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POSITIVE things I took from this season.

hawkeyecrazy

hawkeyecrazy

HB All-State
Dec 5, 2003
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Got back from national and knew the board would be on full melt down, name calling, rebuttals , I know more than you etc So I wanted to give myself a day to soak it all in. Tons of negativity (and now some knuckleheaded 19 year olds) and there were a few times I wanted to jump into the fray...but I refrained.

I felt compelled to start this thread instead: Share with me if you will some of the snippets you saw this season that are the reasons you love this sport. At the NCAA's or elsewhere. Here are a few of mine and I reserve the right to add more later as they pop into my head.

In no particular order:

The scramble at heavy between Coon and McMullan~ thanks boys.

100 wins in an Iowa singlet was impressive Mike Evans, you may have been the villain to other fan bases, but I was more impressed when I saw you give that young kid five as you walked away from the mat even after a tough loss in the NCAA tourney.

The Missouri wrestler that took time to have a conversation with the kid with the green hair and the cochlear implants...using SIGN language. Mad props to you. How cool was that?

Cory Clark keeping a streak of 26 ?? Consecutive finalists alive. Thank you and I look forward to your next 2 tournament appearances.

Barry Davis for making your wrestler go back out and shake hands after a brutal loss. Crap happens in the heat of the moment but doing the right thing still counts as character in my book.

(Pretty sure the same wrestler gave his head gear to a fan after he won in the next round.)

The Ohio State fan that said "it seems like the other fans are all cheering against our guys". Welcome to the party new guy.

IMART for bringing it every time. and

Logan , a four timer is a rare breed and you always handled yourself with class.

Just a few random thoughts from the weekend, I'd like to hear who else saw some positive things. Call it the puppies and rainbows thread if you like but just don't be that guy and bring the venom there is about 20 other threads for that.

What do you have Hawkeye Nation??
 
All in all it was a solid year. I don't think the runner up finish was a product of Iowa underachieving which could be attributed to past performances.

It was more of a combination of Missouri collapsing on Friday night and Iowa falling into some bad draws due to upsets.

Dziewa: wrestled very well throughout the tournament. His losses came against Jack who came out of nowhere to AA and Mayes who presented a really bad style matchup. That was a tough draw to get Dardanes and Mayes back to back on the consolation side.

Evans: sad to say but he may have actually had a better draw had he lost to Storley. He had to face the eventual champion Brown and then drop down to face Kokesh.

Brooks: He had to face Dean and then dropped down to face Stauffer just to reach the podium.


I think those three tough draws in addition to Missouri folding up in the semis made the difference. It could have been an interesting Saturday morning and night had Water and Cox both made the finals.
 
At the tail end of the season (Big Tens on) I saw Jeva wrestle his heart out. His seemingly lack of heart and effort I think is what frustrated some fans earlier on the season. He definitely showed his heart and guts at the Big Tens and NCAA. Jeva lost a tough match against a Freshmen out of NC State early on and a lot of people bashed him again. In retrospect, Jeva wrestled damn tough against a lankier and heavier version of an Alan Waters who would go on to beat Devin Carter. Jeva than bounces back to destroy Dardanes. on the backside than gives us a much better showing against Mayes in a tough loss. Don't know what got into him late in the season, but I was really impressed with Jeva 2.0. Looking back now, he got a pretty bad draw in the Tourny.
 
hawkeyecrazy - love it. Outstanding post, so good in fact I read it twice. Here is two hawk specifics of mine:

BobbyT for your pinning ways through the backside,(might not sound right, but you know what i mean) hated the first round loss,loved the determination to get your points back.

Gilman for bouncing back from the fall with a fall of your own over Garrett

Both gave me something to cheer for and reminded me that no matter how upset I could get as a fan, that losses are seldom because of lack of effort. These guys are mentally tough and give their all!

This post was edited on 3/23 4:52 PM by Neo_Hawk
 
Dylan Ness for suiting up and shaking hands even though he wasn't able to wrestle. The standing ovation he got gave me goosebumps. I always liked watching the Ness boys wrestle.
 
I like this thread.

For starters, that Coon-McMullan scramble was awesome! I turned to my son and told him that was one of the best scrambles I can remember in 40-plus years of watching wrestling. I said I couldn't wait to watch a replay, but alas, the only round we didn't have technical difficulties recording at home was the finals - ugh! If anyone did record all and could make me DVDs or vhs or some kind of digital copies I could play on my computer, I'd be glad to compensate you fairly for them. Message me and I'll find a way to hook up to get it worked out.

I agree with hawkeyecrazy on the things he mentioned in the original post that I happened to see, many good ones.

I also feel beating PSU, tOSU, Minnesota and Oklahoma State all on the road was a great accomplishment.
We had too many individual high points to name them all.

One point I enjoyed in St. Louis was when a Minnesota fan asked my brother-in-law how he liked Iowa having no champs this year, and him replying, "Probably as well as you liked having no finalists."

All in all, not a horrible season, in spite of high hopes. Lots of good things to build on for the future.
 
125: 4th place finish by Gilman in first year in lineup. It seems like he's been around forever, and we expect him to be NC--still do. Very good season for a first-time starter.

133: Clark looked particularly good in post-season, beating everyone not named Brewer, who looked 10 pounds bigger than Clark. Clark kept trying things against Brewer--quick grabs at the ankles, changed tactics in the 3rd and got the TD, then tried like a madman to get a turn with that bar-arm. Improved from the beginning of the season to the end in terms of consistency.

141: Dziewa looked great at Big-10 and looked great against Dardanes at NCAAs.

149: 4th place finish by Sorensen in first year in lineup, as a freshman. 3 more years.

157: Kelly wrestled lights-out against Ness in the dual for 6 minutes--never looked better. That's not damning with faint praise--he went toe-to-toe with Mr. Funk and almost won.

165: It's hard to say something positive about a back injury, other than the fact that it appears to have been a major factor in limiting Moore's performance this year, and that's something that was beyond his control. I'm satisfied that it wasn't Moore being bored with wrestling or phoning it in or whatever other rather personal indictments we slung at him this year. I put him in the same camp with Ness and Hunter Stieber--he did what he could until he couldn't.

174: Evans 3x AA. 100 wins.

174, part 2: Meyer's pin over what's-his-head at the buzzer in the dual meet was the best match of the entire season.

184: Showed flashes of brilliance, good hustle.

197: Burak got better at finishing shots and holding his own against the top guys.

285: A good season overall & a very good career. Beat all the top guys.
 
Watching Evans and Storley chumming it up while waiting for their all-american introduction. Evans says they hate each other but me thinks he's not being truthful...
 
I too loved seeing Barry Davis wanting to rip Taylor's head off and "escorting" him in the right direction to shake his opponents hand (even though he never really did). That was great. Barry was not a happy camper.

Loved all the tough road dual wins this year. Missouri loss was a bummer, but stuff happens. (was great in person at The Barnl - set in motion by Nick Moore's pin - had to feel good in a very tough year).

Loved that the Hawks didn't give the national "haters" anything to hate about at Nationals (though many will try anyway). Everyone seemed to take their tough losses relatively well.

Loved Cory Clark's run to the Finals. Capped of a good year late and made it a great year.
 
For some reason as I watched each of the seniors wrestle their last matches it was kind of sad. All of the sudden guys that we have known as starters for 3 or 4 years are done. Never to be seen in the black and gold again. Will really miss watching Bobby and Mike.

My positive on the year is knowing that Alex Meyer can hang. Excited to see him grow next season.
 
Brewer. After two majors and a fall, he handles Clark -- ringing up 11 points in the NCAA Finals -- then immediately apologizes on camera and to the crowd for not being aggressive enough in the last minute.

That's a guy I would want on my team.
 
Originally posted by hawkeyecrazy:
Got back from national and knew the board would be on full melt down, name calling, rebuttals , I know more than you etc So I wanted to give myself a day to soak it all in. Tons of negativity (and now some knuckleheaded 19 year olds) and there were a few times I wanted to jump into the fray...but I refrained.

I felt compelled to start this thread instead: Share with me if you will some of the snippets you saw this season that are the reasons you love this sport. At the NCAA's or elsewhere. Here are a few of mine and I reserve the right to add more later as they pop into my head.

In no particular order:

The scramble at heavy between Coon and McMullan~ thanks boys.

100 wins in an Iowa singlet was impressive Mike Evans, you may have been the villain to other fan bases, but I was more impressed when I saw you give that young kid five as you walked away from the mat even after a tough loss in the NCAA tourney.

The Missouri wrestler that took time to have a conversation with the kid with the green hair and the cochlear implants...using SIGN language. Mad props to you. How cool was that?

Cory Clark keeping a streak of 26 ?? Consecutive finalists alive. Thank you and I look forward to your next 2 tournament appearances.

Barry Davis for making your wrestler go back out and shake hands after a brutal loss. Crap happens in the heat of the moment but doing the right thing still counts as character in my book.

(Pretty sure the same wrestler gave his head gear to a fan after he won in the next round.)

The Ohio State fan that said "it seems like the other fans are all cheering against our guys". Welcome to the party new guy.

IMART for bringing it every time. and

Logan , a four timer is a rare breed and you always handled yourself with class.

Just a few random thoughts from the weekend, I'd like to hear who else saw some positive things. Call it the puppies and rainbows thread if you like but just don't be that guy and bring the venom there is about 20 other threads for that.

What do you have Hawkeye Nation??
Click to expand...
I didn't see it, but that would be J'Den Cox their 197. He has lost some of his hearing this past year to the point that the coach has had to make adjustments to make sure Cox can hear him. Cox got interested in and started studying sign language. Must have been cool to see that happen.


I really enjoyed watching the progress each individual made throughout the year. They each had their hiccups, but they had many more successes and that is what I found myself focusing on.

Kelly was particularly fun to watch.
 
- The five returning starters accounted for roughly 70% (58.6/84) of the scoring at the NCAAs.
- Four of those guys will be around for two or more years.

That seems like a reason for optimism to me.
 
Originally posted by baries:
- The five returning starters accounted for roughly 70% (58.6/84) of the scoring at the NCAAs.
- Four of those guys will be around for two or more years.

That seems like a reason for optimism to me.
Click to expand...
+1 !

My thoughts exactly, already looking forward to next year. I really like our chances, even against favorite tOSU.

And Brody hopefully is pushing 170 now, ready to take 157 weight class by storm!
 
Originally posted by baries:
- The five returning starters accounted for roughly 70% (58.6/84) of the scoring at the NCAAs.
- Four of those guys will be around for two or more years.

That seems like a reason for optimism to me.
Click to expand...
Very good point. I kept meaning to do the math on that but never got around to it.
 
Hawkeye fans once again proved that they truly love wrestling and want to share it with the youth of America.
 
+1

I had the chance to talk with Kokesh and members of his family after the tournament. They mentioned Evans came up and gave a hug to Kokesh after the tournament and thanked him for the past 3 years. Thought that was cool.
 
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Concerning Storley, my son was being polite. Pressure off time to move on with Storley. As for Kokesh, has respect for him. Kokesh always wrestles well and he is a top notch guy.
This post was edited on 3/24 8:32 AM by newhawksfamily
 
Thank you:

Gilman for being fourth in your first NT appearance and sporting a stache, even though it is difficult to catch up with Mike.
Clark for being better and better every day and keeping our finals' streak alive.
Dziewa for beating Dardanes badly and twice in a row, which looked impossible at the beginning of the year.
Sorensen for being a tough customer your first year; open up your offense a little bit and sky is the limit for you.
Kelly for fighting everybody hard regardless of their talent; I'll remember that Ness match for a long time.
Moore for going through it with injury and limited mobility; you still gave us some memorable falls this season.
Evans for being who you are and taking that battle "against the world" and winning it.
Brooks for being aggressive and fun to watch and slamming that kid's face on the mat in one of the duals - that was funny.
Burak for working on your technique and getting better every match.
Telford for being my five year old daughter's favorite wrestler; and, by the way, you never lost a match when she watched you the past couple of years. How I wish I took her with me to St. Louis.

To some outstanding seniors in addition to ours, and particularly Ness, Kokesh and McMullan for making wrestling what it should be and being true representatives of this sport that we love so much!
 
one of my highlights was when a true future stud like mejia says he has always wanted to be a hawkeye and marinelli switches to iowa for the same reason, proving to me anyway that the iowa hawkeye mystic is alive and well.
 
Alex Meyer's pin fall of Zac Brunson to win and turn the tide of the duel at Carver Hawkeye.
Like that for two reasons.
1) I had with me someone who had never been to a wrestling meet. That pin and the Hawkeye fan's reaction converted them to a Hawkeye fan on the spot, and I'll remember that moment forever.
2) We have backups that we couldn't send to the NCAA Tourny that can hang with the best in the country.
 
Great thread. Not too much to add, except a bit +1 to every post in it!

Thanks, Hawks, for a great season. Looking forward to SUPPORTING (and by that, I mean this board as a whole, too) you guys all year long and next season!
 
Having several streaming options available throughout the season. So many that I sometimes had to pick what I wanted to watch, especially during D1 qualifier time. Sure a lot of them come with fees and sometimes you either need a sense of humor or a mute button, but not too long ago there were no options. I'll take it!

This post was edited on 3/24 4:17 PM by Edgar Wade
 
Great thread.

I think Tom Brands is growing up as a coach and the wisdom he is gaining will help out future wrestlers for several years to come....his comments about sharing the BT title were fair, considerate, and showed great sportsmanship to all. He didn't necessarily like the outcome, but he dealt with it with great composure and made me proud to be a Hawkeye wrestling fan.
 
Originally posted by wamachie:
Great thread.

I think Tom Brands is growing up as a coach and the wisdom he is gaining will help out future wrestlers for several years to come....his comments about sharing the BT title were fair, considerate, and showed great sportsmanship to all. He didn't necessarily like the outcome, but he dealt with it with great composure and made me proud to be a Hawkeye wrestling fan.
Click to expand...
Good observation. Tom was similarly gracious to Coach Ryan in an interview after tOSU had clinched the national team title. He said several kind things about his former teammate and acknowledged that he's done a nice job of building a great team. Another sign that he's coming of age as a head coach.
 
Originally posted by newhawksfamily:

Concerning Storley, my son was being polite. Pressure off time to move on with Storley. As for Kokesh, has respect for him. Kokesh always wrestles well and he is a top notch guy.
This post was edited on 3/24 8:32 AM by newhawksfamily
Click to expand...
Well, there's often times going to be some "bad blood" when highly contested matches keep being played out year after year. I think most wrestling fans will remember these 4 Big Ten guys for a long time, and what they brought year after year against each other. Quite the deal there for sure.

Now that the competition is over for those guys, time to meet up and have a beer together down the road (if that is your thing of course.................).
 
Kudos to Y'all for the thread. Here are some of my memories for this year:

Thomas Gilman: Getting pinned in the semifinals at nationals in the first period...had to hurt. Turns around and pins the returning finalist. Kid is a warrior. Anybody who says he's not a gamer can eat the peanuts out of my turd.

Cory Clark: Outclassed in the finals, just kept on coming and trying to turn his opponent. Our most consistently aggressive guy and a reminder that this generation of kids are not all risk adverse. Beating Guilbon.

Josh Dwieza: At times he looked lost, but then he would have a match like he did against Dardanes in wrestlebacks. Gave my heart a bit of joy to see him dominate a tough kid in Dardanes, hurt or not.

Brandon Sorensen: Just an all around tough kid. Sky's the limit for him if he straightens up his offense and can start turning tougher opponents cause his defense is on point.

Mike Kelly: Not talented, fast, or technically sound but his heart is as large as anybody out there. Somehow took Ness to the wire.

Nick Moore: Wanted him to catch fire somehow and get on the podium. Was tough on him but only he knows about his own effort. Beating OSU last year was pretty cool.

Mike Evans: The guy who was the focal point for the haters of Iowa. Took pride in it. How does a guy who doesn't score have over a 100 wins and is a three time All American? Was this close to going to the finals two years in a row.

Sam Brooks: One win away from AA...has not hit his ceiling by far. Wrestled a great match against Dean at the tourney. Can't wait to see what he does next year.

Nathan Burak: Kid is a worker and had some good victories in a tough weight class. Really proud to call this kid a Hawk.

Bobert: Gets beat in the first round of the NCAA his last season...could have phoned it in but wrestled hard almost making it back for third.

This was my first time seeing Iowa live in many years. When Josh got beat in the first round, the crowd went nuts. I think of this as a tribute to Iowa and the excellence we have brought over the years. There has been a lot of talk about parity and I agree with it to some extent. However, our board had a meltdown over us finishing in second place. Some think this hurts recruiting, having fans that are (sometimes unrealistically) demanding. If you come to Iowa and succeed though, you will always be remembered whether you are a guy that dominates the whole time (Lincoln, Zalesky, Brands, Metcalf) or a kid that came in as a "room guy" and exceeded expectations...Whitmer, Daniel Dennis etc. Hell, I have seen DD's name mentioned here quite a bit in just the past week.

So...the haters can take joy in us getting second place. We have no excuses or yea-buts. Our coaches did not redshirt half the team like tOSU did last year to load up for this year or have a built in excuse like PSU did this year (how many times did we hear that?). Tom Ryan and Cael Sanderson have purposely not put their best team out there. We have been in the top five since 2008...what other schools can say that? Heck, Edinboro is the PA college champ! The fact still remains that Iowa will not go away. I am proud of our coaches, wrestlers and fans. Can't wait til next year!
 
It wasn't all doom and gloom after all. There was light at season's end.
 
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