Hawkeye sophomore Matt McDonough was Iowa's top finisher, placing second at 125 pounds. The tournament's top seed and the defending Midlands champion at 125, McDonough lost a 3-1 decision to No. 2 seed Brandon Precin of Northwestern in the championship finals. Precin scored a first-period takedown and added an escape in the second period to take a 3-0 lead in the match. McDonough scored an escape in the third period, but could not get the takedown to force overtime. The loss was McDonough's first of the season, and only the second of his career.
"I didn't wrestle my best match," said McDonough." He (Precin) wrestled a really good match. Credit to him for wrestling his match, and there's the problem right there. I gotta make it my match. I gotta stick it to him, and I'm still looking forward because it's not the end of the season yet."
Also placing for the Hawkeyes were junior Tyler Clark (133-5th), seniors Aaron Janssen (165-5th) and Luke Lofthouse (197-7th), redshirt freshmen Ethen Lofthouse (174-5th) and Tony Ramos (133-6th), and sophomores Mark Ballweg (141-6th) and Grant Gambrall (184-6th). Clark (No. 11 seed), Janssen (unseeded) and Ethen Lofthouse (No. 9 seed) all wrestled above their seeds with their fifth-place finishes. Clark and Ramos met twice during the two-day tournament, with each posting one victory. Ramos scored a 3-1 decision in the championships quarterfinals Wednesday, while Clark scored a 2-1 decision in the first tiebreak period in the fifth-place match Thursday night.
The sixth-ranked Hawkeyes (7-0, 1-0 Big Ten) will host Southern Illinois Edwardsville (1-6) Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The dual has been designated Autograph and Half-Price Concessions Night. After the dual, Iowa wrestlers will sign autographs at tables around the Carver-Hawkeye Arena concourse.
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