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OMAHA, Neb. – At the beginning of the season, Iowa head coach Tom Brands said former Hawkeye headman Dan Gable would hit him in the head if Brands said his team dominated last season.
Brands didn’t go as far to say his squad dominated on Friday, but Gable won’t be taking any swings at the fourth year Iowa coach any time soon.
Iowa sent five wrestlers to the finals — Matt McDonough, Daniel Dennis, Montell Marion, Brent Metcalf, and Jay Borschel – the most since 1997 when six grapplers were finalists under Gable.
The Hawkeyes also have a commanding 45.5 point lead in the team standings and could break the NCAA record for largest margin of victory between first- and second-place.
“Last year, we didn’t win any titles. This year, we have five chances to win titles,” Brands said. “When you’re five-for-five in the semifinal. Might as well be five-for-five in the final. I’m not making a prediction there. I’m just saying that’s the philosophy and the marching orders.”
Borschel needed a massive rally to get into the title match. The 174-pounder fell behind 5-0 to Virginia’s Christopher Henrich after a takedown and three near fall points early in the first period.
Behind 9-3 at the start of the second period, Borschel put together a flurry of points, scoring an escape to start the third, then a simultaneous takedown. A stall call tied up the match at nine.
Borschel rode out Henrich and scored the deciding point via riding time, winning 10-9.
The senior said he could feel when he broke Henrich, and even added an unusual display of emotion after the match.
“I thought maybe I might have killed half of [the Iowa fans] with a heart attack,” Borschel said. “But they were pretty loud. I usually don’t celebrate after a match, but I just couldn’t help it. Quite a feeling to come back from that and pull it off.”
McDonough continued to tear through his opponents with a 14-3 major decision victory over Cashé Quiroga of Purdue.
The redshirt freshman accumulated six near-fall points in his bout with the Boilermaker, and the win sets up a fourth match with Iowa State’s Andrew Long. McDonough has won all three previous meetings.
“I feel I’m wrestling my style. I’m forcing my offense on opponents and not giving them much space,” the 125-pounder said. “I feel I’m doing a good job wrestling for seven minutes. But you can always improve, and there’s one more match to improve on.”
Iowa 133-pounder Daniel Dennis will also face a familiar opponent in the finals – Minnesota’s Jayson Ness, who has two victories over the Hawkeye this season. But to get there, Dennis needed to knock off defending national champion Franklin Gomez.
Dennis previously beat Gomez twice this season – once in dual meet competition and once in the semifinals of the Big Ten Championships – and added a third Friday night.
The Ingleside, Ill., native won a 5-3 sudden victory decision to force a third meeting with the Golden Gopher.
“Our coaches preach the best thing you can do for the team is win a national title. It’s the best thing I can do for the team,” Dennis said. “I’m not going to worry about the team because we have a lot of tough guys. The team points and the team race will fall into place.”
The team race fell into place before Day Two concluded. The Hawkeyes clinched their third straight national title.
But Iowa is still focused on emerging from competition with individual titles.
“[The team score] shows you’re in control and you’ve wrestled well as a team,” Brands said. “I don’t think it lessens the urgency of winning five titles and three sevenths, but it’s flexing your muscles.”
— by J.T. Bugos
Team Standings:
1. Iowa: 120.5
2. Cornell: 75
3. Iowa State: 67
4. Wisconsin: 62
5. Oklahoma State: 60.5
6. Oklahoma: 58
7. Ohio State 56.5
8. Minnesota: 55
9. Penn State: 47
10. Missouri: 44
Wrestlebacks Fourth Round:
165 – No. 7 Ryan Morningstar (I) dec. Justin Kerber (Cornell), 3-2 TB
184 – No. 9 Phil Keddy (I) major dec. Andrew Saunders (UNC Greensboro), 14-5
197 – No. 5 Trevor Brandvold (Wisc.) dec. No. 9 Chad Beatty (I), 7-4
HWT – No. 5 Dan Erekson (I) dec. No. 6 Nathan Everhart (Ind.), 4-1
Wrestlebacks Quarterfinals:
165 – Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) dec. No. 7 Ryan Morningstar (I), 2-0
184 – No. 5 Clayton Foster (Ok. St.) dec. No. 9 Phil Keddy (I), 5-3
HWT – No. 9 Mark Ellis (Missouri) dec. No. 5 Dan Erekson (I), 3-1 SV
Championship Semifinals:
125 – No. 3 Matt McDonough (I) major dec. Cashé Quiroga (Purdue), 14-3
133 – No. 2 Daniel Dennis (I) dec. No. 3 Franklin Gomez (MSU), 5-3 SV
141 – No. 6 Montell Marion (I) dec. No. 10 Tyler Nauman (Pitt.), 7-6
149 – No. 2 Brent Metcalf (I) dec. No. 3 Kyle Terry (Okla.), 6-2
174 – No. 2 Jay Borschel (I) dec. No. 3 Christopher Henrich (Virginia), 10-9
