Wrestling

Ryan Burnett

 

Again, Iowa wrestling hoists the hardware. Again, the Hawkeyes defeat Ohio State to do it. So what's different about this season?

    Liking Iowa wrestling when you aren’t from Iowa is kind of like cheering for the Yankees when you aren’t from New York. It’s distasteful, like cheering for Goliath. So even though I would never call myself a fan, I do respect them and their tradition. And for that reason I can objectively say, the team national championship Iowa wrapped up on Saturday was the weirdest title ceremony I’ve ever witnessed.

 

     Last year when Iowa took home the gold there was pure elation. Redemption for a legendary program that had not won a team national title since 2000. And they didn’t just win the title last year, they ran away with it. Outpacing number two Ohio State by 38.5 points (117.5 to OSU’s 79). In the process of winning that team national title, the Hawkeyes picked up two individual national championships (Mark Perry at 165 and Brent Metcalf at 149).

     This year, despite the fact that the Hawkeyes boast seven All-Americans they can plug into their line-up, no Hawkeye won an individual national championship. Zero titles. Seven All-Americans. Like ‘08, they beat out runner-up OSU in the team title race, but this time only by a margin of 96.5 to 92. And quite frankly, the media and fans seemed to be talking more about Tyler Metcalf slamming his back-flipping opponent to the ground in the final seconds of the match (check it out), than whether or not the repeating champions were putting together a dynasty. Last year Metcalf was a champion, this year bloggers are trying to determine whether he’s classless, petulant, or some combination of the two. 

    Sure, the team seemed happy enough as they huddled around the trophy for the team picture. Everybody smiled and said all the right things. But when you stop and remember ‘08 it’s impossible not to notice that this is a different kind of championship. As Iowa’s Coach Tom Brands succinctly summed it up, “last year was more fun.”