“That match was the epitome of Iowa Wrestling.” Mark Ironside
Mark made that quote on the radio yesterday while talking about the Alex Marinelli 9-3 win over Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State in the Big Ten finals at 165. I would have to agree with Mark 100% on that.
Part of what made that such a big match was the timing. The say the Hawks had a rough day on Saturday is being kind. In true Iowa Wrestling fashion, the Hawks did respond and wrestle better on Sunday.
Even by wrestling standards, the Big Tens were a roller coaster of emotions for the fans. But you know what everyone is talking about? The Marinelli match. That is how powerful and influential one wrestler and one match can be to an entire program and fan base. That match was the sum of the entire Iowa Wrestling program. Look at some of the video clips of the 6-point move. You can see Iowa wrestlers going crazy in the background. That was the entire Iowa Wrestling program out on display.
That match and the training that Marinelli does in the room will serve as a blueprint for other Iowa wrestlers. Could not have hurt for recruiting with a huge national TV audience, especially in the middle weights.
Social Media lit up to at least the level of when Spencer Lee won his national title last season. Yea, the Iowa Wrestling Nation was excited.
It wasn’t that Alex Marinelli won a wrestling match. That should never surprise anyone. It was the way that Marinelli won that match that has people so excited. What way is that? The Iowa Wrestling Way.
We saw a mix of aggression, sound technique, constant attack, strength, and shear will on display in that match. That one match has the potential to really put a spark in the entire Iowa Wrestling program heading to the NCAA National Tournament in Pittsburgh on March 21–23. Big Tens is just a qualifier. Marinelli will have to wrestle better at Nationals than he did at Big Tens to win it all and I am confident that he will do just that.
During Marinelli’s interview on BTN after the match:
“That match was won by my attacks, not his. I don’t care what he has, I care what I have.”
The time to celebrate that match has passed as Iowa Wrestling has a great way of always moving forward regardless of the outcome in competition. However I am just a fan and I am going to enjoy that match for just a little bit longer. Also Tom Brands is always saying that it is easier to move forward with a win. For me as a fan, the Marinelli match made the Big Tens a win for Iowa Wrestling and I cannot wait for Nationals.
Again, the Big Tens are just a qualifier, but I have one more point to make. The Marinelli-Joseph match was a match of the future more so than the present. Marinelli is just a sophomore and a part of the new wave of Iowa Wrestling that is here now and will be an absolute force in 2020 and 2021. Too much talking with the biggest show of them all coming up at Nationals, but I had to say that.
What happened at Big Tens for the good and for the bad is now in the past. It is time to move forward. Now is when the Iowa Wrestling coaching staff will meet to evaluate, plan, corroborate, and schedule out the plan of attack between now and Nationals. I have no doubt that adjustments will be made in the one-on-one coaching sessions that I call “Magic Time” and for a peaked Iowa Wrestling team to perform at their best in Pittsburgh.
The Marinelli match can serve as motivation to get the entire Iowa Wrestling program to pick it up a notch or two heading into Nationals. I am a huge fan of Mo, as in Momentum. I will keep saying that I plan on being very entertained by Iowa Wrestling at Nationals.
The prize is in Pittsburgh.
I must now replace my line of the last two weeks. Nationals cannot start soon enough.
Let’s get ‘em in the middle.
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
