No. 2 Hawkeyes Wrestlers Return Home, Roll Purdue, 39-4

Six members University of Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team scored bonus points to propel the second-ranked Hawkeyes to a 39-4 win over No. 20 Purdue on Friday (Jan 22, 2016) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes got two falls, one technical fall, and three major decisions, but the biggest applause of the night came following an otherwise routine 6-0 decision at 141.

The Hawkeyes won nine-of-10 bouts overall and have won 50 of a possible 60 matches in the Big Ten Conference. Iowa is now 6-0 in the Big Ten and has outscored their opposition 215-34 in those six wins.

Purdue scored a point via technical violation one minute, 54 seconds into the 157-pound match, but 43 seconds later Edwin Cooper, Jr. rolled 15th-ranked Dough Welch to his back to record a first-period fall. That win gave Iowa a 21-0 lead at the break.

The Hawkeyes closed the dual with four straight wins, each one better than the next. Alex Meyer improved to 12-0 at home with an 8-4 decision at 174. Sammy Brooks scored a 14-4 major decision at 184. Nathan Burak improved to 16-0 with a 22-7 technical fall at 197, and Sam Stoll finished the evening with his team-best seventh fall.

“I don’t (often) say a whole lot about feeling good about things,” said UI head coach Tom Brands. “I really like this team though because they score points. They are trying to score points, and they will need to score points. We will need them at Big Tens, at the NCAAs, and Sunday at Nebraska. We know they’ll be ready and we have got to be ready.”

Iowa returns to the mat Sunday in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Hawkeyes (12-0, 6-0) and 11th-ranked Huskers (9-3, 3-3) meet at 2 p.m. (CT) at the Devaney Sports Center.

#2 Iowa 39, #20 Purdue 4
125 -- #2 Thomas Gilman (IA) tech. fall Ben Thornton (PU), 23-8; 5-0
133 -- #3 Cory Clark (IA) major dec. Luke Welch (PU), 12-0; 9-0
141 -- Brody Grothus (IA) dec. #17 Danny Sabatello (PU), 6-0; 12-0
149 -- #2 Brandon Sorensen (IA) dec. Alex Griffin (PU), 8-2; 15-0
157 -- #16 Edwin Cooper, Jr. (IA) pinned #15 Doug Welch (PU), 2:37; 21-0
165 -- #7 Chad Welch (PU) major dec. Burke Paddock (IA), 15-4; 21-4
174 -- #12 Alex Meyer (IA) dec. Jacob Morrissey (PU), 8-4; 24-4
184 -- #7 Sammy Brooks (IA) major dec. Tanner Lynde (PU), 14-4; 28-4
197 -- #3 Nathan Burak (IA) tech. fall Drake Stein (PU), 23-7; 33-4
285 -- #7 Sam Stoll (IA) pinned Tyler Kral (PU), 4:04; 39-4