https://www.thepredicament.com/2016/04/iowas-mcdonough-painful-road-recovery/
Pretty thorough interview.
Pretty thorough interview.
Predicament article about McDonough
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Matt is one of my all-time favorite Hawks for his toughness and constant pressure during a match. He's also a phenomenal guy off the mat. I hated seeing him wrestle hurt his senior year and then get hurt again this fall. Personally I think we see him transition into coaching sooner than later. Hopefully Iowa can find a place for him.
Couldn't have been prouder to have had Matt lead the hawks onto the mat. What a good feeling knowing that your 125 guy was going to lead you off with a win almost every time out. He is certainly a huge part of the great Iowa light weight tradition. His cow catcher and pin of Precin was one of those great Iowa moments that will live forever.
With out a doubt should have been a 3 time national champion.
With out a doubt should have been a 3 time national champion.
McDonough was an absolute beast at 125. If not for a freak of nature and a brutal injury laden senior season, he would be near the top of all-time Hawkeye greats.
His freshman year was a true surprise(although I am sure some of you very close to the program had an idea it was possible). 37-1 with 28 bonus pt wins as a freshman? That is actually a higher bonus rate than IMar had his freshman year. Undefeated until the B1G finals and then losing to another undefeated(at the time) returning NCAA champ 6-4. Long would then pull off the big upset over Escobedo in the NCAA finals keeping McDonough from getting his revenge. Still, he finished 37-1 and a NATIONAL CHAMP.
His sophomore year he ran into that freak of nature, someone that was actually bigger and stronger than he was in Robles. Although Robles had an undeniable handicap, that handicap actually made for a nightmare match-up for McDonough. Leg attacks weren't possible and that took away, quite possibly, McDonough's greatest strength. It then became a battle of front headlocks with a guy having the upper body of a 157-165lber. Then you add in McDonough's solid mat skills. However, Robles had the best vise grip 2 on 1 in DI wrestling. Even if you knew it was coming, you weren't stopping it. Maybe if he had a match or 2 more with Robles to feel him out, he may have been able to gameplan, but going into that match blind was impossible to plan for. Still, a great year, finishing 27-2 with 22 bonus wins and finishing in 2nd place.
As a junior, McDonough rebounded masterfully. He finished 36-1 with his only loss being to the pesky, unorthodox, unpredictable and possibly most hated wrestler on this board! He did manage to avenge that loss, winning a closely fought battle in the B1G semis before beating Sanders for the 1,646,964th time in the B1G finals! He would then score bonus points in his first 4 NCAA matches before beating Megaludis 4-1 in the finals. NATIONAL CHAMP.
Going into his Senior year, he was 100-4, with 73 bonus wins, and a 3X Finalist. Sadly, it was visibly apparent that he was struggling with something. Although he nor the Brands would admit it, he was definitely hampered by injury. This was most apparent by his not being able to pull a single leg in and finish, when prior to this season, he could do so EVERY SINGLE TIME. He still managed to beat Megaludis and head into the B1G tournament with only 2 losses(Delgado and Waters). He would then lose again to Delgado in the B1G finals(ending his career as a 4X B1G Finalist). He would then go 2-2 and fall just short of AA status losing in the R12 match and finishing 22-5.
To many, his senior year was a disappointment. To me, it endeared me to him more than the 3 prior seasons combined. How he dealt with injury and never made an excuse was nearly incomprehensible. Although it had to be tearing him up inside, he did everything he could for his team.
He definitely goes down as one of my favorite Hawkeyes to ever watch and inevitably root for! I wish him nothing but the best and hope his coaching career can be as successful as his wrestling career was!
His freshman year was a true surprise(although I am sure some of you very close to the program had an idea it was possible). 37-1 with 28 bonus pt wins as a freshman? That is actually a higher bonus rate than IMar had his freshman year. Undefeated until the B1G finals and then losing to another undefeated(at the time) returning NCAA champ 6-4. Long would then pull off the big upset over Escobedo in the NCAA finals keeping McDonough from getting his revenge. Still, he finished 37-1 and a NATIONAL CHAMP.
His sophomore year he ran into that freak of nature, someone that was actually bigger and stronger than he was in Robles. Although Robles had an undeniable handicap, that handicap actually made for a nightmare match-up for McDonough. Leg attacks weren't possible and that took away, quite possibly, McDonough's greatest strength. It then became a battle of front headlocks with a guy having the upper body of a 157-165lber. Then you add in McDonough's solid mat skills. However, Robles had the best vise grip 2 on 1 in DI wrestling. Even if you knew it was coming, you weren't stopping it. Maybe if he had a match or 2 more with Robles to feel him out, he may have been able to gameplan, but going into that match blind was impossible to plan for. Still, a great year, finishing 27-2 with 22 bonus wins and finishing in 2nd place.
As a junior, McDonough rebounded masterfully. He finished 36-1 with his only loss being to the pesky, unorthodox, unpredictable and possibly most hated wrestler on this board! He did manage to avenge that loss, winning a closely fought battle in the B1G semis before beating Sanders for the 1,646,964th time in the B1G finals! He would then score bonus points in his first 4 NCAA matches before beating Megaludis 4-1 in the finals. NATIONAL CHAMP.
Going into his Senior year, he was 100-4, with 73 bonus wins, and a 3X Finalist. Sadly, it was visibly apparent that he was struggling with something. Although he nor the Brands would admit it, he was definitely hampered by injury. This was most apparent by his not being able to pull a single leg in and finish, when prior to this season, he could do so EVERY SINGLE TIME. He still managed to beat Megaludis and head into the B1G tournament with only 2 losses(Delgado and Waters). He would then lose again to Delgado in the B1G finals(ending his career as a 4X B1G Finalist). He would then go 2-2 and fall just short of AA status losing in the R12 match and finishing 22-5.
To many, his senior year was a disappointment. To me, it endeared me to him more than the 3 prior seasons combined. How he dealt with injury and never made an excuse was nearly incomprehensible. Although it had to be tearing him up inside, he did everything he could for his team.
He definitely goes down as one of my favorite Hawkeyes to ever watch and inevitably root for! I wish him nothing but the best and hope his coaching career can be as successful as his wrestling career was!
Thanks MSU. Your posting privileges are now extended to 6/1/2016.
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It was a headlock in the dual meet in Evanston, while trailing something like 5-1 in the 3rd. No matter the move, though, it was a gutsy win over a very tough opponent and typical of how Matt wrestled -- all-out, all the time, every time. Great, great Hawk.
Here's one more to keep the McDonough love fest going!
Mentioned above, one of my favorite McDonough matches. Especially that 3rd period scramble, absolute refusal to be taken down even when Long had him dead to rights.
Great write-up, MSU.
Matt is one of the greats for Iowa wrestling. Considering his fr year, the possibility of being a 4x'er was real. The highly unusual opponent in Robles ended that. In neutral, Robles stayed down on the mat, and the refs would never call this stalling, given Robles body. This left Matt with two choices - A. Don't tie up, don't attack, and stay conservative, to keep the score low. B. Tie up, basically wrestling a 157#'er on his terms, which was suicide. Kjar used option A, which gave Robles his closest match at ncaa. Everyone else tried option B and got mauled.
Once Robles fully mastered his skills, using his upper body and grip strength advantages, he was unstoppable. Guys would get tossed around like ragdolls. Sanders, normally a good sportsman, got so frustrated v Robles, he stomped Robles in the back. I actually wished Robles would've continued in international FS after finishing his college. Would've loved to see him against the best Russians, and see how would the refs handle things.
Any other year, Matt would've racked up a second title. Jr year he did win it. Then came his toughest year, wrestling with a torn labrum, and keeping quiet about it until after the season end, when he had surgery.
Following surgery, he eventually came back and iirc, had wins against Megaludis and Garrett, and took World University bronze.
Congrats to Matt, on a great career and a terrific representative of Iowa wrestling.
Matt is one of the greats for Iowa wrestling. Considering his fr year, the possibility of being a 4x'er was real. The highly unusual opponent in Robles ended that. In neutral, Robles stayed down on the mat, and the refs would never call this stalling, given Robles body. This left Matt with two choices - A. Don't tie up, don't attack, and stay conservative, to keep the score low. B. Tie up, basically wrestling a 157#'er on his terms, which was suicide. Kjar used option A, which gave Robles his closest match at ncaa. Everyone else tried option B and got mauled.
Once Robles fully mastered his skills, using his upper body and grip strength advantages, he was unstoppable. Guys would get tossed around like ragdolls. Sanders, normally a good sportsman, got so frustrated v Robles, he stomped Robles in the back. I actually wished Robles would've continued in international FS after finishing his college. Would've loved to see him against the best Russians, and see how would the refs handle things.
Any other year, Matt would've racked up a second title. Jr year he did win it. Then came his toughest year, wrestling with a torn labrum, and keeping quiet about it until after the season end, when he had surgery.
Following surgery, he eventually came back and iirc, had wins against Megaludis and Garrett, and took World University bronze.
Congrats to Matt, on a great career and a terrific representative of Iowa wrestling.
Could have been a 4 timer had they seeded the bracket correct with Robles and he avoided the injuries his senior year. I don't think Robles would have made it through on the other side of the bracket.
Thank you for posting but it would have been nice if the whole meet was there. I wanted to watch Ramos and company.
Interestingly, Tyler Clark had done quite well against Robles and had beaten him, in fact. He was in the Iowa room the year Matt met Robles in the finals. I was hoping Tyler could show Matt some tricks that would work. Never did see Tyler's win over Robles; if anyone can find it and post it, that would be really cool. My guess is that Robles had just perfected his technique so much since losing to Tyler that strategy probably didn't make much difference at that point.
Pretty much the opposite of my reaction. I doubt I'm alone.
When I read this I assumed it was just another Penn State troll. I am almost speechless how an Iowa fan could find anything funny about that match.
Matt was just super. Agree with what everyone posted and could not have done as good of a job as MSU I'm not that good at writing.
I suspected his SR year all along that Matt had to have something wrong with his arm or shoulder because when he got that one leg he just could finish it. Some where thinking it was the cut but heck he had no problem with the cut for 3 years and he was not gassing in his matches. That for sure cost him the chance to be a 4x finalist and maybe a 3 time champ..Will always remember his guts and great wrestling. Wish him success in his coaching and hope it will be as a HAWKEYE.
I suspected his SR year all along that Matt had to have something wrong with his arm or shoulder because when he got that one leg he just could finish it. Some where thinking it was the cut but heck he had no problem with the cut for 3 years and he was not gassing in his matches. That for sure cost him the chance to be a 4x finalist and maybe a 3 time champ..Will always remember his guts and great wrestling. Wish him success in his coaching and hope it will be as a HAWKEYE.
Also pretty impressive that, even with the injury, he was still only one takedown on Garrett in OT away from the semis.
I really feel bad for every Iowa wrestler who had a raw deal with the brackets not being seeded so the Iowa wrestler could win it every time. Unchallenged of course.
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I agree WWDM.
Others have pointed out that Robles had and could be beaten. But those loses, including Gardner of Stanford and Escobedo in '08, Donohoe and Precin in '09, Long and Nickerson in '10 came before his sr year. By 2011 Robles was pretty much crushing everyone and imho, had refined his technique to take full advantage of his strengths. Anyone who really engaged him (as Matt tried to do in all his matches) usually got beat bad. No way to prove it, but I don't think Tyler would've stood a chance in 2011 v Robles.
This.
Seeding was not a factor -- nobody could have beaten him that tournament. It was the freakiest of freaky situations, where a guy was born with one leg and so had spent a lifetime to deal with it. At that point, it actually was a tremendous advantage for him -- a prohibitive advantage, really. I met him, and he seems like a tremendous young man and I'm truly amazed at what he was able to accomplish. But the truth of the matter is the unique nature of wrestling actually made his physical feature a huge advantage -- eliminating a large percentage of weapons that could be used against him while providing him with a large strength advantage over all of his opponents.
Like somebody else said, I would have loved to see him in freestyle; I think he had amazing potential and would have been a huge story for the Olympics, drawing attention to the sport. How you gonna leg lace Robles?
Watched it again this morning guys. Still laughed. Brought back memories of the board post Nationals.
-Robles had an unfair advantage!
-Robles shouldn't have got the 1 seed, the Anti-Iowa seeding bias cost McD.
-The sport is dying because Robles stalled in the third.
-Robles had ringworm on his face and should have barred from competing.
-Robles should have to compete at 1.25x his weight.
Those were the days.
-Robles had an unfair advantage!
-Robles shouldn't have got the 1 seed, the Anti-Iowa seeding bias cost McD.
-The sport is dying because Robles stalled in the third.
-Robles had ringworm on his face and should have barred from competing.
-Robles should have to compete at 1.25x his weight.
Those were the days.
Legendary match. You don't see guys absolutely throwdown like these two did very often.
His arm wouldn't allow him to hang on for a few more seconds. I will never forget the whole arena, including the Iowa State section next to me, cheering his loss. Theyalso cheered his loss in the consolations. I remember Hawkeye fans giving an injured Dylan Ness a standing ovation at nationals after his loss. This is part of what makes Iowa fans the best in the world.
I'll never forget the ISU section erupting in joy as McD lost in the consos. One of the all-time low points for ISU fans.
Sidenote, you are really a DB, you do realize that?
