Chad Beatty
- Weight class: 197
- Age: 21
- Hometown:
Wilton - Season record: 13-15
- Year:
Sophomore
Chad Beatty was a contender for Iowa’s 174-pound job when the season began. He was the team’s starter at 197 when it ended.
In between, Beatty went through ups, downs and in betweens while growing into a bigger weight class and often giving away more than 10 points to opponents.
“There’s been a lot of trials,” Beatty said in February. “It’s been tough.”
Beatty wrestled at 197 for the first time in the December dual against Iowa State. He weighed in at 177 pounds. Although he got overpowered by Cyclone senior David Bertolino, Beatty scored a takedown late in the match to keep from surrendering more bonus points than a 16-5 major decision.
“I put the Chad Beatty match against Bertolino match on me,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “I didn’t realize there was such a size difference. … Chad Beatty did a lot of good things as well. Not just keeping from getting pinned or bonus points. He was fighting hard and attacking at the end, trying to erase the major decision. ... I give him credit. We have to build off of that and I put the mismatch on me.”
Beatty steadily grew closer to 197 pounds — and became more competitive, too. He learned what he could and couldn’t get away with against bigger wrestlers. He won three straight matches in February, capped by arguably the biggest win of his season.
Beatty scored a takedown with one second remaining to pull out a 2-1 victory against Michigan’s Anthony Biondo, rescuing the Hawkeyes from a dual defeat in their home finale. Biondo, ranked 15th at the time, had beaten Beatty 8-0 in their previous meeting.
But Beatty’s season ended with a pair of defeats at the Big Ten Championships. He nearly pinned eventual conference champion Phil Davis of Penn State in the final seconds of an opening-round loss and then got bounced from the tournament with a 5-3 defeat against Indiana’s Joe Fagiano.
— Andy Hamilton