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By Molly Irene Olmstead
molly-olmstead@uiowa.edu
It was a meet of rankings, polls, and numbers.
It was the No. 5 Hawkeyes, limping into Carver-Hawkeye Arena with their worst conference record in five years, trying to bring down the soaring Minnesota Gophers’ six-win steak.
It was the meet of No. 2 Matt McDonough against No. 1 Zach Sanders; No. 4 Tony Ramos fighting No. 7 Chris Dardanes; and No. 9 Ethen Lofthouse attacking No. 7 Logan Storely.
But unranked Nick Moore won the meet.
If it wasn’t for the redshirt freshman’s 11-2 major decision at 157 pounds — which would spur Mike Evans’ pin at 165 — Iowa would have come out on the losing side of what turned out to be a 19-17 victory over Minnesota on Sunday.
“I give my hats off to both of those guys, especially Mike Evans,” McDonough said. “The dual was decided by 2 points — by bonus points. And those guys went out there and got bonus points.
“Me and Tony Ramos? We didn’t.”
Minnesota head coach J Robinson said he know the Hawkeyes would take the first three matches — McDonough’s at 125 pounds, Ramos’ at 133, and Montell Marion’s at 144. And he said he knew the Gophers’ No. 11 Dylan Ness would win at 149, and Minnesota would also claim the last four weight classes.
That left the meet up to Moore and Evans.
“We thought it would be decided in the middle — 57, 65, 74” Robinson said. “And that made the difference.”
Moore’s three takedowns was tied with McDonough for the best on the team, and with 11 points scored off the three takedowns, a nearfall, escape, and whopping 3:36 of riding time, he led the team in match scoring, too.
“It was real important, [to score extra points],” Moore said. “It was a pretty tight dual, and you needed every bonus point you can get. When I went out there, coach just said, ‘Be smart, stick it to him, and get bonus points when you can.’ “
Evans said Moore’s bonus points “pushed him” to do the same, and the eighth-ranked redshirt freshman pursued No. 14 Cody Yohn relentlessly. A head collision prompted an injury timeout just 50 seconds into the first period, and Evans stood at the edge of the mat and coolly sized up his junior-year opponent.
Evans thrust Yohn off him for an escape once play resumed, and turned right back around. After a minute of pawing and hand grabbing, Evans took him down to lead, 3-0, at the end of the first.
Evans shoved Yohn away for another escape in the second period, and smashed down another takedown. He gripped Yohn’s leg and clenched it throughout three shot attempts before finally getting a booming “TWO!” from Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s 9,511 rowdy fans.
Evans went into the third period with a 7-0 lead, but ended it early with a pin in 6:02.
“I just started building my lead,” Evans said. “He chose bottom in the third. My coaches were like, ‘Stick him.’ If I’m up 7-0, I’ve got to start looking for bonus points. If he goes on bottom, I know what I’ve got to do.”
While Robinson said momentum wasn’t a big deal for his team, Evans said it “was everything” to Iowa.
And is everything, because the Hawkeyes will try to carry that momentum into tournament season.
McDonough gave credit to Evans, Moore, and other teammates that didn’t let the numbers — the rankings or records or road losses — keep them from going for a win.
“They started a match and they finished it,” McDonough said. “We didn’t really do a good enough job on the road of that. Guys [were] coming out too timid, but guys coming out here [in Carver tonight], they’re coming out like they’re warriors. Like they’re savages, like they’re barbarians.
“They came out tough, hard, and they didn’t stop wrestling for seven minutes — the guys got what they wanted.”
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Iowa City, IA- Iowa redshirt freshman Nick Moore rides Minnesota's Alec Ortiz during the final seconds of the 157 pound bout of the Iowa vs. Minnesota meet on Sunday, January 29, 2012 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Moore won the match by major decision, 11-2. (The Daily Iowan/Ricky Bahner)
