[pin2win]

Northern Neighbors Coming to Iowa City - Iowa Official Athletic Site

TELEVISION COVERAGE
Sunday's dual will be televised live on BTN. Tim Johnson, Jim Gibbons and Shane Sparks will have the call.

ON THE MAT
The sixth-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team hosts No. 3 Minnesota on Mediacom Mat inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday at 3 p.m. (CT).

THE SERIES
Iowa has won the last six meetings and owns a 68-24-1 dual record in the all-time series vs. Minnesota.

[ICAlumni]

Camo day?! Awesome - not really.

[H8IAST8]

Originally Posted by ICAlumni

Camo day?! Awesome - not really.

Nothing says redneck like camo day! Whats next orange vest day?

[pin2win]

125
#2 McDonough vs #1 Sanders

MCD has the upper hand in past matches but this year I think Sanders is a different wrestler and its showing in his previous matches this year. He is 19-0 and #1 in the country! Steele to a lot of Iowa fans hasn’t live up to his expectations but he still is one of the best Iowa wrestlers EVER. His winning percentage speaks for itself and I think fans just expect more from him and that’s a lot of pressure! I think his is going to be a tough match for MCD and I am a man of trends and I think MCD wins this one in a close match. MCD has only lost once in carver and don’t see it happening again. MCD increases his record to 22-1

IOWA- 3
Minny- 0

133
#4 Ramos vs #7 Chris Dardanes

Dardanes is a wrestler a lot of fans haven’t heard about or know a lot about but he has a win over Steiber who we all know is a stud and comes into this match with a 17-4 record. Ramos is unbelievable at Carver and again see the crowd getting behind him in this match. Ramos is explosive when he wants to be and when he is aggressive and takes a lot of shots he has the ability to beat anyone in the country. I think this will be another tough match for the hawks but see Ramos winning by decision and also increasing his record to 21-2.

IOWA-6
Minny-0

141
#3 Marion vs. # 14 Nick Dardanes

Minnesota has been wrestling Dardanes and Lange this season with Nick getting the starting spot against the hawks. Marion to me is the tornado roller coaster at Adventureland. You want to believe the roller coaster is going to get you to the end but it has a few rough spots along the way that can make you think different and want to close your eyes. His record is 18-2 which obviously isn’t bad but it doesn’t seem like he has only two loses on the year. Marion I feel relies on his high crotch to much which he is amazing at but he needs to open up more from the beginning. Don’t leave matches up to the third period the third period is where Iowa wrestlers should be opening the gap. Dardanes could surprise Marion with a tough match here he has a 14-4 record. I do believe Marion is the decision here while having carver on the seat of their chair the whole match.

IOWA- 9
Minny- 0

149
Mike Kelly vs #11 Dylan Ness

The one thing I think we as Iowa fans got out of the Penn State dual is how Kelly wrestled the whole match. The takedown towards the end of the match gave me some hope for this kid. Apparently his work ethic is giving him a bigger tank than most guys in the country. Ness holds a 13-5 record and squeaks into the rankings around 10-15 range in my eyes. Kelly is only going to get better and I look for him take the Molinaro match and build from it. I think his confidence is going to continue to grow and think he wins a big match here that will be needed! Kelly gets his record to 13-7.

IOWA- 12
Minny- 0

157
Nick Moore vs Alec Ortiz

As carver is rocking their home town boy gets to wrestle basically a fill in Alec Ortiz who is 11-6 on the year. Moore to me gets the night off here from a top ranked wrestler and better perform or Brands and Co or Fans are gonna lose it. This shouldn’t be a tough match as Moore has wrestled all tough competition and his gas tank and confidence should be much higher than Mr. Ortiz. I see this as a decision for Moore and increasing his record to 11-7

IOWA- 15
Minny-0

165
#6 Mike Evans vs. #11 Cody Yohn

This is a big match for Mr. Evans he HAS to have a win if he wants a shot at the big tens. Cody is a wrestler that has the potential to make noise but holds a 13-5 record on the year. I can’t stress how big of a match this is for him and hope he watches some film on Yohn and finds out his weaknesses. As I typed this up I really didn’t see this dual going this way but I have gone back and forth and feel confident that Evans gets a decision here putting the hawks up 18-0! Some will think this is a for sure win for Evans but I just didn’t see it like when first going over these lineups. Evans makes his record 19-4

IOWA- 18
Minny-0

174
#9 Ethan Lofthouse vs #7 Logan Storley

If your anything like me Ethan has been a bit of let down so far at 15-5 but again Brands and Co is getting these boys ready for March so I am going to keep some confidence in this young man. Storley is 16-3 this year and has some impressive wins that will give him great confidence going into this match. I don’t see Ethan beating Storley at all.

IOWA- 18
Minny- 3

184
Vinnie Wagner vs #8 Kevin Steinhaus

Wagner has been wrestling great and just like Kelly I was impressed with how he wrestled at Penn State. Wagner to me deserves a big win but don’t see it happening again Steinhaus. Steinhaus holds a 18-4 record and comes up with a major against Wagner. Wish we could see a rematch with Gambrall oh well!

IOWA- 18
Minny- 7

197
GG vs #6 Sonny Yohn

GG while I want to believe he has the strength to handle 197 I just don’t see it and we as fans will see this affect him the most against Yohn. Yohn is going to be a beast compared to GG. GG won’t be able to finish any shots if he can get even in a leg. I remember uncle Luke having a tough time with Yohn well all of his oppenents while on the legs. Yohn is 16-3 on the season and see him getting a decision for the gophers

IOWA- 18
Minny- 10


HWT
Blake Rasing or Bobby Telford vs #4 Tony Nelson

This is an interesting matchup because the Hawks would already have the dual locked up at this point but Bobby hasn’t been wrestling up to Brands liking and Blake has a win over Tony who is 17-2 this season. My hope for one the dual goes the way I have predicted and two that he puts Blake out there and gives him the confidence he will need to be our guy at HWT. No one can tell me who they want at HWT and I believe this could be the game changer for the rest of the season. Why not put Rasing out there who has a win over Tony? I think at the end of the day he puts Telford out there and Tony wins by decision but Iowa gets the W.

IOWA- 18
Minny- 13

This dual could change in an instant and it starts with MCD he has to get a win against Sanders which will give him the confidence he needs for the rest of the season. Marion and Kelly could possibly lose their matches and with the way the hawks have been wrestling I won’t be shocked to see the dual scores switch around.

[pin2win]

headed to the Nickelodeon before the dual if anyone is interested in having a beer and shooting some pool before hand

[fuldose]

I agree with most of what you wrote Pin, but for some reason i am nervous about the Moore match. I know it is a match he should clearly win but....and I think that the strength diff. between GG and Yohn may yeild a MD for Yohn. I beleive he will wear GG down and take advantage with his strength. Ethan how ever i can see winning. He seems to wrestle well at CH and if Evan's has a big win (i.e. pin) this will allow ethan to ride a wave of emotion from the crowd into his match and could propel him to a win.

[fuldose]

Originally Posted by pin2win

headed to the Nickelodeon before the dual if anyone is interested in having a beer and shooting some pool before hand

Have never been to Nickeloden, is this a place i can bring my young kids to get lunch and have a brew or is it more of a night club type of place?

[grapplefan]

Pin,
Thanks for the preview. I sure hope you are right about the results. This team has a lot of talent, but they've been wrestling below their abilities this year. Maybe this will be the meet where they start to turn things around. I believe that Tom Brands is the best wrestling coach in the country, and if anyone can make this happen, he will.

BTW, I drank WAY too many beers at the old Nickelodeon some 35+ years ago. PLEASE have few for me.

[pin2win]

dose to be honest i have never seen kids in there i would call ahead it is a dive bar but good size that serves a lot of food so if you get there earlier don't see why kids couldn't be in there

totally agree on moore match but ppl are expecting him to fail and i have a feeling knowing his opponent isn't a top guy will give him some confidence to give his team some points they so desperately need

[goiahawks]

Win I was looking at this match up earlier I had the same results. Iowa wins the first 6 by decision and lose the last 4. The only difference was I had Steinhouse getting a major.

18-14 Iowa

[pin2win]

i am giving him benefit of not getting major but it easy could happen with kevin's size difference

[brach700]

p2w, would GG have to be down at 184 for this meet and the rest of the year in order to be able to qualify @ 184 for nationals?

[fulsaasfan]

Originally Posted by brach700

p2w, would GG have to be down at 184 for this meet and the rest of the year in order to be able to qualify @ 184 for nationals?

Nope, he'll have plenty of matches available to get his 8 matches in. I would expect to see him at the Grandview open and maybe another open to make sure that the matches are taken care of.

[brach700]

Originally Posted by fulsaasfan

Nope, he'll have plenty of matches available to get his 8 matches in. I would expect to see him at the Grandview open and maybe another open to make sure that the matches are taken care of.

Sweet. Thanks for the info !!! Dont post here much but am avid fan and look forward to your guys input. Thanks.

[pin2win]

come back more often brach700 always could use more iowa wrestling fans