final takedown in the third to win it, but Glazier showed that with more reps, he can win important matches at the varsity level.
"His offense serves him the best," Brands said of Glazier. "We have to have that takedown at the beginning there. We were in. Our offense serves us best. I know Glazier has good offense, and he's a repeater. You have to feel good out there. But we let that guy come to us in the third."
Key Stats: Iowa scored 15 total takedowns to Northwestern's six, and scored 61 total match points while allowing just 28.
Iowa wrestles No. 5 Nebraska Friday, Jan. 20, at Carver. It's scheduled for an 8 p.m. CT start and will air on Big Ten Network.
Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at@codygoodwin.
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No. 2 Iowa 27, No. 11 Northwestern 9
- 133: No. 13 Chris Cannon (NW) dec. No. 7 Cullan Schriever (IA), 4-1
- 141: No. 2 Real Woods (IA) tech. fall No. 10 Frankie Tal-Shahar (NW), 17-2
- 149: No. 5 Yahya Thomas (NW) dec. No. 4 Max Murin (IA), 3-2
- 157: No. 20 Cobe Siebrecht (IA) dec. No. 9 Trevor Chumbley (NW), 6-3
- 165: No. 10 Patrick Kennedy (IA) dec. No. 23 Maxx Mayfield (NW), 4-2
- 174: No. 16 Nelson Brands (IA) dec. Ankhaa Enkhmandakh (NW), 8-2
- 184: No. 8 Abe Assad (IA) maj. dec. Evan Bates, 10-2
- 197: No. 28 Andrew Davison (NW) dec. Zach Glazier (IA), 7-6
- 285: No. 3 Tony Cassioppi (IA) dec. No. 4 Lucas Davison (NW), 3-2
- 125: No. 1 Spencer Lee (IA) pinned No. 3 Michael DeAugustino (NW) in 2:01