Iowa State wrestling rallies to beat Northern Iowa for the first time in three years
Cody GoodwinAMES, Ia. — The wrestling fans that come to Hilton Coliseum each winter have longed to erupt in the same manner normally reserved for the Iowa State basketball programs. The Cyclone wrestlers’ well-documented struggles have made those moments sparse in recent years.
On Sunday, one of those rare afternoons occurred. The right combination of action and upsets filled the crowd with hope and confidence, and the end result caused Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser to pull out the age-old adage that sometimes applied to this building.
“I think we got a little Hilton Magic there toward the end,” he said. “We got that place loud, and that was fun.”
The Iowa State wrestling team beat Northern Iowa, 18-16, here on Sunday, its first win over the Panthers since February 2016, when they won in Cedar Falls by the same score. The Cyclones improve to 9-4 overall and 6-1 against Big 12 foes, while Northern Iowa drops to 7-4 and 6-2.
Iowa State’s only lead in this dual came after Gannon Gremmel’s 4-0 win over Carter Isley in the final match. Northern Iowa won just four matches, but managed leads of 6-0, 12-6 and 16-12 thanks to bonus points from Jacob Schwarm, who pinned Alex Mackall at 125 pounds, and Taylor Lujan, who beat Marcus Coleman by a 13-5 major at 184.
Twice, the Cyclones rallied to tie — at 6-6 after three matches and 12-12 after seven. Iowa State ultimately won four of the final five matches to complete the comeback and extend its current winning streak to four duals with two left before the Big 12 Championships next month.
“We’ve got to give ourselves more opportunities,” Northern Iowa coach Doug Schwab said. “The moment got big in a few of those situations. You could see it, and you have to go back to where you’re good and where you’ve trained. We train our guys to continue to attack.
“We had a few situations where we had them on the ropes. There’s got to be a little bit of a death blow in there. When you’re a competitor, you have to smell that blood. There were some situations where there was blood in the water, and we did not go after it.”
The key for the Cyclones on Sunday was scoring late takedowns. They managed an overall takedown advantage, 11-10, while Northern Iowa scored more total match points, 54-44, but of Iowa State’s 11 takedowns, five came in the third period or overtime.
Todd Small scored one to defeat Jack Skudlarczyk, 6-4, at 133 pounds. Ian Parker added another to solidify his 7-2 win over Michael Blockhus at 141 and tie the dual, 6-6. Chase Straw scored one with 15 seconds left in sudden victory to beat Austin Yant, 3-1, at 165 pounds right out of the intermission.
“We just have a bunch of guys that hate to lose,” Straw said. “I don’t know. We just kind of figured out a way to win. At the end of the year, it gets closer and closer with tougher competition, so winning, that’s the main goal."
Sam Colbray followed with one of his own to cap perhaps the largest result of the night, defeating fifth-ranked Bryce Steiert, 7-6, at 174 pounds. After trading takedowns in the first period, Steiert scored another to lead 6-5, then Colbray connected on a single-leg and rode out the final 30 seconds to send the Hilton crowd into a frenzy.
“That’s just pure heart at the end of the match right there,” Colbray said. “Just put your head down and grind. All those close matches, those were national-caliber matches. They’re all one score or one takedown away, and being locked in the entire match.”
Lujan’s major decision made the final two matches must-win for the Cyclones. Joel Shapiro calmly defeated Isaiah Patton, 6-2, at 197 pounds, then Gremmel used a second-period takedown and a mean third-period ride to beat Isley and secure the dual win.
After Schwab spoke with the media, he passed Dresser on his way out of the Pete Taylor Media Room underneath Hilton. Dresser offered a word of congratulations after a hard-fought battle.
“Hey, good match today,” Dresser told him.
“Don’t give me that, Dresser,” Schwab fired back. “Don’t give me that good match.”
“Well, OK-match, then,” Dresser responded.
A small amount of tension, sure, but maybe the proper amount. A rivalry is bubbling between the two in-state Big 12 wrestling programs. Even though Northern Iowa had won three in a row in the series ahead of Sunday, the series is actually 4-4 in the last eight meetings.
That’s a good thing for wrestling, and especially wrestling in Iowa. Last season, the Panthers won a thriller in a sold-out West Gym. This year, a loud-and-rowdy Hilton crowd watched the Cyclones return the favor.
“Our job — I tell our guys all the time that you guys are entertainers,” Dresser said. “You’ve got to think like an entertainer. You want to make sure that when people leave, they got their money’s worth.
“I think everybody that came today got their money’s worth and more.”
Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.
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No. 17 Iowa State 18, No. 15 Northern Iowa 16
- 125: No. 24 Jacob Schwarm (UNI) over No. 11 Alex Mackall (ISU) by fall, 2:17
- 133: No. 18 Todd Small (ISU) dec. No. 29 Jack Skudlarczyk (UNI), 6-4
- 141: No. 9 Ian Parker (ISU) dec. No. 11 Michael Blockhus (UNI), 7-2
- 149: No. 9 Max Thomsen (UNI) dec. No. 8 Jarrett Degen (ISU), 3-1 (SV1)
- 157: Paden Moore (UNI) dec. Grant Stotts (ISU), 5-3
- 165: No. 30 Chase Straw (ISU) dec. Austin Yant (UNI), 3-1 (SV1)
- 174: No. 19 Sam Colbray (ISU) dec. No. 5 Bryce Steiert (UNI), 7-6
- 184: No. 4 Taylor Lujan (UNI) maj. dec. No. 30 Marcus Coleman (ISU), 13-5
- 197: No. 33 Joel Shapiro (ISU) dec. Isaiah Patton (UNI), 6-2
- 285: No. 14 Gannon Gremmel (ISU) dec. No. 15 Carter Isley (UNI), 4-0
Rankings from Trackwrestling.