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By Ben Ross
benjamin-d-ross@uiowa.edu

The Iowa men’s swimming and diving team (7-2, 7-1 Big Ten) finished the 2011-12 regular season on a high note this past weekend by defeating Western Illinois, 123-86, on Feb. 3.

The Hawkeyes recognized soon-to-be departing swimmers as part of its senior night. Fourth-year swimmers Ryan Phelan, Sean Swibes, Brian Tremml, Duncan Partridge, and Paul Gordon were honored before the competition, and saw extended action against the Leathernecks.

Western Illinois didn’t give Iowa much competition, but Phelan said the meet will serve as a good warmup for the Big Ten Championships later this month.

“Western Illinois is a great team,” the all-American and captain said. “They came in prepared; it’s a good trial for Big Tens.”

Phelan also said he became more emotional than he thought he would during the final dual of his Iowa tenure.

“It’s more than I expected,” he said. “It’s a nice time for me to reflect on my career, the last four years have been great. It’s really a nice conclusion.”

The quartet of Swibes, Gordon, Tremml, and Phelan commenced the meet with a win in the 400-medley relay. The seniors won with a time of 3:26.81 minutes. The team was excellent as a whole, taking first place in all 10 of the meet’s events.

Even though the departing swimmers have made a tremendous difference for the swimming program, head coach Marc Long said he thinks it may be too early to tell their real story. After all, they could potentially have their best performances during the upcoming championship season.

“It’s hard not to be emotional at this meet,” the eighth-year head coach said. “It’s great to honor them at this meet; but like I’ve been saying, their best swims are still in front of them. Be ready for fast swimming in a couple of weeks.”

The Black and Gold swimmers will have the luxury of swimming in their own pool for one of the biggest meets of the year, as the Big Ten Championships will be held in Iowa City on Feb. 22-25. There’s a good chance that some Hawkeyes will qualify for NCAAs, too, which will be in Seattle on March 22-24.

But championships weren’t the first thing on all the swimmers’ minds. Tremml said he just wanted to soak in the waning moments of his senior meet.

“It’s more than I could have hoped for,” Tremml said. “We came here four years ago and I didn’t know if we’d all make it to this point — still together, still friends. It’s sort of the the end of the road. I’ve been swimming most of my life, and I’m glad I picked Iowa to have my career here.

“I wouldn’t trade anything for these four years.”

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By Tork Mason
tork-mason@uiowa.edu

The Iowa women’s swimming and diving team took its Feb. 3 dual against Western Illinois as a chance to honor its three seniors, and was able to send Daniela Cubelic, Danielle Carty, and Veronica Rydze out in style.

The Hawkeyes can now take a brief and much-anticipated break before the Big Ten Championships following a resounding 133-60 victory over the Leathernecks. Iowa dominated the meet and won all 12 events.

The meet had a sprint lineup, with the 200- and 500-yard freestyles as the only individual events longer than 100 yards. Several of the swimmers said the format allows them to have more fun, but head coach Marc Long it’s still beneficial as they prepare for the Big Ten Championships.

“It gives you another opportunity to race,” he said. “It’s tough to simulate [the atmosphere] of having a competition. We like that, and it’s a set-up that helps you prepare for the conference meet.”

Long said the transition between the dual season and championship season has been going on for the past few weeks; there has been less focus on heavy training and more on recovery time to keep everyone fresh going forward.

The divers put together a strong performance as they swept the top four places in both the one- and three-meter events. Rydze — an all-American and the daughter of diving coach Bob Rydze — posted winning scores of 325.28 and 343.50 points, respectively.

She also completed a front-3.5 pike dive in the three-meter, which has a degree of difficulty rating of 3.1 — a rating that more than triples a diver’s score. Her father said it’s a dive that very few athletes in the country can complete.

“My goal is to have that dive ready for the NCAA qualifying meet [on March 8-10],” Bob Rydze said. “We want to dive well at Big Tens, but we want to dive even better at the qualifying meet.”

Bob Rydze said having the dive ready for the Big Ten Championships may not be entirely realistic, but that it would be something to consider trying if his daughter were to make it to the Big Ten finals next week.

Veronica Rydze said the key to the dive for her was to be aggressive with her hurdle and not to hesitate at any point.

The swimmers took the top four spots in the 200-yard freestyle, led by freshman Hannah Maher’s time of 1:55.23 minutes. Fellow freshman Becky Stoughton was given her second consecutive night of rest from distance races, but claimed victory in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 58.76 seconds.

For Carty and Cubelic, the victories they collected in the 50-yard backstroke and 50-yard freestyle, respectively — as well as the 400-medley and 200-freestyle relays — all paled to what they called a reflective experience.

“It really makes you appreciate your teammates,” Cubelic said. “It’s a fun meet … there’s no pressure, you just come together as a team, and it’s all about the camaraderie at that point.”

Carty said the team’s focus is now entirely on the Big Ten Championships, which Iowa will host on Feb. 15-18.

“With this being our last dual meet, it’s really set in that our championship meet is in a week and a half,” she said. “And we’re really excited.”

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.

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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.

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 chat that would follow them throughout the night: “For the Kids.”

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Iowa City, IA- Iowa guard Bryce Cartwright passes to forward Melsahn Basabe (1) against Penn State in the Hawkeyes' 77-64 victory over the Nittany Lions at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday, February 4, 2012. (The Daily Iowan/Adam Wesley)

By Ben Schuff
benjamin-schuff@uiowa.edu

About 10 days ago, Bryce Cartwright asked Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery what he needed to do to play more. The senior guard had played 17, 16, and 19 minutes in Iowa’s three previous games in mid-January after being the starting point guard at the beginning of the season.

The second-year head coach was frank.

“I said, ‘I am not going to put you in the starting lineup, I am not going to play you the kind of minutes you want until you commit to stopping your man,’ ” McCaffery said of their meeting. “And in making good decisions, and pushing the ball in the break — and doing it consistently and effectively with great effort.”

Since that meeting, Cartwright has been performing how McCaffery wants him to. Such performances include the one Cartwright put forth against the Nittany Lions on Saturday. The 6-1 guard scored 17 points, grabbed a career-high 7 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists to only 1 turnover.

More importantly, Cartwright ran the fast break how McCaffery wanted during his team-high 34 minutes on the court. He found a streaking Aaron White on Iowa’s fourth possession of the game with an alley-oop pass from half court to give the Hawkeyes a  6-2 lead.

“This is the best game I’ve seen him have this year by far,” White said.

Cartwright made his third consecutive start on Saturday after leaving the starting lineup in early December because of a hamstring injury. He missed Iowa’s game at Northern Iowa on Dec. 6, and came off the bench through much of January.

Between the injury and some lackluster performances, Cartwright struggled through large portions of the season. McCaffery said after the Penn State game there was a “very brief” period earlier this year when he thought Cartwright wasn’t going to get back to the level of play the Compton, Calif. native displayed on Saturday. Cartwright gave a glimpse of that level of play in Iowa’s upset over then-No. 11 Wisconsin on Dec. 31, but then faded back into ineffectiveness for a few contests.

“In the beginning [of the season], we were just trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He had a multitude of things that were effecting his energy level, it effected his concentration. He wasn’t himself,” McCaffery said. “I could yell at him, but he wasn’t physically ready to do it.”

Against Penn State, Cartwright showed the kind of ability Iowa has been expecting. It was his most complete game since being re-inserted into the starting line up, but what pleased McCaffery the most was Cartwright’s rebounding.

“That was the most impressive thing about Bryce Cartwright’s line,” McCaffery said. “You know who their leading rebounder is? [Guard Tim] Frazier. So our point guard had to get in there and mix it up today, and he did.”

Cartwright said he feels more comfortable on the court when he starts, as opposed to coming off the bench.

If that’s the situation he wants to find himself in, more performances like the one he put together against Penn State will be needed.

“[Cartwright] can affect the game,” McCaffery said. “Some guys can’t do it. He can. He’s doing it.”

UPDATE Sunday, 12:02 a.m.