Northern Iowa/Cornell College, Dec. 13
The newly-anointed No. 1 team in the country looked like a No. 1 team should during a double-dual of dominance against Northern Iowa and Division III Cornell College.
Making their first appearance of the season at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and making their first appearance on top of the national rankings in seven years, the Hawkeyes made quick work of the Panthers and Rams.
Iowa won the final 19 matches of the night, collecting eight pins and bonus points in eight other victories on its way to a 40-3 win against No. 25 UNI and a 51-0 victory against Cornell College.
“This is the strongest team I’ve seen at Iowa in a long time,” said Cornell coach Mike Duroe, a former Iowa administrative assistant.
“I’m talking about the ’97 team and (Dan) Gable’s last year and a lot of those years. There’s still a lot of the year left and there’s still a lot to prove. But from what I’ve seen so far, they’re on track to be the best team in the country. They’re ranked (No. 1) now, but it only counts in March.”
The Hawkeyes got falls from Charlie Falck, Ryan Morningstar and Mark Perry Jr. against the Panthers. Perry pinned fifth-ranked Moza Fay in 48 seconds. The other highlight for Iowa came at 141, where sophomore Dan LeClere won an 8-2 decision against No. 12 C.J. Ettelson in a battle of four-time Iowa state high school champions.
The Hawkeyes picked up bonus points in all 10 of their matches against Cornell, getting pins from Perry, Brent Metcalf, Jay Borschel, Rick Loera and Matt Fields.
“There’s no reason to celebrate,” Perry said. “We haven’t won any championships.”
— Andy Hamilton