Iowa City, IA- Oklahoma State's Jordan Oliver takes down Iowa's Tony Ramos in the 133 pound bout of the wrestling meet between the No. 1 Iowa Hawkeyes and the No. 2 Oklahoma State Cowboys at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday, January 7, 2012. Ramos defeated Oliver 4-3 but the Cowboys defeated the Hawkeyes 17-16.(The Daily Iowan/Adam Wesley)
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By Seth Roberts
seth-roberts@uiowa.edu
It’s over.
The top-ranked Iowa wrestling team (7-1) fell to No. 2 Oklahoma State (6-0) on Saturday evening in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, 17-16. The loss means the Hawkeyes’ 84-dual unbeaten streak has come to an end.
In other words, Iowa will remain tied with Oklahoma State for the longest undefeated streak in NCAA wrestling history — which is funny, because new rules implemented this year meant the Hawkeyes couldn’t remain tied with the Cowboys at the end of 10 individual matches.
The teams were tied, 16-16, after the meet. But new NCAA regulations are in place this year to ensure ties — like last year’s 15-15 stalemate between Iowa and Oklahoma State — don’t occur. The teams tied in number of matches won, with five apiece, and also tied with the number of fouls and tech fouls.
The meet came down to total match points, where the Cowboys drew a 54-49 advantage.
“I like [the criteria system]; there should be a winner, there shouldn’t be ties” Oklahoma State head coach John Smith said. “[But] I’d rather wrestle for it. Line 10 guys up, one minute each guy, takedowns — something. We’ve talked about it — I tried to push that, last year — but there’s a criteria there.”
Neither head coach appeared to be thrilled with the way his respective wrestlers competed. Smith said the win was “ugly” and gave his grapplers a collective C-minus, while Iowa coach Tom Brands said his Hawkeyes didn’t look prepared for their biggest test of the season.
“There are two things we have to address as a team,” he said. “One is, you have to put unbelievable emphasis into your wrestling. We didn’t do that … the other thing is [we were] rolling, falling into positions of the opponents way too much — and it bit us. I would say the same thing if we were the winner of the criteria.”
Tony Ramos provided a bright spot for the Hawkeyes at 133, where he upset top-ranked Jordan Oliver by riding him out to a 4-3 decision in overtime.
The deciding point came when Oliver, a junior who was previously undefeated at 10-0, was penalized for moving before the whistle after Ramos chose down to start the first tiebreak period.
The capacity crowd at Carver-Hawkeye exploded when Ramos’ hand was raised, but the fourth-ranked sophomore said he wasn’t thrilled with his performance.
“I could have done better finishing in overtime,” he said. “In the first period, getting on him and getting on him tough. Getting to the legs. I could have gotten to the legs in the second period. You have to get out. There’s a lot of things going through my head right now.”
But the Cowboys were able to overcome losing at their best weight by reeling off four wins in the last six matches.
No. 2 Jamal Parks easily defeated freshman Mike Kelly at 149, 8-3; senior Albert White posted a similar victory over freshman Nick Moore at 157, 7-4.
Chris Perry beat Ethen Lofthouse, 3-2, in a heated 174-pound bout. The two got tangled up at the end of the match, exchanged shoves, and security had to chase Perry down the tunnel as he ran after the Iowa senior.
Sophomore 197-pounder Blake Rosholt secured the Cowboys’ win with a 8-4 decision over Grant Gambrall.
“I think people [Iowa fans] were probably feeling pretty good when Jordan Oliver got beat,” Smith said. “But the one thing I take from this — and the team should — is that we won without him. I think that’s important.”
Iowa’s loss is its first since 2008, meaning only a handful of Hawkeyes on the roster have experienced defeat before. But while Ramos admitted losing is mentally difficult, he added that he and his teammates aren’t going to dwell on it more than they have to.
“It’s tough with losing — it’s not something that’s easy to do. It’s not something we’re about as a team, and it’s not something we’re about as individuals,” Ramos said. “… We lost to them. There’s not much I can really think about other than next year, we have to get ready to go again. We’ll have another battle. Right now, we have to move forward.”
