No one is kidding themselves. Getting ready to compete in the Iowa Conference Wrestling Tournament is a little bit like preparing to saw your legs in half.
The Iowa Conference has been, arguably, the toughest wrestling conference in NCAA Division III for years. The league currently boasts five of the top 25 teams in the nation, including three who are ranked in the top 10. Wartburg College, the defending Division III champion, leads the way at No. 2, while Coe is close behind at No. 3.
It would appear that when the Duhawks manage to wrestle anyone but those five nationally ranked Iowa Conference teams and a few other powerhouse teams in the region, the Duhawks have torn through the competition. Unfortunately, that comes as little solace when the conference showdown is a week away.
Nonetheless, Loras Coach Randy Steward doesn’t sound like someone who expects his wrestlers to fall down on the mat and play dead.
“Now we just need to work on fine-tuning for all the basic positions,” he said. “With this, we hope to be real positive and put the team in a position to have a great conference tournament.”
Last weekend, Loras hosted the Duhawk Open, which is an open tournament, meaning that anyone can participate, whether they are associated with a team or are wrestling as an independent. Overall, there were nine official teams in the tournament and 115 wrestlers total, which was somewhat unusual considering that the past two Duhawk Opens drew around 250 wrestlers.
One of those “independent” wrestlers was Loras assistant coach Rick Healey, who wrestled in the 157-pound weight class for the Dirty Birds Wrestling Club. Healey didn’t fare too poorly, either, as he eventually lost in the semifinals.
There were no Loras finalists, as Steward sat most of the starters who had wrestled the previous night at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
UW-P demonstrated that it also has a good wrestling program, beating Loras 31-9. The Duhawks who won their UW-P matches were first-year 144-pounder Matt Holmes, who beat Andy Casper, 11-8; first-year 149-pounder Collin Hagerty, who beat Spencer Peterson, 4-3; and junior 285-pounder Jeremy Klein, who beat Tyler Manning, 7-0.
“We have wrestled inconsistently, probably due to having a younger team,” Steward said. “With this young team, we are trying to develop some leaders to step up.”
As a whole, the month of January was a bumpy one for the team, which grappled their way to a record of 4-6-1.
They started off the new year by hosting around 250 wrestlers at the annual Flash Open.
On Jan. 9, the Duhawks traveled to Knox College for the Knox Duals, where they beat three of the four teams they faced. First, they beat Wabash College, 24-16, then defeated the University of Chicago, 22-15. Next, the Duhawks pummeled Knox College, 44-6. Finally, the team went up against Trine University, which ended Loras’ winning streak, 28-15.
On Jan. 15, the Duhawks traveled to Iowa Conference opponent Coe College, the No. 3-ranked team in Division III, which handled Loras, 37-3.
The Iowa Conference Duals were next on Jan. 23. The Duhawks first faced Buena Vista and ended up tying the Beavers at 21 apiece. They then dropped a 26-15 decision to Central College.
Then it got really tough. No. 9-ranked Cornell beat Loras, 40-3, and No. 13-ranked Luther handed the Duhawks a 37-6 defeat. The University of Dubuque, ranked No. 23 in Division III, defeated Loras, 34-9.
The wrestlers’ spirits were uplifted in the final conference dual meet, where they beat Simpson rather handily, 34-15.
The Junior Varsity Iowa Conference Tournament will be held on Monday, Feb. 15, in Storm Lake, and the Varsity Iowa Conference Tournament will be held the next day, Feb. 16, also in Storm Lake.
