Iowa Wrestling Recap: Cy-Hawk delivers drama once again

Note to future self; when the Iowa wrestling program gets together with its hated in-state rival go ahead and save yourself the time by just expecting wild things to happen.

The Cy-Hawk rivalry has seen it all in recent years – everything from down-to-the-wire finishes to surprising season debuts from fan-favorite athletes to handshake ‘controversies’ when the action had seemingly concluded on the mat.

So, what the heck is one more crazy chapter to add to the ongoing series?

About the only constant among all the twists and turns (at least for the past 20 years) has been this:

The Iowa Hawkeyes win (again).

Friday night was no different as the #2 ranked team in the country vanquished the visiting #12 Iowa State Cyclones by a score of 21-15.

In doing so, Iowa has now won 20-consecutive duals in the series, 35/36 and 59 of the last 63.

Thankfully, fans on either side of the ledger never have to worry about the repetitive outcome(s) dulling the overall experience.

Because there’s always something crazy that happens.

Here’s what made this latest edition yet another to remember.

Seeds of success

We’re going to eschew the typical Good/Best/Rest categories for this dual recap because frankly it demands a chronological retelling to capture the proper (wild) context of it all.

And so, as most Iowa duals do, we’ll get started at 125 pounds.

I said in my preview article (presuming a start at 125) that the first four weights of this matchup could largely set the tone for the dual. Turns out, I was sort of correct in my prediction.

#27 Kale Petersen’s all-freshmen battle went against him, 5-1 in favor of Arizona native Adrian Meza. Petersen gave up a late-first period takedown + ride out, then saw more riding time pile up in the second to salt things away.

Iowa got back on track at 133 as #9 Drake Ayala displayed an excellent return to form against 2024 All-American #5 Evan Frost. After the two traded takedowns and escapes in the early going the bout was tied at five-apiece with roughly 90 seconds to go.

Ayala managed to finish his second single leg score of the match to retake the lead, then put the nail in the coffin with a filthy slide-by on the edge of the mat. The 11-7 victory tied the dual and preceded a similar sequence of team scores to follow.

At 141, an early blast double for #31 Ryder Block would not hold up in a 5-4 defeat to ISU senior Zach Redding. Much like Petersen, Block struggled on the mat – even attempting to switch his choice in the third period to neutral after initially choosing bottom.

The mat official denied his request, and Block spent a minute trying to escape that he could’ve used going for a necessary second takedown.

That left 149 needing a win to earn the ‘split.’

You can’t do that…or that!

Here’s where things really started to get weird.

A top-10 matchup between #4 Kyle Parco and #7 Anthony Echemendia already had people’s attention going into the evening. And it’ll likely have even more of it now after a match-deciding sequence in the third period.

After a scoreless first, the returning All-Americans traded some quality exchanges in the second – one of which was capitalized on by Echemendia for a big lift and takedown.

Trailing 3-1 entering the third (Echemendia chose neutral in the second), Parco started on bottom and quickly rose to his feet. That’s when all hell broke loose.

In quick succession, Echemendia was hit for a ‘locked hands’ penalty and an illegal cutback – neither of which prevented Parco from getting away. A pair of video reviews were initiated and by the end of it all Parco suddenly led 4-3 (a point for each violation plus another for his escape).

The Arizona State transfer was able to gamely defend for the remainder of the period, and Iowa came away with a bizarre, albeit correctly adjudicated win at 149.

Regardless of how things arrived there, splitting the quartet of perceived ‘toss-ups’ would prove critical as the back-half of the dual saw plenty of wild swings of its own.

Disaster strikes

With five bouts remaining and Iowa considered a sizable favorite in four of them, a six-all team score heading into 157 pounds was a fine place to be for the home team.

At least until it wasn’t.

After a cagey, minimally confrontational opening three minutes between #1 Jacori Teemer and #10 Paniro Johnson Iowa’s lone #1 ranked wrestler chose bottom to start the second period. That was fine and dandy until – nearing an escape – Teemer tried to kick away from Johnson and the latter didn’t let go.

A possible hamstring injury is as far as I’ll go with my speculation. Following a lengthy injury timeout and some attempts to continue, Teemer would injury default.

Suddenly, an expected win (and three team points to go along with it) was a loss and six points in favor of the Cyclones.

In the blink of an eye Iowa now trailed 12-6 at intermission.

The comeback begins

After the shocking development with Teemer the Hawkeyes needed to respond quickly.

#2 Michael Caliendo got the first crack at things.

The second odd home match in a row for the junior saw him trail ISU’s Connor Euton 6-5 early in the third period. Much to the delight of Iowa fans, Mikey C would pull out the 12-7 win thanks to a pair of takedowns in the final 77 seconds (plus a riding time point).

Now trailing by just three (12-9), Iowa head coach Tom Brands decided to dip into his bag surprises as the Hawkeyes sought to regain the lead.

Step one: Say hello again to Patrick Kennedy.

The senior got the call at 174 for his very first match of this college season and made the decision look ingenious.

PK was on it from the jump, scoring the first of his six takedowns within 20 seconds against former Hawkeye teammate Aiden Riggins. But it was the last of the six that really brought Carver-Hawkeye Arena to its feet:

Kennedy secured the 19-4 tech. fall victory with barely a second left on the clock. Simply put, it was everything one could hope for in a season debut. And heck, it’s becoming a bit of ‘old hat’ for him too, having joined the lineup just in time a year ago to get a key win on the road at Iowa State.

Ferrari revs his engine (and the Carver crowd)

As if the Patrick Kennedy surprise weren’t enough for one night, Brands had another trick up his leave – calling upon super recruit Angelo Ferrari in a big match for Iowa at 184 pounds.

An immediate jolt of energy shot through Carver as the true freshman emerged from the tunnel to face off with #15 Evan Bockman. He’d more than meet the moment.

Ferrari scored a pair of takedowns and was in on at least three other quality shots. His opponent – Bockman – might not have sniffed a scoring opportunity over seven total minutes. In fact, it was the freshman who was pushing for bonus points late in the match, nearly getting them to cap an already excellent debut.

Asked after the dual why he went with Ferrari instead of #7 Gabe Arnold, Brands gave a succinct, if unrevealing answer:

“Just shakin’ it up. Shakin’ it up.”

Ferrari told reporters that the decision came relatively ‘last-minute’, giving him enough time to tell his parents and get ready for the match.

As for his assessment of his own performance? Let’s call it lukewarm at best.

“You know, I don’t think I wrestled my best match,” said Ferrari. “There were a lot of finishes I could’ve gotten. And the way I think of it is, on my worst night I’ve still got to be the best in the country…If I make those adjustments and keep getting better, I can kill these guys.”

The rest of college wrestling had better hope it’s not quite so simple for Ferrari to make significant improvements – because he already looks pretty darn good right now.

Buchanan slams the door, Kueter comes close

Now leading 17-12, a win of any sort would seal the dual for the Black & Gold.

Stephen Buchanan wasn’t after just ‘any sort’ of win, however.

Instead, the #2 ranked 197-pounder in America clearly preferred to salt things away in dominant fashion. That’s exactly what he did against ballyhooed redshirt freshman #20 Christian Carroll.

Sandwiched around a mean second-period ride out were takedowns with just two and 11 seconds remaining in the first/third periods respectively. Those, plus a pair of penalty points for stalling added up to a decisive and dual-deciding 10-0 major decision for the sixth-year senior.

And that left Ben Kueter to contest a match with zero team implications but plenty of personal gains to be made.

The redshirt freshman was taken down in each of the first two periods by #4 Yonger Bastida. And I’d argue that against a less explosive, less experienced heavyweight neither may have resulted in scores against the Hawkeye.

But that’s why these moments are so valuable for a guy of Kueter’s youth/inexperience.

As he grew into the bout it was Kueter who began to dictate more and more of the action. And in the third period he (twice) nearly catapulted himself back into the match, locking up cradles on the formidable Cuban that he just couldn’t quite force over for near fall points.

Alas, a five-point loss will give him and his coaches plenty of material to take back to the wrestling room.

Short time

I’ll say it again: there’s always something crazy that happens when it comes to the Cy-Hawk dual.

And sometimes – like on Saturday night in Iowa City – there are 4-5 crazy storylines that crop up out of nowhere.

Surely, this time next year we’ll all take heed of this ‘scientific’ principle of wrestling, and thus, be far less surprised when something totally off-the-wall occurs.

Surely, we’ll do that…

The bottom line is that the Hawkeyes got it done again – as they always seem to do in this incredible rivalry. We’ll obviously await more on the status of Teemer’s health, not to mention the continuing mystery that is 174/184 pounds. But the Cy-Hawk dual isn’t about extraneous or future considerations.

It’s about winning against your rival right here and now. And in that regard, the Hawkeyes very much passed this latest test.

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