The Hawks grab 4th at the NCAA wrestling tourney.

[Grady]

The Hawks continued to get the job done for the most part over the past 24 hours, earned 7 All American spots, and even grabbed the 4th place team trophy in Cleveland. Prior to the tourney most folks, including myself, were predicting a 7th place finish after Iowa's dismal dual meet season. But the guys showed a lot of heart and grappled their guts out. If Ferrari would have wrestled and won a couple matches in the consolation round, the Hawks would have been close to or perhaps even finished 3rd. Final individual results:

125: #8 Peterson dropped his Blood Round match and didn't place.
133: #6 Ayala finished 5th.
141: #7 Bailey lost his Blood Round match and failed to place.
149: #15 Block finished 6th.
157: ---
165: #3 Caliendo finished 2nd.
174: #5 Kennedy finished 3rd.
184: #7 Ferrari finished 8th. He medically forfeited out of his chance to finish as high as 3rd.
197: #27 Arnold finished 7th -- a remarkable feat given the weight and height he's giving up each match.
HWT: #8 Kueter finished 5th.

In other words, as a team they placed 33 places higher than their seeds. I feel bad for Peterson; really happy for Kennedy and Arnold -- those guys are warriors.

When you realize what ALL those guys do when it comes to cutting weight and workouts, they all deserve kudos for representing the Hawks to the best of their ability.

The days when Iowa steamrolled the competition are gone, so let it go. Let's not be like Nebraska football fans and hang on to the 'glory years', ad nauseum. Support the guys who come and wrestle for Iowa today, and tomorrow.

 

[hawkinn3]

Considering the season we had, pretty good results.

 

[Fryowa]

The days when Iowa steamrolled the competition are gone, so let it go. Let's not be like Nebraska football fans and hang on to the 'glory years', ad nauseum. Support the guys who come and wrestle for Iowa today, and tomorrow.

Hold up a sec…

Not being able to get excited about Iowa wrestling anymore is not the same as a nebraska football fan thinking and acting like nebraska is something special, thinking their team is a hire away from a natty, and thinking their team is relevant at the top level.

I don’t have any of those delusions or expectations. It’s just disinterest. I loved the glory years but I’m not holding onto them and I do not ever expect them to come back whatsoever.

There’s a difference.

@Scott Leclair is the poster you speak of.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Really proud of the guys. For the most part, each wrestled at or above expectations.

Arnold deserves more praise than he's probably receiving. Here is a guy who started the season off the roster and in the doghouse, then couldn't find a consistent weight class when he manned up and returned. In the end, he achieves AA status after being available for whatever the team needed him to do. That's a young guy growing up. Kudos to him.

In terms of the program, it boils down to expectations and how invested you are in folk-style wrestling. When Iowa was the dominant program, it was easy to brush off some of boring aspects of folk-style. Now that Iowa will be perennially battling to be the best outside the top two, some fans will adjust, others won't.

 

[Gibsonian]

Great performance for the guys and where they are at. I don't think it could have gone a whole lot better this year. They should be proud of their effort to end the season. Last few years we usually dive downward at the Natty's but this year we didn't.