Daily Iowan

Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Robin Svec/The Daily Iowan

Copyright © 2008 The Daily Iowan

Top-ranked Iowa wrestler Mark Perry underwent surgery for an undisclosed knee injury Tuesday, coach Tom Brands revealed Wednesday evening, leaving the Hawkeyes without the 165-pound defending national champion indefinitely.

Perry, who has a 13-2 record this season, tweaked a knee injury on Jan. 13 and hasn't wrestled since.

"He went in late [Tuesday]," Brands told *The Daily Iowan* prior to the team's Wednesday practice. "He came out as good as he can. It's good. He's mending now.

"We got the best care on the planet. The best care in the universe, really. We're going to let it calm down, and then we rehab, and then he's good to go."

Following Iowa's 27-13 win over Penn State on Sunday, Brands thought Perry could have available if necessary. The Hawkeyes led the entire match, holding an insurmountable lead when Perry's 165-pound match would have been the dual's final bout.

"He told me right before we went downstairs, 'If it's on the line, I'm going,' " Brands said at that time. "With a big, old smile on his face."

Contacted by phone Wednesday, Perry declined to comment on the surgery and his current status. Without the specifications of the procedure and significance of the injury, a timetable for his return is unknown.

The Big Ten meet will begin on March 8 in Minneapolis. The NCAA championships will be held on March 20 in St. Louis.

For the time being - at least for Iowa's weekend dual meeting with the No. 10 Wildcats - redshirt freshman Aaron Janssen will replace Perry in the lineup, Brands said.

Janssen also declined to comment on Perry's injury but admittetd the senior will be hard to replace. Janssen is 6-3 on the season.

"I mean, he's the national champion, so any team without the national champion might be hurt," he said Wednesday night. "That's a tough question to answer right now."

Perry's surgery came 10 days after he visibly tweaked his right leg during a semifinal matchup with Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum at the National Duals in Cedar Falls. On Sunday, Brands noted there was uncertainty regarding whether Perry would have still been able to wrestle in the finals of the National Duals.

"Nebraska, I don't think he would have went out there," Brands said in hindsight. "We did a good job in our early matches, but I don't think he would have gone out there.

"Ohio State, I don't know. We didn't talk about it. The thing I told Mark Perry is, 'I'm not going to put you in harm's way,' and he was real leery of that because of past experiences with being thrown out, so to speak.

"Could he go? You bet he could go."

E-mail DI reporter Ryan Young at:
ryan-c-young@uiowa.edu

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