Interested in you wrestling heads take on our instate rivalry. How will the good guys do this season. (and I'm refering to Iowa State)
Iowa State vs. Iowa...who's better?
- Thread starter ketelmeister
- Start date
It's really going to be a toss-up for the dual meet. I think Iowa still has the edge in tournament wrestling just because of their ability to get bonus points in wrestlebacks that ISU hasn't shown yet.
The one big wildcard that I see is how does Beatty handle the jump in weight classes. From what I have seen he definately looks the part, but there is a style difference when you move weights that may give him problems.
We've got couple of young guys that will see action throughout the year and if they can step up and push the other guys that'll really help us.
My prediction: ISU wins that dual Iowa wins the title. Sorry but I just don't see a national title yet.
The one big wildcard that I see is how does Beatty handle the jump in weight classes. From what I have seen he definately looks the part, but there is a style difference when you move weights that may give him problems.
We've got couple of young guys that will see action throughout the year and if they can step up and push the other guys that'll really help us.
My prediction: ISU wins that dual Iowa wins the title. Sorry but I just don't see a national title yet.
Dual meet is a toss-up, especially at this point in the season. We should get a top 3 finish in NCAA's at end of season as well.
I agree with everything. We probably have the better dual team, but Iowa has a better tournament team (at least until we prove otherwise).
I think the Hawks deserve to be the favorite going into the year, but I have a feeling that this may be the Clones year. I am not an expert but have followed the sport for a number of years. I agree with what others have said about Iowa's ability to score bonus points. I feel that Varner is ready to take the next step as is Reader.
Hawks deserve the favorite role, defending champion with points returning, change in coaching staff.
ISU should be a very serious challenger for the title, due in part for the same reasons. As mentioned earlier - they need bonus points, something not garnered very often last year. Bonus points and solid wrestling by everyone will obtain the title.
ISU should be a very serious challenger for the title, due in part for the same reasons. As mentioned earlier - they need bonus points, something not garnered very often last year. Bonus points and solid wrestling by everyone will obtain the title.
I think Iowa's better. They have a more aggressive style and our guys are working towards that as a team.
Until we are able to get bonus points and be aggressive on our feet at the lower weight classes, we will be behind the Hawks.
That said, there's a lot of wrestling to be done and I think we do have a talent to win it all. We just have to work harder than Iowa to get to their level and overpass them. I surely hope it does happen!
Until we are able to get bonus points and be aggressive on our feet at the lower weight classes, we will be behind the Hawks.
That said, there's a lot of wrestling to be done and I think we do have a talent to win it all. We just have to work harder than Iowa to get to their level and overpass them. I surely hope it does happen!
I agree that Iowa deserves the Top Spot, until someone knocks them off.
I think ISU has a great shot at beating Iowa and also winning a National Title.
I think 133 will be key:
Iowa'a Slaton is Ranked #1, but ISU's Fanthorpe (#5) is more than capable of beating him and being a Nat Champ. ISU needs that to happen.
The Tournament will come down to: Who can wrestle to their potential. I Like our chances with Reader, Zambriskie, Sanderson, Gallick, Fanthorpe, and Varner.
I think ISU has a great shot at beating Iowa and also winning a National Title.
I think 133 will be key:
Iowa'a Slaton is Ranked #1, but ISU's Fanthorpe (#5) is more than capable of beating him and being a Nat Champ. ISU needs that to happen.
The Tournament will come down to: Who can wrestle to their potential. I Like our chances with Reader, Zambriskie, Sanderson, Gallick, Fanthorpe, and Varner.
Beatty's at the same weight he was last year - 197. He has beefed up but...? They also have ?? at 157/165 and at Heavy. ISU on the other hand lost Bertilino and basically replaced him with Ward, everywhere else we're more experienced and ready to go. Let's not forget last year was also a year many of these guys transitioned up a weight class. Also - agressiveness is great but let the Hawks wrestle wild-eyed like Brands, I'll take Cael and his style any day! We win both!
I haven't seen ISU wrestle yet, but I think one of Cael's main goals is to push the action and attack. Something ours guys didn't do before against Iowa. When Cael wrestled, he was always moving and constantly attacking from every angle.... of coarse he made it look easy. Just listening to some of the interviews gives a clue that they plan to be more aggressive.
If ISU can score bonus points this year, this will be very close. I would not be shocked at all to see ISU win the dual meet. I want to see what Iowa is going to do at 57,33, 41. Morningstar at 65, well, TBD. Iowa has some questions...now, its nice having a question at 33 when the guy returning was runner up, but it sounds like Dennis could beat out Slaton. Same with Tsirtsis and Leclere at 41, Leclere went to nationals last year and he will likely get beaten out.
Right now it looks like Ballweg, Dennis, and Tsirtsis.
Kinda funny about Slaton....#1 in the country and #2 in the wrestling room!
Since the meet will be at Carver and there will be thousands of crazed bumble bees in the seats, you have to give the advantage to Iowa. I don't think Iowa State will be able to win even if they split the matches 5 and 5 , Iowa carries too many potential bonus points.
After seeing ISU beat Utah Valley, afterwards I would have said we'd be lucky to win 4 matches (Sanderson, Reader, Varner and Zabriskie) with the potential of ONLY winning 2 matches. Since the Harold Nichols Open I believe the team picked it up from their first meet and can achieve 4-5 match wins.
Key wins in order for ISU to win will need to come from Fanthorpe and Gallick. and no huge bonus points given up at 125, 149 "yeah right", 174 & 184. Iowa has the potential of picking up 16-20+ points just from these four wts and ISU could win the 6 other matches by decision and still lose the meet by 2 pts.
Brands will have the Iowa wrestlers and fans frothing at the mouth like mad dogs before this meet even gets started. The edge clearly goes to Hawkeyes in the dual and depending on progress and injury, Iowa still has more depth for replacement thru the season and onto tournament time. I hope I'm wrong, GO STATE!
After seeing ISU beat Utah Valley, afterwards I would have said we'd be lucky to win 4 matches (Sanderson, Reader, Varner and Zabriskie) with the potential of ONLY winning 2 matches. Since the Harold Nichols Open I believe the team picked it up from their first meet and can achieve 4-5 match wins.
Key wins in order for ISU to win will need to come from Fanthorpe and Gallick. and no huge bonus points given up at 125, 149 "yeah right", 174 & 184. Iowa has the potential of picking up 16-20+ points just from these four wts and ISU could win the 6 other matches by decision and still lose the meet by 2 pts.
Brands will have the Iowa wrestlers and fans frothing at the mouth like mad dogs before this meet even gets started. The edge clearly goes to Hawkeyes in the dual and depending on progress and injury, Iowa still has more depth for replacement thru the season and onto tournament time. I hope I'm wrong, GO STATE!
Last edited:
Like I told you last year . . "real" fans of college wrestling had better start hoping that someone other than Iowa, Okie State, Minneeesoota can win the title . . wrestling is on life support right now.
Gable and company arrived at the party a little too late to save it. He was too busy winning all those uncontested championships. LOL
I understand the point about Gable, but I think it's fine with Iowa, MN, Okie State and us being in the convo.
Most Wrestling fans ARE in Iowa and Minnesota anyways...There are good programs that struggle to get 1,000 people at their meets....
Iowa is still the favorite, in both dual and tournament format.
Falck vs Clark- Kist gave Falck a good match last year and I would expect Clark to do the same. Clark does have a tendency to get out of position, but I think he keeps it to a regular decision. 3-0 UI
Dennis/Slaton vs. Fanthorpe- I don't know much about Dennis other than he must be talented enough to beat Slaton. I can't see Fanthorpe beating either if thats the case, at least not at Carver. He wasn't close to breaking Slaton down last year at nationals which makes it impossible for me to predict an ISU victory here. Should be close match. 6-0 UI
Tsirtsis/LeClere vs. Gallick- Gallick looked really good at nationals while Leclere went 0-2 BBQ. LeClere has beaten Gallick twice and Tsirtsis is a former AA. I'm going to give the edge to Gallick but this is a true toss-up. UI 6-3
Metcalf vs. Mueller- Metcalf is Metcalf and will win. It is only a matter of by how many. Most likely a major. UI 10-3
Ballweg vs. Sanderson- Putting Ballweg at 157 is a blow to Iowa's lineup. There is no way to deny that. Sanderson will be a heavy favorite and should be looking for bonus points because ISU will need them. UI 10-7
Morningstar vs. Reader- I can't wait to see this matchup. Morningstar has not lived up to Hawkeye fans' expectations, but that won't keep many of them from predicting him to win. He managed to pull a huge upset 2 years ago, but I don't see him sneaking up on Reader. Reader is too talented, but it will be close. Sanderson handled Morningstar a couple times last season which leads me to believe Reader can do the same. 10-10
Borschel vs Burk- Borschel is a stud and will be a contender for the NC in March. ISU is fortunate to pick up Burk as 174 was a weak spot last season. Duke will keep this close but Borschel is too good, especially in front of the home crowd. UI 13-10
Keddy vs. Ward- Ward has an ankle injury but Cael said he is good to go. Keddy is an animal that will feed off the energy of the meet. Ward better be ready to wrestle for seven minutes or he could get embarrassed. The freshman has talent, but I think he may be shellshocked at the intensity of the meet, especially if the score is as I predicted. Keddy gets the major UI 17-10
Beatty vs. Varner- Beatty may have bulked up, but he is still an inferior wrestler to Varner. Beatty's going to come out hard, guaranteed. If Varner can control the match early, he should win handily. If he allows Beatty to hang around, he could get beat. I can't see Varner losing this one and he may get bonus points, but it will most likely be a very Varner-like score of 5-2. UI 17-13
Erekson vs. Z- This will be a very close match that probably goes to OT like a lot of HWT matches. I think Z wins with experience.
Bonus points being the difference, UI wins 17-16.
That being said, anything can happen in this meet based on the rivalry aspect. That score seems reasonable, but probably won't be anything near the actual score. Most likely, there will be 2-3 matches that could go either way that will decide the meet.
Falck vs Clark- Kist gave Falck a good match last year and I would expect Clark to do the same. Clark does have a tendency to get out of position, but I think he keeps it to a regular decision. 3-0 UI
Dennis/Slaton vs. Fanthorpe- I don't know much about Dennis other than he must be talented enough to beat Slaton. I can't see Fanthorpe beating either if thats the case, at least not at Carver. He wasn't close to breaking Slaton down last year at nationals which makes it impossible for me to predict an ISU victory here. Should be close match. 6-0 UI
Tsirtsis/LeClere vs. Gallick- Gallick looked really good at nationals while Leclere went 0-2 BBQ. LeClere has beaten Gallick twice and Tsirtsis is a former AA. I'm going to give the edge to Gallick but this is a true toss-up. UI 6-3
Metcalf vs. Mueller- Metcalf is Metcalf and will win. It is only a matter of by how many. Most likely a major. UI 10-3
Ballweg vs. Sanderson- Putting Ballweg at 157 is a blow to Iowa's lineup. There is no way to deny that. Sanderson will be a heavy favorite and should be looking for bonus points because ISU will need them. UI 10-7
Morningstar vs. Reader- I can't wait to see this matchup. Morningstar has not lived up to Hawkeye fans' expectations, but that won't keep many of them from predicting him to win. He managed to pull a huge upset 2 years ago, but I don't see him sneaking up on Reader. Reader is too talented, but it will be close. Sanderson handled Morningstar a couple times last season which leads me to believe Reader can do the same. 10-10
Borschel vs Burk- Borschel is a stud and will be a contender for the NC in March. ISU is fortunate to pick up Burk as 174 was a weak spot last season. Duke will keep this close but Borschel is too good, especially in front of the home crowd. UI 13-10
Keddy vs. Ward- Ward has an ankle injury but Cael said he is good to go. Keddy is an animal that will feed off the energy of the meet. Ward better be ready to wrestle for seven minutes or he could get embarrassed. The freshman has talent, but I think he may be shellshocked at the intensity of the meet, especially if the score is as I predicted. Keddy gets the major UI 17-10
Beatty vs. Varner- Beatty may have bulked up, but he is still an inferior wrestler to Varner. Beatty's going to come out hard, guaranteed. If Varner can control the match early, he should win handily. If he allows Beatty to hang around, he could get beat. I can't see Varner losing this one and he may get bonus points, but it will most likely be a very Varner-like score of 5-2. UI 17-13
Erekson vs. Z- This will be a very close match that probably goes to OT like a lot of HWT matches. I think Z wins with experience.
Bonus points being the difference, UI wins 17-16.
That being said, anything can happen in this meet based on the rivalry aspect. That score seems reasonable, but probably won't be anything near the actual score. Most likely, there will be 2-3 matches that could go either way that will decide the meet.
I believe this is right on target, with the exception that Reader, Varner or Z will pick up the two more points we will need.
At the same time I think that Iowa will have a major at 174. I would love to see Reader or Varner get a pin to decide the meet.
This meet seems too close to call right now. Both teams have top notch wrestlers, but it really depends on who shows up to work. 3 or so weights could go either way, that's why these meets are played out. One thing I'm sure of though...ISU or Iowa will be the 2 best teams all year as others will have a hard time competing against either team!
