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Iowa Hawkeyes
UniversityUniversity of Iowa
Head CoachTom Brands (18th season)
ConferenceBig Ten
LocationIowa City, IA
ArenaCarver–Hawkeye Arena
(Capacity: 15,500)
NicknameHawkeyes
ColorsBlack and gold[1]
   
Team national championships
24
National championship years
1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2021
Conference Tournament championships
1958, 1962, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 ,1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2021

The University of Iowa men's wrestling program is one of the most successful NCAA Division I athletic programs. The Hawkeyes are 37 time Big Ten Conference champions and second in NCAA history with 24 National Championships.

History

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Wrestling at the University of Iowa began in 1911 when the first head coach, E.G. Schroeder, led the team in a dual against Nebraska. The Hawkeyes competed in the first Big Ten meet in 1926 under the direction of coach Mike Howard. Howard coached Iowa from 1921 until 1952. David McCuskey took over for Howard and coached the team until 1972 when Gary Kurdelmeier began a four season reign where his teams had an impressive 51-7-5 record. Kurdelmeier led the Hawkeyes to their first national championship in his third year as coach.

Former Iowa State University wrestler and assistant coach Dan Gable, became The University of Iowa head coach in 1976. He was the Hawkeyes head coach for 15 NCAA Championships and 21 consecutive Big Ten Championships. That included a streak of nine consecutive NCAA Team Championships, starting in 1978 and ending in 1986. It equaled the longest streak of national titles won by any school, in any sport, also held by the Yale golf team (1905–13) and the Southern Cal track team (1935–43). In 1994 the University of North Carolina Women's Soccer team became the most recent addition to this group by winning its ninth straight NCAA championship which was also its 12th of a possible 13 (92%) since 1982 when the NCAA replaced the AIAW in awarding National Champion titles in collegiate Women's Soccer. The Hawkeyes also set NCAA records for total points (158), victory margin (73.25) and number of national champions (5), and tied the record for most finalists (6) in 1986.

Gable was so confident that his team would win their tenth straight championships that he had the Roman Numeral "X" put on their warm-up jackets to signify the tenth championships they thought they would win. However, they would finish as the runner-up at the 1987 NCAA Championships behind the Iowa State Cyclones, Gable's alma mater.

Gable retired after the 1997 season in which the team broke its own NCAA record for total points with its winning total of 170, and recorded the second-largest victory margin (56.50 points) in NCAA tournament history. The Hawkeyes also crowned five NCAA Champions out of six finalists, both tying NCAA records. Gable finished his Iowa head coaching career with a record of 355-21-5 (.940), 21 consecutive Big Ten Titles, and 15 NCAA Championships.

During Gable's reign, Iowa had numerous remarkable seasons.

  • Iowa had 9 All-American wrestlers in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1991, 1992, and 1995.
  • Iowa had 9 Big Ten champions in 1983.
  • Iowa had 5 national champions in 1986 and 1997.[2]
  • Iowa beat Oklahoma State by at least 25 points in five separate dual meets, including a meet on Feb. 9, 1991 at which the Cowboys didn’t win a single match. Only a tied match by All-American Randy Couture prevented the shutout. Iowa won the meet 35-2.[3]

He was replaced by Jim Zalesky, who had wrestled for Gable in the early eighties and had been his top assistant at Iowa for several years. Zalesky picked up right where Gable left off by winning the 1998 Big Ten and National championships. The following season, the Hawkeyes saw their 25-year Big Ten championship streak snapped by the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Nevertheless, Iowa was able to recover and defend their national championship. In 2000, Zalesky's Hawkeyes returned to Big Ten championship form and also won their sixth consecutive national title and their third under Zalesky. However, the program would find itself struggling over the next six years, with Iowa winning only one Big Ten title in 2004 and no national championships. The Zalesky era came to an end after the 2005–06 campaign, a season which found the Hawkeyes slipping to fourth place in the final Big Ten tournament standings.

Iowa hired Tom Brands, another former Hawkeye wrestler who had also served as an assistant to Gable. Brands had been head coach at Virginia Tech prior to his return to Iowa City. In Iowa's first season under Brands, they would finish third in the Big Ten championships and eighth at the NCAA championships. The Hawkeyes rapidly returned to the national spotlight during the 2007–08 season, winning their first Big Ten championship in four years and their first NCAA championship in eight years and 21st national title overall. Brent Metcalf and Mark Perry finished as National Champions and finalist Joey Slaton was a runner-up. They repeated as 2009 NCAA champions, despite having no individual champions, with five All-Americans. Brent Metcalf was a finalist and finished second. Ryan Morningstar finished third. Phil Keddy and Dan Erekson finished fourth. Dan Dennis finished seventh. Iowa returned to the NCAA championships with a dominant performance in 2010, having already locked up the team title before the end of the second day of competition. They finished with 3 individual champions, 2 runners-up, and eight overall All-Americans. Matt McDonough won a National Championship as a freshman, while Brent Metcalf and Jay Borschel concluded their senior campaigns with National Championships. Dan Dennis finished second to Jayson Ness, of Minnesota, after losing the lead in the closing seconds of the match. Montell Marion, also, finished second, losing to freshman, and future four-time National Champ, Kyle Dake. Ryan Morningstar and Dan Erekson finished the season in seventh place, and Phil Keddy finished eighth.[4]

Iowa's 2010 team was one of the most dominant in NCAA history. The team won all of its dual meets. Iowa shut out their opponents in eight of those duals, including Big Ten opponents Michigan, 36-0, Michigan State, 37-0, and Northwestern, 49-0. They also defeated Penn State, 29-6, Minnesota, 28-9, and Ohio State, 32-3.[5] This success continued into 2011 until the Hawkeyes' 69-match winning streak ended with a 15-15 tie v. rival Oklahoma State in Stillwater.[6] They continued this new "unbeaten streak" into 2012 finally ending in a 16-17 loss to Oklahoma State at home—ending a run of 84-0-1 going back to 2008.[7] Unfortunately as of late, the Hawkeyes have been dominated by rival Penn State, having only won three duals in the last ten, even dropping the last three in a row to the Nittany Lions.

Current roster 2023–2024

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Weight (Pounds) Name Year Rank
125 lbs. Joey Cruz So.
133 lbs. Drake Ayala Jr. 8
141 lbs. Ryder Block RS Fr.
149 lbs. Kyle Parco Sr. 4
157 lbs. Jacori Teemer Gr. 1
165 lbs. Michael Caliendo Jr. 2
174 lbs. Nelson Brands Gr. 9
184 lbs. Gabe Arnold Fr. 8
197 lbs. Stephen Buchanan II Gr. 1
285 lbs. Ben Kueter RS fr. 14

Home meets

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Home meets are held in the 15,500 seat Carver–Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Several home matches each year are televised by Iowa Public Television or the Big Ten Network.

On Dec 6, 2008, Iowa set the national dual-meet attendance record for wrestling with a crowd of 15,955 against Iowa State University. It was a matchup of the #1 and #2 ranked schools in the country, which Iowa won 20–15.

On November 14, 2015, #4 Iowa reset the national collegiate wrestling dual-meet attendance record at Kinnick Stadium with over 42,000 fans in a victory over #1 Oklahoma State. Years of planning went into the event and it was named Grapple on the Gridiron. Tom Brands came up with the idea in 2008, and broke the previous record set by Big Ten Conference rival Penn State in 2013.

Iowa continually has the best attendance per season. Since 2002, when attendance began being compiled, Iowa has led average home attendance nationally 19 out of 20 seasons, the lone exception being 2006 (Oklahoma State).[8][9]

The University of Iowa wrestling program sold out of season tickets for the first time in program history in 2021. Iowa led the nation in attendance for the 14th consecutive season in 2019-20, setting an NCAA average attendance record of 12,568 fans in seven home dates. Official attendance records were not kept in 2020-21. The 2019-20 season marked the 12th straight that Iowa averaged more than 8,000 fans. It also marked the first time in NCAA history that a program put more than 10,000 fans in the building for every home dual.[10]

Championships

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NCAA team championships

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Year Coach NCAA Meet Points Duals Record (W-L-T)
1975 Gary Kurdelmeier 102 17-0-1
1976 Gary Kurdelmeier 123.5 14-1-0
1978 Dan Gable 94.5 15-1-0
1979 Dan Gable 122.5 19-0-0
1980 Dan Gable 110.75 17-1
1981 Dan Gable 129.75 21-1-0
1982 Dan Gable 131.75 16-0-1
1983 Dan Gable 155 17-1-0
1984 Dan Gable 123.75 16-1-0
1985 Dan Gable 145.25 18-0-0
1986 Dan Gable 158 16-1
1991 Dan Gable 157 25-0-1
1992 Dan Gable 149 16-0-0
1993 Dan Gable 123.75 14-1-1
1995 Dan Gable 134 14-0-0
1996 Dan Gable 122.5 17-0-0
1997 Dan Gable 170 15-1
1998 Jim Zalesky 115 13-3
1999 Jim Zalesky 100.5 13-4
2000 Jim Zalesky 116 18-0
2008 Tom Brands 117.5 21-1-0
2009 Tom Brands 96.5 24-0-0
2010 Tom Brands 134.5 23-0-0
2021 Tom Brands 129 7-0-0
24 NCAA Championships

Big Ten Team Championships

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Iowa Big Ten Conference team titles: 1958, 1962, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982,1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2021

Big Ten Regular Season Champions

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The Hawkeyes have won or shared the Big Ten regular season championships 13 times since the conference started recognizing a dual meet champion in 1999. Iowa won the title outright in 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2020, and shared the title in 2003, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

NCAA individual champions

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†Denotes tournament most outstanding wrestler

Awards

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Dan Hodge Trophy

Iowa wrestling statistical leaders

SEASON WINS:

CAREER WINS:

SEASON PINS:

  • 1. Bruce Kinseth (1978-79): 23
  • T2. John Bowlsby (1976-77) & Ed Banach (1982-83): 22
  • 4. Brent Metcalf (2008-09): 20
  • T5. Randy Lewis (1978-79; 1979-80), Ed Banach (1981-82), Royce Alger (1987-88) & Luke Moffitt (2001-02): 19

CAREER PINS:

  • 1. Ed Banach (1980-83): 73
  • 2. Randy Lewis (1978-81): 64
  • 3. John Bowlsby (1975-79): 59
  • T4. Rico Chiapparelli (1983-87), Royce Alger (1984-88), Jaydin Eierman (2017-19, 21,22): 49

Former wrestlers who have served as collegiate wrestling head coaches

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  • Terry Brands 2002–2005, Tennessee-Chattanooga 2006-present, Iowa (Associate Head Coach)
  • Tom Brands 2005–2006, Virginia Tech/ 2007–present, Iowa
  • Barry Davis 1994–2018, Wisconsin
  • Kevin Dresser 2006–2017, Virginia Tech/2017-present, Iowa State
  • Tony Ersland 2014–present, Purdue
  • Duane Goldman 1992–2018, Indiana
  • Jim Heffernan 2009–present, Illinois
  • Steve Martin 2003–2020, Old Dominion
  • Keith Mourlam 1996-2004, Virginia Tech
  • Tony Ramos 2019-present, North Carolina (Associate Head Coach)
  • Greg Randall 2003–2017, Boise State
  • Bob Riehm 1969–1994, Southern Oregon University
  • Tom Ryan 1995–2006 Hofstra/ 2007–present, Ohio State
  • Doug Schwab 2010–present, Northern Iowa
  • Joel Sharratt 2006–2013, Air Force/ 2014–2020, Navy
  • Troy Steiner 2016-2020, Fresno State
  • Jim Zalesky 1997–2006, Iowa / 2006–2020, Oregon State

Athletics Hall of Fame

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Main article: University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame

Olympians

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Iowa wrestlers in the Olympics
Year Name Country Style Weight Class Place
1928 Amsterdam Leslie Beers  United States Freestyle 72 kg ALT
1948 London Joe Scarpello  United States Freestyle 79 kg ALT
1960 Rome Terry McCann  United States Freestyle 57 kg Gold
1968 Mexico City Steve Combs  United States Freestyle 78 kg DNP
1980 Moscow Chris Campbell  United States Freestyle 82 kg Boycott
1980 Moscow Randy Lewis  United States Freestyle 62 kg Boycott
1980 Moscow Chuck Yagla  United States Freestyle 68 kg Boycott
1984 Los Angeles Ed Banach  United States Freestyle 90 kg Gold
1984 Los Angeles Lou Banach  United States Freestyle 100 kg Gold
1984 Los Angeles Barry Davis  United States Freestyle 57 kg Silver
1984 Los Angeles Randy Lewis  United States Freestyle 62 kg Gold
1988 Seoul Barry Davis  United States Freestyle 57 kg DNP
1992 Barcelona Chris Campbell  United States Freestyle 90 kg Bronze
1996 Atlanta Tom Brands  United States Freestyle 62 kg Gold
2000 Sydney Terry Brands  United States Freestyle 58 kg Bronze
2000 Sydney Lincoln McIlravy  United States Freestyle 69 kg Bronze
2004 Athens Joe Williams  United States Men's Freestyle 74 kg 5th
2008 Beijing Steve Mocco  United States Men's Freestyle 120 kg 6th
2008 Beijing Doug Schwab  United States Men's Freestyle 66 kg 14th
2008 Beijing Mike Zadick  United States Men's Freestyle 60 kg 18th
2016 Rio de Janeiro Daniel Dennis  United States Men's Freestyle 57 kg 19th
2020 Tokyo Thomas Gilman  United States Men's Freestyle 57 kg Bronze
2024 Paris Kennedy Blades  United States Women's Freestyle 76 kg Silver
2024 Paris Spencer Lee  United States Men's Freestyle 57 kg Silver

Notable Iowa wrestlers

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Main category: Iowa Hawkeyes wrestlers

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Branding Guide 2020". HawkeyeSports.com. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  2. ^ "Hawkeye Wrestling History". Archived from the original on 2014-09-08. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  3. ^ "OSU Team Records". Archived from the original on 2012-11-19. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
  4. ^ "2010 Results". Retrieved 2014-07-04.
  5. ^ 2009–10 Releases
  6. ^ "The Streak Ends: Iowa Wrestling Ties Oklahoma State, 15-15". 17 January 2011.
  7. ^ "Tie Goes to the Cowboys". 7 January 2012.
  8. ^ "College Wrestling Attendance". 24 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Hawkeyes Lead Nation in Attendance for 13th straight year". 16 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Match Notes: Iowa vs. Oregon State". 23 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Mark Ironside, 1998 Hodge Trophy winner". WIN Magazine: Wrestling News. 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
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