Feb. 22, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. --No. 4 Brandon Precin vaulted Northwestern to a 6-0 lead with his pin of fifth-ranked Charlie Falck at 125, but top-ranked Iowa rebounded to win by a 34-13 decision Sunday on Senior Day at Welsh-Ryan Arena. No. 1 Jake Herbert (26-0) held off No. 3 Phil Keddy while freshman Jason Welch concluded his successful first collegiate dual season with a victory at 157.
Northwestern (9-8-1, 2-5-1) now has two weeks to prepare for the postseason, which begins with the Big Ten Championships March 7-8 at Penn State.
With the win, Iowa (24-0) sealed its Big Ten regular season title, finishing with an unblemished 8-0 mark.
After a scoreless first period in the opening match, Precin (25-2) got on the board first against Falck with an easy escape to start the second. On his first successful shoot of the match, Precin got a hold of Falck's leg and began working for the takedown. Before ever getting the two points, however, Precin had coaxed Falck onto his back and was credited with a pin at the 4:19 mark, picking up his sixth fall of the year. It was just the third loss of the year for Falck.
Iowa's top-ranked Daniel Dennis drew the Hawkeyes to within two with a major decision against NU sophomore Robert Joyce before No. 2 Alex Tsirtsis grinded out a 5-1 decision over No. 15 Keith Sulzer to put the Hawks ahead, 7-6.
At 149, Andrew Nadhir squared off against 2008 NCAA champion and undefeated Brent Metcalf, who picked up the first of what would be three Iowa pins on the day at the 4:28 mark.
Nadhir finishes the Big Ten season with a 6-2 league record and figures to receive a favorable seed in his second trip to the Big Ten Championships.
Welch held a slim 2-0 lead against Matt Ballweg after the first period of the 157-pound bout before taking control with a pair of two-point takedowns in the second frame. He collected more than three minutes of riding time in cruising to his sixth Big Ten win and upping his record in dual matches to an impressive 13-3.
Northwestern suffered setbacks with a major decision at 165 by No. 3 Ryan Morningstar over Dominic Marella and a technical fall at 174 by fourth-ranked Jay Borschel over Robert Kellogg.
Despite having beaten Keddy 15-1 in the finals of the 2008 Midlands Championships, Herbert was tested early by Keddy when the Hawkeye managed to quickly free himself after Herbert's initial takedown. Keddy escaped from the bottom position in the second period to even the score at two, a tactic Herbert duplicated in the third to take a one-point lead. Herbert refused to be scored on again, winning his 57th consecutive collegiate match while completing the third undefeated regular season of his career.
Iowa put the finishing touches on its win with falls at 197 by No. 15 Chad Beatty and No. 7 Dan Erekson.
No. 1 Iowa 34, No. 19 Northwestern 13
125: No. 4 Brandon Precin (NU) FALL No. 5 Charlie Falck (IA), 4:19 (NU 6, Iowa 0)
133: No. 1 Daniel Dennis (IA) MD Robert Joyce (NU), 14-4 (NU 6, Iowa 4)
141: No. 2 Alex Tsirtsis (IA) dec. No. 15 Keith Sulzer (NU), 5-1 (Iowa 7, NU 6)
149: No. 1 Brent Metcalf (IA) FALL Andrew Nadhir (NU), 4:28 (Iowa 13, NU 6)
157: No. 14 Jason Welch (NU) MD Matt Ballweg (IA), 11-3 (Iowa 13, NU 10)
165: No. 3 Ryan Morningstar (IA) MD Dominic Marella (NU), 12-3 (Iowa 17, NU 10)
174: No. 4 Jay Borschel (IA) TF Robert Kellogg (NU), 21-4 (6:11) (Iowa 22, NU 10)
184: No. 1 Jake Herbert (NU) dec. No. 3 Phil Keddy (IA), 3-2 (Iowa 22, NU 13)
197: No. 15 Chad Beatty (IA) FALL Aaron Jones (NU), 1:55 (Iowa 28, NU 13)
285: No. 7 Dan Erekson (IA) FALL Paul Rands (NU), 0:57, (Iowa 34, NU 13)