Hawkeyes champs again
Ryan Young - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 3/24/08 Section: Sports
ST. LOUIS - Seconds after the Iowa wrestling team was awarded its first championship since 2000, the Scottrade Center rang with high-decibel reverberations of whistles, screams, claps, and cheers.
The noise grew once Hawkeye second-year head coach Tom Brands was honored as the National Wrestling Coaches Association Coach of the Year in a post-meet ceremony. And when 149-pound sophomore Brent Metcalf was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Championships, the sounds pouring down from the tiers above seemed to shake the 20,000 seat arena.
Iowa had put on a show each day of the NCAA championships, pulling away from its competition in almost every bout of the tournament.
Highlighted by two champions in Metcalf and 165-pound defending national champion Mark Perry, the Hawkeyes finished with 117.5 points, ousting runner-up Ohio State by 38.5 points.
"We came in here to win," Brands said. "And not only win and squeak by but to dominate. This is a step."
His wrestlers sense the steps they are taking lead to promising seasons to come.
"The Iowa program is building, and it's working toward dominance," Metcalf said in a tone nearly identical to that of his head coach. "Thirty points isn't enough. We want to set the record. I don't know what it is. We want 300 points, if that's possible.
"That's the direction we're heading. We're enjoying it, but at the same time, we still have work to do."
Iowa only had two of its three finalists get crowned as champion after sophomore Joe Slaton was pinned in 49 seconds by Oklahoma State senior Coleman Scott during their 133-pound bout.
Ultimately, Iowa left with seven All-Americans placing sixth or better - sophomores Ryan Morningstar at 157 and Dan LeClere at 141 being the only Hawkeyes who did not earn honors in the tournament.
But the overall three days of success seemed unattainable following the substandard performance Brands and his company fashioned together last year at the NCAA championships in Auburn Hills, Mich.
The noise grew once Hawkeye second-year head coach Tom Brands was honored as the National Wrestling Coaches Association Coach of the Year in a post-meet ceremony. And when 149-pound sophomore Brent Metcalf was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Championships, the sounds pouring down from the tiers above seemed to shake the 20,000 seat arena.
Iowa had put on a show each day of the NCAA championships, pulling away from its competition in almost every bout of the tournament.
Highlighted by two champions in Metcalf and 165-pound defending national champion Mark Perry, the Hawkeyes finished with 117.5 points, ousting runner-up Ohio State by 38.5 points.
"We came in here to win," Brands said. "And not only win and squeak by but to dominate. This is a step."
His wrestlers sense the steps they are taking lead to promising seasons to come.
"The Iowa program is building, and it's working toward dominance," Metcalf said in a tone nearly identical to that of his head coach. "Thirty points isn't enough. We want to set the record. I don't know what it is. We want 300 points, if that's possible.
"That's the direction we're heading. We're enjoying it, but at the same time, we still have work to do."
Iowa only had two of its three finalists get crowned as champion after sophomore Joe Slaton was pinned in 49 seconds by Oklahoma State senior Coleman Scott during their 133-pound bout.
Ultimately, Iowa left with seven All-Americans placing sixth or better - sophomores Ryan Morningstar at 157 and Dan LeClere at 141 being the only Hawkeyes who did not earn honors in the tournament.
But the overall three days of success seemed unattainable following the substandard performance Brands and his company fashioned together last year at the NCAA championships in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Be the first to comment on this story