RU/Iowa and RU/Nebraska Wrestling Preview

[wngarbarini]

RU wrestlers face their two toughest matches of the season as they take on undefeated 6-0, # 2 Iowa at Iowa City on 12/10 and then back home on 12/12 at the RAC against undefeated 6-0, # 4 ranked Nebraska. Iowa comes off a 33-6 pasting of Iowa State and Nebraska at the Garden comes off two spankings of Cornell and Princeton. Both teams have few soft spots and both have highly ranked wrestlers at most weights.

Against Iowa, we should be favored at 141, 157 (if Lewis wrestles), 165 and 285. We would have to pull off an upset at 174 or 184 most likely to have a shot at winning. Against Nebraska, we are probably favored at 141 (even though Ashnault lost to Abindin last year) and 285 with Smith. I think Hrymack upset Studebaker once last year at 197 and Perrotti has a toughie in Austin Wilson at 165. Lewis gets a tough Tyler Berger at 157 so Nebraska is a tough matchup for us. We need a Giraldo win over Montoya and McCabe to upset Lambert to have a shot of an upset. At least our kids are not intimidated by either school and will wrestle their asses off. Please have your friends and wrestling fans to pack the RAC on 12/12 to see the nebraska match so we can convince the school we can draw 4-5,000 fans to see a top ranked team here.

Projected lineups:

RU/Iowa:
125 McCabe vs # 2 Thomas Gilman (returning AA and a stud)
133 Giraldo vs # 2 Cory Clark (AA)
141 Ashnault vs Logan Ryan ( AA needs bonus points here for us)
149 Dippery vs # 3 Brandon Sorenson (another talented kid)
157 Lewis or Van Brill vs Edwin Cooper (need Lewis here to have a shot at the meet)
165 Perrotti vs Patrick Rhoads (AP needs bonus points as well)
174 Backukas vs # 4 Alex Meyer ( an upset here would be great)
184 Gravina vs # 12 Sammy Brooks (Need the same intensity as against Dean)
197 Hrymack vs # 4 Nathan Burak (he handled Haden last year I think)
285 Smith vs Sam Stoll (Billy needs to step up here with a big effort)

RU/Nebraska
125 McCabe vs #12 Tim Lambert (I think Sean was handled last year)
133 Giraldo vs # 10 Eric Montoya (he beat Del last year)
141 Ashnault vs # 13 Anthony Abindin (beat Anthony last year, need revenge)
149 Dippery vs # 5 Jake Sueflon (beat Theo last year)
157 Lewis/Van Brill vs # 11 Tyler Bergen (need this one badly)
165 Perrotti vs # 4 Austin Wilson (pivotal bout)
174 Backukas vs #15 Micah Barnes (another must win to have a chance)
184 Gravina vs # 7 T J Dudley (another upset here would be great)
197 Hrymack vs # 15 Aaron Studebaker (need the Haden that beat him show up)
285 Smith vs Collin Jensen (Jensen upset by Cornell kid)

So there you have it and both are daunting tasks but we need our best and some luck to pull them off!

 

[ecojew]

Have these two teams faced as challenging an OOC schedule as RU has faced to this point? Having already wrestled against 5 ranked teams should be key in preparing our team for the level of competition in the B1G.

 

[Jaroslav Hasek]

Nebraska has got quite the team. might not have a finalists but could very well have 9 AA's if everyone stays healthy. and thats after graduating James Green (4X AA) and Robert Kokesh (3X AA) last year.

should be fun matches.

 

[PhilaPhans]

Iowa has beaten Oklahoma State (close match), Iowa State, and a bunch of nobodies, plus Maryland.

Nebraska has beaten Lock Haven, Oregon State, Lehigh, Wyoming, Cornell (similar score to us), and Princeton.

 

[Jaroslav Hasek]

something that stands out to me when looking at these two line ups (Iowa and Nebraska) is how balanced NE is and how top heavy IA is. Hawkeyes are super strong at 6 weights. but in those other 4 weights (141, 157, 165 & 285) RU matches up real well. So if everyone wrestles tough, in Iowa, it should be a 18-12 final. but the Conrhuskers, while formidable at every weight, are not unbeatable anywhere either. the strengths of the 2 teams match up much more closely. so while i still think an 18-12 is the most likely result, the manner in which that score is reached will be unpredictable. an upset, and a blow out loss, are also more likely against Nebraska than Iowa.

as good as the Knights looked against Cornell, they'll have to be even better to beat Nebraska, and even better than that to even have a shot against Iowa. But that's what makes for fun matches. just staying competitive with these giants is a positive sign. For now anyway.

 

[Abro1975]

Iowa will wrestle very aggressively, as usual, at home. I was impressed watching the Grapple on the Gridiron how they came out ready to get physical and push the Ok St opponent at every chance. They feed off their loud crowd.

Nebraska at home will be almost as tough , but a different vibe at The RAC.

Also, looking forward to the Midlands, which free BTN2Go will be covering.

 

[Passe24]

nice job Bill. I think we win at 133. 125 a true toss up. McCabe riding high. Gravina beating Dudley is a tall task. But that's why they play the game. I like AP as the underdog rather then the favorite, should help him against Neb.
Hwt from Iowa worries me. This is one of those match ups Billy should win but puts out sub par effort. ie ( Minn-PS-Mary) last year.

 

[RU93]

Wow, can't wait!