Wrestlers remain focused
Eric Mandel - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
A two-week break isn't usually the best elixir for a wrestling team looking for as many reps on the mat with quality competition before arguably its biggest match of the season.
But for the Iowa wrestling team, the prolonged hiatus forced by inclement conditions canceling the UNI Open on Sunday is but a speed bump on its crash course with Iowa State on Saturday.
"The biggest thing is that you lose an evaluation process, but our guys have been getting ready for matches their entire career and have won a lot of titles," said head coach Tom Brands. "They have been doing this for a long time, so you really don't lose much."
The Hawkeyes learned about last weekend's cancellation in time to make adjustments to the practice schedule, he said, and it hasn't affected their preparation.
Still, while slick roads and blustery conditions kept the Hawkeye grapplers on the practice mats in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, the Cyclones were defeating defending top-ranked Minnesota, 18-13, sliding into the No. 1 ranking nationally.
The lack of the same NCAA meet-type atmosphere doesn't worry Brands.
"You basically train your whole life for this event," he said. "There is a lot of hype for intrastate rivals - it's them against you, their philosophy against yours, their style against yours, their preparation versus yours. Whether we wrestled the UNI Open or not, we would be ready regardless."
In another blow to the Hawkeyes, Mark Perry's suspension for flagrant misconduct in his loss at the St. Edward Duals will now be served in the Ames matchup.
Despite the prospect of wrestling without their 165-pound NCAA champion, and knowing their biggest rival just topped the defending NCAA champion Minnesota, the Hawkeyes are going in with the same drive and intensity that catapulted them over Cale Sanderson's bunch last season in Iowa City.
"[The win over Minnesota] really doesn't change anything; you are wrestling the same team," he said. "You know what their lineup is and their key matchups - or the hyped matchups - and get them ready to go.
"We've got work to do, and that is what you gear up for on Sunday. You look at No. 1 rankings, and all of that goes away when you walk out on the mat."
E-mail DI reporter Eric Mandel at:
eric-mandel@uiowa.edu
But for the Iowa wrestling team, the prolonged hiatus forced by inclement conditions canceling the UNI Open on Sunday is but a speed bump on its crash course with Iowa State on Saturday.
"The biggest thing is that you lose an evaluation process, but our guys have been getting ready for matches their entire career and have won a lot of titles," said head coach Tom Brands. "They have been doing this for a long time, so you really don't lose much."
The Hawkeyes learned about last weekend's cancellation in time to make adjustments to the practice schedule, he said, and it hasn't affected their preparation.
Still, while slick roads and blustery conditions kept the Hawkeye grapplers on the practice mats in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, the Cyclones were defeating defending top-ranked Minnesota, 18-13, sliding into the No. 1 ranking nationally.
The lack of the same NCAA meet-type atmosphere doesn't worry Brands.
"You basically train your whole life for this event," he said. "There is a lot of hype for intrastate rivals - it's them against you, their philosophy against yours, their style against yours, their preparation versus yours. Whether we wrestled the UNI Open or not, we would be ready regardless."
In another blow to the Hawkeyes, Mark Perry's suspension for flagrant misconduct in his loss at the St. Edward Duals will now be served in the Ames matchup.
Despite the prospect of wrestling without their 165-pound NCAA champion, and knowing their biggest rival just topped the defending NCAA champion Minnesota, the Hawkeyes are going in with the same drive and intensity that catapulted them over Cale Sanderson's bunch last season in Iowa City.
"[The win over Minnesota] really doesn't change anything; you are wrestling the same team," he said. "You know what their lineup is and their key matchups - or the hyped matchups - and get them ready to go.
"We've got work to do, and that is what you gear up for on Sunday. You look at No. 1 rankings, and all of that goes away when you walk out on the mat."
E-mail DI reporter Eric Mandel at:
eric-mandel@uiowa.edu
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