Parker — who has been on the Hawkeyes’ staff since 1999 — replaces Norm Parker, who retired in December.

The 48-year old Parker spent a decade at Toledo as a defensive assistant and was a graduate assistant at Michigan State prior to his stint at Iowa.

Additionally, linebackers coach Darrell Wilson will now coach the defensive secondary and offensive line coach Reese Morgan will switch to defensive line coach. Wilson coached linebackers since 2008 and Morgan led the O-line since 2003.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is still scheduled to have a press conference on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Pepe Rojas-Cardona was the UI Student Government president in the early 1990s. After a string of theft and fraud charges and at least one major drug charge, Rojas-Cardona apparently fled to Mexico in the mid-1990s, a Gazette investigation showed last year. Since then, Rojas-Cardona has apparently been a major player in Mexico’s casino industry, which is surrounded by corruption, the Times reports.

Meanwhile, two of Rojas-Cardona’s family members in the United States have generated huge sums for Obama’s re-election bid and the Democratic National Committee. Obama campaign officials told the Times on Monday that they were refunding more than $200,000 raised by Rojas-Cardona’s family.

Iowa is tied for the second-most invitations of any Big Ten school; Wisconsin led the league with eight, and Penn State had seven.

The Hawkeyes to receive invitations:

• Mike Daniels, DL
• Adam Gettis, OL
• Marvin McNutt, WR
• Tyler Nielsen, LB
• Shaun Prater, DB
• Riley Reiff, OL (and one of just three underclassmen from the Big Ten to get an invitation)
• Markus Zusevics, OL

The Combine consists of a variety of drills — testing speed, acceleration, strength, leaping ability, and agility — performed in front of NFL scouts. It will be held on Feb. 22-28 in Indianapolis.

— by Seth Roberts

UPDATE Tuesday 10:50 a.m.: A full list of invitees can be found here.

Iowa entered the day looking to rebound from a disappointing 6-1 loss to Arkansas on Friday that  included a 1-5 record in singles play.

But the story was the same on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes led 3-1 at one point and led in two of the final three matches, but were unable to seal the deal.

Freshman Matt Hagan and Senior Tom Mroziewicz both held one-set leads in their singles matches, but each dropped the final two.

Senior Will Vasos fought back to force a third set in his singles match before bowing out to clinch the victory for DePaul.

Sophomore Jonas Dierckx, who had to leave his singles match on Friday with a back injury, was swiftly defeated in straight sets, (6-0, 6-2).

Junior Garret Dunn carried the Hawkeyes posting a (6-3, 6-2) victory in singles play while sophomore Chase Tomlins scored a victory in his first match of the season by winning in straight sets, (7-5, 6-1).

Iowa took all three doubles matches, led by Dierckx and Hagan’s 8-3 victory in the No. 1 position. The win kept the duo undefeated this season at 4-0.

The team of Mroziewicz and Vasos got back in the win column by posting an 8-5 victory, while the team of Dunn and Swank pulled out a 9-7 thriller to complete the sweep.

The Hawkeyes return to action on Feb 18. when they travel to Illinois State.

Click here to view an exclusive photo slideshow.

By Sam Louwagie
samuel-louwagie@uiowa.edu

The Iowa wrestling team racked up bonus points in six of its first seven individual matches on Sunday.

But the most encouraging signs from a 39-3 rout of struggling Wisconsin — in which the Hawkeyes piled up 105 individual points to the Badgers’ 32, a pin, and a win by forfeit — may have come from weights that failed to earn major decisions or falls.

Iowa (11-3, 6-2) jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the meet’s first four matches. Then Derek St. John delighted the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd when he made a surprise return to the mat, fighting through rust and burning lungs for a 6-1 victory over the Badgers’ Shawn Perry. St. John had injured his knee on Dec. 8, and re-aggravated it in an attempted return on Jan. 20.

Tomas Lira took the mat at 197 pounds later in the meet, losing a close 9-7 match. Junior Grant Gambrall had struggled to wrestle undersized at that weight for much of the season; he has said he hopes to cut back down to his natural weight of 184 pounds, and head coach Tom Brands said Gambrall could “weigh in at any weight he wants.” Gambrall’s absence Sunday may indicate an upcoming return to 184 pounds, the weight at which he finished third nationally last season.

Good health for St. John and Gambrall, two of Iowa’s four returning all-Americans, would provide a big boost to the Hawkeye lineup. It would come just in time for the National Duals on Feb. 12, followed by the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments in March.

“It’s one of those things where we thought we were close, and then you realize you’re not so close. And now we’re getting closer,” Brands said about Iowa’s chances of fielding a complete, healthy lineup. “Next week is a big weekend, so we better be close. We’ve got to be ready to go.”

While St. John and Gambrall try to work back into their old places in the starting lineup, their teammates were as dominant as could be expected on Sunday against the Badgers. Wisconsin entered the meet 5-9, and still in search of its first Big Ten victory. The Badger wrestlers in the first three weight classes sported a combined 6-40 record; their opponents Sunday — Matt McDonough, Tony Ramos, and Montell Marion — are all nationally ranked in their weights’ top 7.

Iowa had recorded 22 takedowns and six nearfalls after three matches. McDonough, Ramos, and Marion were never taken down.

“We were hoping to [win] all 10 weight classes,” Ramos said. “You’ve got to take every match the same. It’s just another match you can use to practice your preparation for every big match you have coming [at the NCAA Tournament] in March in St. Louis.”

That dominance continued for much of the afternoon. The Hawkeyes recorded 37 takedowns in the meet and allowed three — all of which came in Lira’s loss. Ethen Lofthouse recorded a 16-5 major decision, and heavyweight Bobby Telford snapped a four-match losing streak with a 4-0 win.

“Again, you look at the opponent,” Brands said. “We’ve got to be able to do that to anybody and everybody.”

The only Wisconsin wrestler with a winning record was 165-pound senior Ben Jordan. Jordan entered that match with a 21-6 record, ranked No. 12 by Intermat, and expected to present a reasonably tough test for Iowa redshirt freshman Mike Evans.

Evans pinned him in the second period.

Jordan chose to start that period from the bottom, and when he attempted to stand, Evans caught his legs and flipped him onto his back.

“I came out calm, saw an opportunity, and took it,” Evans said. “That’s all that happened, really … That’s something I used to catch high-school kids with. It’s what I can do when I wrestle my match and stay calm and work my own moves.”

The team’s lineup appears to be solidifying as the Hawkeyes look ahead toward their big upcoming meets. But Evans doesn’t seem worried about his teammates getting healthy and in their natural weight classes.

“If they can do a better job than the guys who were in there before, that’s awesome,” he said. “But I think we have a solid lineup, whether they’re there or not.”

Follow DI wrestling reporter Sam Louwagie on Twitter.

Iowa City, IA- Iowa redshirt sophomore Derek St. John rides Wisconsin's Shawn Perry during the Iowa vs. Wisconsin meet in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, February 5, 2012. St. John won the match by decision, 6-1. (The Daily Iowan/ Ricky Bahner)

Derek St. John injured his knee in the middle of the second period against Northern Iowa on Dec. 8. He lay on his back, clutching his leg in the center of the mat as Iowa’s athletics trainers inspected him. He tried to put weight on his knee. He wobbled.

But the then-No. 2 157-pounder limped back to the mat and finished the match. His hand was raised in a 3-1 victory. The joke going around Carver-Hawkeye Arena was, “Who needs knees?”

St. John may need his knee, but he didn’t need more than two months to recover from the injury. The sophomore battled through rehab — and a painful re-tweaking of the joint against Ohio State on Jan. 20 — in order to make an appearance for the Hawkeyes’ last dual meet on Sunday against Wisconsin.

St. John claimed a 6-1 decision over the Badgers’ Shawn Perry, despite wearing a bulky brace and wrestling in less than perfect fitness.

When asked about his match, he simply said, “It’s good to be back.”

St. John said he doesn’t even know exactly what his injury was, only that he had to find a way to get past it. He was officially informed he would appear in the bout on Sunday morning.

Head coach Tom Brands praised his determination throughout his two months of rehab.

“The progress has been real good,” Brands said. “It has to do with the process starting when he walked off the mat in December, when he was injured. His mind has been in the right place, and there’s been no hesitation from him.”

St. John said his lungs were “burning a little bit” by the third period of his match on Sunday, but he still tallied two takedowns, an escape, and 1:56 in riding time while limiting Perry to a single escape.

His main focus now is regaining his muscle memory in time for Iowa’s trip to the National Duals on Feb. 12 and 19, and the Big Ten Championships in early March.

“It’s tough to battle back from something like that [injury],” St. John said. “It’s just one of those things — you’ve got to stay positive and stay on top of it and build every day.”

133-pound Tony Ramos praised St. John for his work ethic. St. John was paired with lower-weight wrestlers, such as Ramos, during his rehab to practice physical skills without the threat of getting hurt in a match-like situation.

“I had to hand-fight with him a couple times — he’s strong, he’s a tough guy,” Ramos said with a chuckle. “He’s a competitor, and anyone who’s motivated to compete is going to want to be out there all the time. It’s good to see him. It’s good for the team, it’s good for all the other guys who have injuries on the team to see him go out there and wrestle hard.”

Ramos said other people might “take all the rest of the season off and just call it a day,” when facing an injury as severe as St. John’s.

But not St. John.

St. John admitted he was a little “gun shy” on Sunday because he was afraid he might agitate his knee again. And he worries his muscle memory — the ability to “pull the trigger” and attack on instinct — might not return as quickly as he wants.

But even though he’s walking around with a weak knee, he’s not throwing in the towel just yet.

“[My knee] may never be 100 percent again, I don’t know,” St. John said. “But we’re going work to get there, and it’s going get better every day. I can guarantee that.”

Follow DI wrestling reporter Molly Irene Olmstead on Twitter.

Iowa City, IA- Iowa senior Montell Marion rides Wisconsin's Thomas Glenn during the Iowa vs. Wisconsin meet in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, February 5, 2012. Marion won the match by major decision, 21-7. (The Daily Iowan/ Ricky Bahner)

The Iowa wrestling team defeated Wisconsin, 39-3, on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes dominated early, as No. 1 Matt McDonough and No. 4 Tony Ramos earned technical falls at 125 and 133 pounds. 141-pound Montell Marion won a 21-7 major decision, and Ethen Lofthouse claimed a 16-5 victory at 174 pounds.

No. 8 Mike Evans pinned No. 12 Ben Jordan in 4:23.

Derek St. John returned to the mat after suffering a knee injury and won a 6-1 decision in his first 157-pound match back in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 184-pound Vinnie Wagner and heavyweight Bobby Telford also won decisions.

Redshirt freshman Mike Kelly won the 149-pound match by forfeit.

Iowa’s Tomas Lira, at 197 pounds, was the only Hawkeye to be taken down throughout the entire meet.

The Black and Gold held the Badgers to three takedowns throughout all 10 matches.

— by Molly Olmstead

UPDATE: Due to an editing error, the original headline of this story read “Hawkeyes pound Gophers.” The DI regrets the error.

Iowa City, IA- Dancers dance at Dance Marathon 18 during power hour in the IMU Main Lounge on Saturday, February 4, 2011. (The Daily Iowan/ Ricky Bahner)

Twenty-four hours ago, a lime green sea of dancers sat on the floor of the IMU beginning a chant that would follow them throughout the night: “For the Kids.”

Click here to view an exclusive photo slideshow.