University of Northern Iowa
Iowa
UNI Wrestlers Narrowly Miss Upset of #5 Iowa, 18-15
11/21/2006 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa wrestling team gave the No. 5-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes all they wanted and more in the first-ever wrestling match in the newly christened McLeod Center. Iowa scored an 18-15 victory on the strength of a pin at 133 pounds from Mario Galanakis.
A crowd of 5,831 nearly packed the McLeod Center and the competitors helped generate the fans and kept the arena noisy throughout the evening.
"It was a great crowd and our guys didn't disappoint me," UNI head coach Brad Penrith said. "We lost the match but who would have thought we'd win five matches tonight? We go out and compete and we did that tonight."
After a 9-4 win by UNI's Kyle Anson at 125 pounds, Galanakis ignited the Hawkeye supporters with a first-period fall over UNI's Brett Robbins. Galanakis tallied the pin at the 2:50 mark of the match.
The night really got going at 141 pounds as UNI's C.J. Ettelson hung on for a dramatic 5-2 victory. Iowa's Alex Tsirtsis took a 2-1 lead into the second period before Ettelson escaped to knot the match at 2-2. Ettelson then rode Tsirtsis for the entire third period but not without a little drama. Ettelson appeared to lose control in the final 15 seconds and referee Bill Roths initially awarded a reversal to Tsirtsis but Tsirtsis could not maintain the momentum and Ettelson rolled him over for a two-point nearfall in the closing seconds. Ettelson then took Tsirtsis to the ground as time expired and Tsirtsis responded by slamming Ettelson back to the ground after time expired.
"I really didn't put him on the mat that hard. It was a hold we had been working on during the week and his hip got loose so I switched to the ankle and put him down," Ettelson said in the post-match press conference.
UNI continued the momentum at 149 pounds when C.J.'s brother Charlie Ettelson energized the Panther faithful with a thrilling 3-2 triumph. Ettelson led 3-0 late in the match but gave up a takedown to Iowa's Alex Grunder with only 19 seconds remaining. After the Iowa bench questioned the valid riding time, order was restored and Ettelson claimed the win.
Iowa's Ryan Morningstar stemmed the tide at 157 pounds as he pulled out a 5-3 overtime win over Moza Fay. Fay trailed in the third period but found some magic with a takedown with only 24 seocnds left in the match to force the overtime. But Morningstar got in on a leg and was able to tally the takedown and winning points with 31 seconds left in overtime.
A nationally-ranked battle ensued at 165 pounds when No. 2-ranked Mark Perry took on No. 7-ranked Nick Baima. Perry had wrestled on Monday night in Dallas in the NWCA All-Star Classic and Iowa head coach Tom Brands was not sure that Perry would even wrestle against the Panthers.
"I give a lot of credit to Mark Perry, but he told me he could go - it was all him," Brands said. "He was running through airports last night at 2 a.m. to catch a flight to Kansas City and then a private jet back to Iowa City."
Perry did not let his travels slow him down as he held Baima in check throughout the match. Perry was able to tally a 3-0 victory over Baima with all three points coming in the final period.
At 174 pounds, Iowa's Eric Luedke notched a 7-4 decision over UNI's Alex Dolly. The match was knotted at 3-3 heading into the final period, but Luedke was able to escape, score a takedown and use the riding time point to his advantage.
UNI's Danny Dunning came up big at 184 pounds with an 8-4 victory over Iowa's Phillip Keddy. Keddy scored a first-period takedown but Dunning was undeterred and rallied to take a 4-3 lead at the end of the second period. Dunning then finished off the win with a takedown with 1:05 left in the third period and rode out Keddy for the triumph.
At 197 pounds, UNI's Andrew Anderson avenged last season's NCAA Championships loss to Dan Erekson with a commanding 7-5 victory on Tuesday night. Erekson scored a pin over Anderson last season in the first round of consolations in the NCAA tournament. However, this season Anderson has been wrestling on a mission and would not be denied in his first match in the McLeod Center. Anderson took a 5-1 lead in the first period and narrowly missed a couple of back-point opportunities in the second period. Anderson's victory tied the dual at 15-15 with only one match remaining.
The heavyweight match between UNI's Tyler Rhodes and Iowa's Matt Fields would decide the dual. The two behemoths battled to a scoreless tie at the end of one period before Field scored a reversal midway through the second period. Rhodes chose neutral for the final period, but Field jumped on him early with a takedown only four seconds into the period. Fields was then able to hang on for a 5-0 victory and clinch the dual win at 18-15 in favor of the Hawks.
UNI will be in action on Dec. 3 at the UNI Open. The Panthers next dual is set for Dec. 8 at Wisconsin.
Players Mentioned
