Iowa still wrestling with the underdog label
By Richard Podhajsky
For Allhawkeyes.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The term "underdog" isn't often associated with the Iowa wrestling team. For the first time in a decade, that label fits the Hawkeyes as they prepare for this weekend's Big Ten Championships.
"A lot of our guys kind of embrace the challenge in front of them and know there's a guy out there the rest of the country might think is supposed to win it," said 133-pound senior Cory Clark, the reigning Big Ten champion but who is seeded third entering this year's tournament."It's never something we shy away from, a challenge like that."
Penn State's emergence over the last few years has left Iowa in a position it hasn't been in a decade – firm underdogs. The Hawkeyes have just one top seed – Thomas Gilman at 125 pounds – and three second seeds while Penn State and Ohio State have three top seeds each.
The two-day event start on Saturday and will conclude with the finals on Sunday afternoon at Assembly Hall on the campus of Indiana University.
"I don't know if there's an underdog role or not; I'm not a guy that makes predictions either way," Brands said. "I know we gotta be ready to go and we gotta be ready to go every match. And I know our guys are really good when they get ready to go. I also know that we've made progress.
"All that being said, it doesn't mean anything if our best wrestling doesn't show up."
If Iowa is to have any chance for a team title, it'll need a strong showing from Clark, who has battled a left shoulder injury for most of the season. Brands said they'll "be smart" with Clark and take it match-by-match.
Clark said in some ways the injury has made him a better wrestler because now he has to be "crisper and smarter" in setting up and taking his shots.
"I've wrestled with it enough to know where I need to be," Clark said. "Realistically, a lot of the places where my injury limits me or I don't want to go are places that if I was healthy I wouldn't want to be, either."
Of course, the goal for Iowa is to get 10 champs. Brands stressed on Tuesday that if each wrestler does "what they were put on this planet to do" then the team race will take care of itself.
But 149-pounder Brandon Sorensen, seeded second and ranked fourth nationally, said the team title is important.
"We discuss it as a team," Sorensen said. "Just (Monday), we had ten guys step up in front of the group and say what their goals are and how they're going to get there."
And while Iowa may not be expected to be on top of the mountain, second-seeded 184-pounder Sammy Brooks said they are still the team everyone aims for.
"Even though we might have had some down years with a title drought or whatever you want to say, you could see we're still the target by how happy other people are about it," Brooks said. "Or how happy people are to beat Iowa or jump on us if something happens.
"So, yeah, there's still a target (on our back) and I know this title drought's not going to last as long as some people might want."
Nine of Iowa's ten wrestlers earned seeds at their weights, trailing only Penn State and Wisconsin. So, on paper it's not such a steep uphill climb for Iowa to win its second team title since 2010.
"Are we confident in our guys? Yes," Brands said. "Are they confident? Yes. We feel like they're getting ready to go. Now it comes down to the actual performance."