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Iowa

Real Woods gets pin in final home match for Iowa wrestling

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•02/18/24•

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Iowa Athletics

Real Woods came to Iowa ahead of the 2022-23 campaign after an undergrad career at Stanford and was immediately a spark for the Hawkeyes.

Well, he went out the right way during Iowa’s dual meet against Wisconsin Sunday. In his final home match in Carver Hawkeye Arena, Woods pinned Felix Lettini in 4:37.

The curtain call moment in front of the Iowa fans can be seen below.

The win improved Woods’ record to 13-2 on the season. He broke a two-match losing streak after falling to No. 1 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) and No. 10 Sergio Lemley (Michigan).

Woods is ranked No. 2 in the country at 141 pounds per InterMat. He’ll likely carry that into the postseason, as well the second seed at the Big Ten Championships.

Woods began his career in 2018-19 at Stanford where he redshirted and went 15-1. The following year, he qualified for nationals with an 18-1 record, however, the tournament was canceled amid the beginning of the pandemic.

But it was the following year Woods finally wrestled in the postseason out in St. Louis. However, it didn’t come without a little controversy.

Woods did not wrestle until the Pac-12 Championships that year, going 2-1 in the tournament., But he was able to wrestle two extra matches a week later against CSU Bakersfield, beating the same opponent twice. It made him eligible for the tournament in an unconventional way.

The controversy was the way schedules were made amid a difficult 2021 schedule for wrestling across the board.

Still, he made it to the Blood Round, one round shy of All-American status.

In 2022, his final year with Stanford, Woods went 14-4 and finished sixth at 141 pounds that year, becoming an All-American.

Then last season, Woods was one of the best wrestlers in America. He started for Iowa and won 20 straight matches, en route to a Big Ten title and NCAA finals appearance.

However, he fell to Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez, his only loss of the season. Woods will be in the title conversation this March as well. An impending Big Ten final of him versus Bartlett would be an enticing rematch.

Overall, Woods is 70-11 in his varsity career and went out with a bang at home. Now, it’s time to bring on the postseason to see if he can get that elusive national title.