IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Iowa opened its dual season with three wins Friday at the Iowa City Duals inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes combined for a 29-1 individual record and totaled 24 falls en route to wins against Baker (59-0), Iowa Central (55-0) and Cornell (Iowa) (50-3).
The wins marked the first time in program history Iowa scored 50-plus points in three consecutive duals.
"I think the energy was good and I think the pace was good," said UI head coach Tom Brands. "When those two things are good it leads to a lot of bonus points and a lot of situations where you're going to get falls."
Iowa built 18-0 leads in all three duals with help from Cory Clark (125), Tony Ramos (133) and Josh Dziewa (141). Only once did the trio take a match beyond the first period.
Clark was making his Carver-Hawkeye Arena debut. Ramos was extending his unbeaten home record to 27-0.
"It starts with Clark and Ramos and goes through the rest of the lineup," said Brands. "It's not slow, where every point you have to just earn it. It's every point, but there are easy points because of explosion, pop, energy and gusto. Those are the things that make holds look easy and that's important when you're trying to put a competitive team on the mat."
Dziewa was making his first appearance inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena since 2011, when he filled in at 149 against Northern Iowa. He earned a major decision then, and he added three falls today as Iowa's 141-pounder.
"I felt good out there today," said Dziewa. "I want to put on a show for the fans. That's what it's all about. What our fans like is domination, going out there and wrestling hard for seven minutes, giving everything you've got. That's what they want and that's our goal."
Derek St. John (157) and Ethen Lofthouse (184) also earned three pins apiece. St. John used three falls to improve to 26-0 all-time in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and Lofthouse's three pins increased his season total to five, one more than he had all of last season.
Nick Moore (165) also made his season debut today, pinning both opponents in the opening period.
"I think we feel good about it," said Moore, "but it's something that we expected so you take it for what it's worth. Any time you can get bonus points it helps you win. That's always the focus."
Michael Kelly (149), Mike Evans (174) and Terrance Jean-Jacques (285) were all perfect in three matches. Kelly had two pins and one major decision, Evans had one pin and a pair of technical falls, and Terrance Jean-Jacques earned two decisions and one fall in his Hawkeye debut.
Walt Gillmor (165), Jeremy Fahler (197) and Kris Klapprodt (197) added to Iowa's pin total with one pin each.
"One thing I liked about today was there wasn't a lot of slow wrestling," said Brands. "I can think of a couple areas where guys were not where they were supposed to be, but for the most part it was fast wrestling.
"Now we have to get ready now. We're in the week where we have to get ready."
Iowa returns to the mat Dec. 1 at Iowa State in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.
