UI Athletics news release
LINCOLN, Neb. — Head coach Tom Brands notched his 300th win at Iowa as the No. 4 Hawkeyes defeated No. 6 Nebraska, 22–14, on Friday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
“It means he is a good coach. He’s got guys on the team that believe in him,” said sophomore Ryder Block. “You can’t let the outside noise get in the room because it doesn’t matter. We’ve got 30 guys in that room that believe in Tom Brands. It means he knows what he is doing and we all trust him.”
Iowa won six of 10 matches and notched bonus points at 149 pounds and 165 pounds.
“Let’s keep it going. That was an important dual meet,” Brands said. “We wrestled well; we need to keep building. Then there are areas and individuals that we need to get on track, where it is on track, on track, wide gap.”
Iowa opened the dual with a win as Joey Cruz, getting the nod at 125 pounds, defeated Alan Koehler, 4–2.
No. 10 Drake Ayala earned a ranked win at 133 pounds, knocking off No. 8 Jacob Van Dee with a 12–6 decision.
Third-ranked Brock Hardy picked up a 1–0 win over No. 10 Nasir Bailey at 141. An unsuccessful challenge in the second period was ruled no takedown on the edge for Iowa, leaving Hardy’s escape as the only point of the bout.
Iowa secured bonus points at 149 pounds as the 17th-ranked Block used a big third-period cradle to break a 5–5 tie and pin No. 14 Chance Lamer in 5:51.
“You get an opportunity to put a guy away, put him away,” Brands said. “When you have the clamps on a guy, you don’t get a two count and let him off his back, and he packed him hard. We’ve got to build there.”
At 157 pounds, No. 12 Jordan Williams took defending national champion and fifth-ranked Antrell Taylor to sudden victory, but a stall call broke the 1–1 tie and gave Taylor a 2–1 win.
No. 3 Michael Caliendo picked up bonus points for the Hawkeyes at 165 pounds out of the break, defeating No. 7 LJ Araujo by major decision, 14–4.
Third-ranked Patrick Kennedy earned a 2–1 win over No. 6 Christopher Minto at 174 pounds, securing the escape in the first tiebreaker period.
At 184 pounds, Gabe Arnold won the rubber match against No. 7 Silas Allred after splitting two matches last season, posting a 4–1 decision.
Nebraska closed out the dual with wins in the final two matches, with No. 9 Camden McDanel earning a 20–5 technical fall over Brody Sampson at 197 pounds and No. 4 AJ Ferrari defeating No. 8 Ben Kueter, 4–1, at heavyweight.
The Hawkeyes return to action at home on Friday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. against Minnesota.
#4 Iowa 22, #6 Nebraska 14
125 – Joey Cruz (I) dec. Alan Koehler (N), 4-2
133 – #10 Drake Ayala (I) dec. #8 Jacob Van Dee (N), 12-6
141 – #3 Brock Hardy (N) dec. #10 Nasir Bailey (I), 1-0
149 – #17 Ryder Block (I) pinned #14 Chance Lamer (N), 5:51
157 – #5 Antrell Taylor (N) dec. #12 Jordan Williams (I), 2-1 SV1
165 – #3 Michael Caliendo (I) major dec. #7 LJ Araujo (N), 14-4
174 – #3 Patrick Kennedy (I) vs. #6 Christopher Minto (N), 2-1 TB1
184 – Gabe Arnold (I) vs. #7 Silas Allred (N), 4-1
197 – #9 Camden McDanel tech. fall Brody Sampson (I), 20-5
285 – #4 AJ Ferrari (N) dec. #8 Ben Kueter (I), 4-1
Officials: Angel Rivera, Conrad Duffy
Attendance: 7,891