Here is the final tally for Team Points scored by Iowa's individuals (taken from Hawk Central article, I presume it is correct......but not necessarily "official").
Not surprisingly, the top scorer was our only Finalist in Cory Clark. He had one major, plus his advancement I believe (a nice tourney to be sure).
Cory Clark = 17 pts. (2nd) 1 major
Thomas Gilman = 15.5 pts. (4th) 1 major, 1 Fall
Brandon Sorensen = 14.5 pts. (4th) 2 majors
Bobby Telford = 13.5 pts. (5th) 2 Falls!
Mike Evans = 9 pts. (6th) no bonus
Nathan Burak = 8.5 pts (7th) 2 majors
Sammy Brooks = 3 pts. (DNP) 1 major
Josh Dziewa = 3 pts. (DNP) 2 majors!
Mike Kelly = 0 pts. (DNP) no bonus
Nick Moore = 0 pts. (DNP) no bonus
This total brought us to 2nd place, 18 points behind Ohio State, who scored 102 points to win the Tournament, clinched before the Finals even started (that's just sad with that point total IMO). (From the Department of Completely Useless Information and Full Disclosure, for the record, I picked Ohio State at the beginning of the year, then transformed to Ohio State or Missouri at the end of the year, and Hawks in 3rd. Ultimately when push came to shove I did eventually pick Missouri winning it with 104.5 pts).
In the likely event of being accused of beating a dead horse, this is a trend that absolutely cannot continue if Iowa hopes to win National Titles in the future. We have to get more production out of our upperclassmen that are multiple year starters. It is that simple (that trend looks to be going upward, with Nathan wrestling pretty good, and Sammy on the brink, and the 3 youngsters already producing, but we need more Finalists, and we need placement improvement as they move along in their careers, the "natural" trajectory, which of course doesn't always play out). I am sorry if this hurts anyone's feelings, but it is such a glaring statistic that absolutely has to be addressed and improved. Iowa does not "deserve' anything, because of the tradition. These things are earned.
Yes, Ohio State won it largely on the backs of 3 Stud Freshman in Tomasello, Snyder and Jordan (2 of those 3 put up some big bonus to boot, and Snyder had a "lousy" 2 majors on the front side. Ha!). Obviously Senior Logan Steiber outscored all of our guys comfortably.
That said, if Iowa's upperclassmen all produce what would be considered even somewhat "normal" production by historical Iowa standards, we win this thing, probably going away. I don't know Steibers total, but I would guess he all by himself, outscored our entire Senior Class in this tournament. Iowa's total from that group of 5 = 25.5 pts. I assume Steiber scored 26-28 or so, and would have scored more if not for shutting it down in the Finals to insure his 4th Title.
On the "good news" front, Iowa has taken home a team trophy of some sort for 8 straight years, the longest streak in the country. So are "lows" aren't as low as everybody else's, but our "highs" aren't there either. Iowa's top 3 point scorers this year are Iowa kids (Gilman lived in Iowa and wrestled across the river), so that's a positive that hopefully continues, we need Iowa kids doing well for in-state costs and things of that nature.
So.................. another long-winded post from me, surprise. I do believe parity is greater now than before, but I don't think that is the be-all, end-all answer, and that it can't be overcome to the degree we win at least 1 National Title every five years or so. We absolutely have the resources and the national panache to keep a great thing going. Hoping for the best moving forward.
Not surprisingly, the top scorer was our only Finalist in Cory Clark. He had one major, plus his advancement I believe (a nice tourney to be sure).
Cory Clark = 17 pts. (2nd) 1 major
Thomas Gilman = 15.5 pts. (4th) 1 major, 1 Fall
Brandon Sorensen = 14.5 pts. (4th) 2 majors
Bobby Telford = 13.5 pts. (5th) 2 Falls!
Mike Evans = 9 pts. (6th) no bonus
Nathan Burak = 8.5 pts (7th) 2 majors
Sammy Brooks = 3 pts. (DNP) 1 major
Josh Dziewa = 3 pts. (DNP) 2 majors!
Mike Kelly = 0 pts. (DNP) no bonus
Nick Moore = 0 pts. (DNP) no bonus
This total brought us to 2nd place, 18 points behind Ohio State, who scored 102 points to win the Tournament, clinched before the Finals even started (that's just sad with that point total IMO). (From the Department of Completely Useless Information and Full Disclosure, for the record, I picked Ohio State at the beginning of the year, then transformed to Ohio State or Missouri at the end of the year, and Hawks in 3rd. Ultimately when push came to shove I did eventually pick Missouri winning it with 104.5 pts).
In the likely event of being accused of beating a dead horse, this is a trend that absolutely cannot continue if Iowa hopes to win National Titles in the future. We have to get more production out of our upperclassmen that are multiple year starters. It is that simple (that trend looks to be going upward, with Nathan wrestling pretty good, and Sammy on the brink, and the 3 youngsters already producing, but we need more Finalists, and we need placement improvement as they move along in their careers, the "natural" trajectory, which of course doesn't always play out). I am sorry if this hurts anyone's feelings, but it is such a glaring statistic that absolutely has to be addressed and improved. Iowa does not "deserve' anything, because of the tradition. These things are earned.
Yes, Ohio State won it largely on the backs of 3 Stud Freshman in Tomasello, Snyder and Jordan (2 of those 3 put up some big bonus to boot, and Snyder had a "lousy" 2 majors on the front side. Ha!). Obviously Senior Logan Steiber outscored all of our guys comfortably.
That said, if Iowa's upperclassmen all produce what would be considered even somewhat "normal" production by historical Iowa standards, we win this thing, probably going away. I don't know Steibers total, but I would guess he all by himself, outscored our entire Senior Class in this tournament. Iowa's total from that group of 5 = 25.5 pts. I assume Steiber scored 26-28 or so, and would have scored more if not for shutting it down in the Finals to insure his 4th Title.
On the "good news" front, Iowa has taken home a team trophy of some sort for 8 straight years, the longest streak in the country. So are "lows" aren't as low as everybody else's, but our "highs" aren't there either. Iowa's top 3 point scorers this year are Iowa kids (Gilman lived in Iowa and wrestled across the river), so that's a positive that hopefully continues, we need Iowa kids doing well for in-state costs and things of that nature.
So.................. another long-winded post from me, surprise. I do believe parity is greater now than before, but I don't think that is the be-all, end-all answer, and that it can't be overcome to the degree we win at least 1 National Title every five years or so. We absolutely have the resources and the national panache to keep a great thing going. Hoping for the best moving forward.
