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Orange sliced: Iowa wrestling gobbles up #9 Illinois in 28-6 rout

by:Tanner Lafever•about 11 hours•

TannerLafever

Drake Ayala takedown
#4 Drake Ayala prevailed in the match of the night against #2 Lucas Byrd thanks to a decisive third-period takedown. (Photo Credit: Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

Plenty of numbers could tell the tale of #2 Iowa wrestling’s beatdown of #9 Illinois on Friday night.

The final score? Iowa – 28, Illinois – 6.

Total match points? Iowa – 69, Illinois, 21.

Or how about the most basic premise in all of wrestling – takedowns scored?

Iowa – 15, Illinois – 1.

Illinois probably needed to win 3/5 matches prior to intermission just to give itself a chance at the upset. Instead, it’d get just one.

The writing was on the wall at that point, as Iowa pushed its regular season record to 8-0 with ease in front of a spirited, if small-ish (by Iowa standards) Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd of 12,746.

(I don’t think the 6:00 p.m. CT start and students still on winter break helped the attendance any.)

Here’s how things unfolded in Iowa City – much to the delight of the Black & Gold faithful.

Sometimes one shot is all you need

The headline match of Friday’s dual was unquestionably at 133 pounds between #4 Drake Ayala and #2 Lucas Byrd.

Tension aside, it’s safe to say it hadn’t exactly lived up to the hype through 6:10.

Ayala and Byrd mostly poked and prodded one another well into the third period before someone finally struck. It turned out to be the former, as the Iowa junior converted a lovely reattack to break the longstanding deadlock:

It was the only moment all match either wrestler had the other in significant danger. But sometimes once is all you need.

“The biggest thing we talk about is being ready to score,” said Ayala post-dual. “That was a big thing for me last year – I would get in opportunities where I would kind of let it slip – so I’m doing my best job this year to not let that happen.”

Asked how his conditioning played into his ability to capitalize late when the moment presented itself, Ayala was frank:

“I’ve been prepared to go to deep waters my whole life, and college wrestling’s no different.”

With the victory over #2 Byrd, Ayala (11-1) will presumably assume that spot in the rankings next week. And while there’s still a grueling Big Ten schedule and subsequent postseason to come, he looks every bit ready to take it on.

Six-straight wins puts the Illini to bed

I mentioned that Illinois needed a hot start to give itself any real chance at an upset.

Why? Well, because despite its own strengths at 149-197 pounds Iowa is just better – apparently even without #1 Jacori Teemer.

My pre-dual theory was proved fact on Friday evening as the Hawkeyes reeled off a half-dozen-consecutive wins.

#3 Kyle Parco won’t be thrilled with his showing at 149, but he clearly had the respect of the talented #12 Kannon Webster.

Trailing 1-0, Webster elected not to go underneath the Iowa senior in the third period. That’s how things would end, as the redshirt freshman never sniffed a score from his feet.

At 157, Miguel Estrada continued his impressive true freshman campaign with a 3-2 win over #20 Jason Kraisser – scoring the bout’s only takedown.

#2 Michael Caliendo carried the torch post-intermission, scoring 17 points in 2:17 between the second and third periods to throttle #11 Braeden Scoles, 21-4.

#5 Patrick Kennedy followed at 174 with a ruthless 5-0 win over #21 Danny Braunagel – amassing 3:00 of riding time.

Next up, fellow #5 Gabe Arnold knocked off a returning All-American. A slick first-period score and gritty ride out would prove decisive for the redshirt freshman against #10 Edmond Ruth:

That left 197 pounds and #2 Stephen Buchanan. And while it took a while to open up the stingy #18 Zac Braunagel, Buchanan would close with the sort of fury that makes me believe he’s a title favorite.

Up 4-2 late (with riding time locked), he kept on the attack rather than protect his lead.

Buchanan’s reward? Eight more points in the final 13 seconds of the match to secure the major decision.

You just know Hawkeye fans love to see that.

A trio of (telling?) results

Friday’s three other bouts all lent a source of intrigue both in the moment and in their aftermath(s).

At 125, #28 Joey Cruz once again got the nod – following up a nice win last Sunday over #18 Nicolar Rivera with a more expected result vs. the Illini.

Caelan Riley (3-7) projected to pose little threat entering the dual. And that certainly bore out at Carver, as Cruz racked up four takedowns in a 13-3 major decision win.

The battle to earn Iowa’s postseason spot at 125 is hardly over, but back-to-back results like these are a good step forward for the redshirt sophomore.

Meanwhile, one could say the same for 141, albeit in a losing effort by #30 Ryder Block.

Block, in his first match since late November, had opportunities to upend #12 Danny Pucino.

A third-period takedown by his Illini foe would ultimately prove decisive. However, you’d be hard-pressed to find a 141-pounder on Iowa’s roster who injects more hope/energy into a thus far in-flux weight class.

Unfortunately for Hawkeye fans, a picturesque end to the evening went wanting thanks to the result at heavyweight.

As has become a (confusing) theme this season, hometown hero Ben Kueter generated very little offense against #11 Luke Luffman in the night cap.

That proved costly as Luffman rolled to a reversal in the second period, then rode out #12 Kueter to boot.

A quick escape made the preceding struggle on bottom all the stranger, and it left the Hawkeye with 1:50 to find the winning score.

Kueter would have two real chances in the final minute – both low singles – but couldn’t convert on either, narrowing missing the latter in the dying moments of the bout.

I still believe Kueter’s got plenty more in him – we just haven’t seen in (yet).

Short time

Look, was it a perfect performance by Iowa wrestling on Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena? Hardly.

But when you can blow out the ninth-ranked team in the country while missing your #1 ranked 157-pounder you’re certainly doing something right.

This could very well be Illinois’ best lineup in years and the #2 Hawkeyes left no doubt about the width of the gap between them.

That’s a good thing too, because it doesn’t get any easier from here.

Up now on the docket for Iowa is fellow unbeaten, #4 Ohio State – next Saturday afternoon in Carver. And after that…well, let’s just say the tests don’t get any bigger.

But those are tomorrow’s challenges. For tonight, enjoy this whooping of a top-10 opponent and the individual performances that made it possible.

As a result, Iowa wrestling (8-0, 2-0 Big Ten) has another opportunity to do the best thing of all – learn from/build upon a victory.

That sure sounds pretty good to me.

Match-by-match results

125 – #28 Joey Cruz (IA) major dec. Caelan Riley (IL), 13-3

133 – #4 Drake Ayala (IA) dec. #2 Lucas Byrd (IL), 4-2

141 – #12 Danny Pucino (IL) dec. #30 Ryder Block (IA), 4-3

149 – #3 Kyle Parco (IA) dec. #12 Kannon Webster (IL), 1-0

157 – Miguel Estrada (IA) vs. #20 Jason Kraisser (IL), 3-2

165 – #2 Michael Caliendo (IA) tech fall. #11 Braeden Scoles (IL), 20-4

174 – #5 Patrick Kennedy (IA) dec. #21 Danny Braunagel (IL), 5-0

184 – #5 Gabe Arnold (IA) dec. #10 Edmond Ruth (IL), 5-1

197 – #2 Stephen Buchanan (IA) major dec. #18 Zac Braunagel (IL), 13-2

285 – #11 Luke Luffman (IL) dec. #12 Ben Kueter (IA), 3-1

#2 Iowa – 28, #9 Illinois – 6

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