No. 20 Rutgers Wrestling Faces No. 4 Iowa in Prime Time Friday on BTN

[TomM]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Bradly Derechailo (office: 732-647-5034; e-mail: bd219@scarletknights.com)
No. 20 Rutgers Wrestling Faces No. 4 Iowa in Prime Time Friday on BTN
Scarlet Knights, Hawkeyes square off at 9 p.m. in Iowa City

No. 20 Rutgers vs. No. 4 Iowa
Friday, Jan. 18 • 9 p.m.
Iowa City, Iowa • Carver-Hawkeye Arena
TV: BTN
Radio: WRSU (88.7 FM)
Match Notes
Projected Lineups

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Jan. 16, 2019) – No. 20 Rutgers wrestling hits the road as it faces No. 4 Iowa on Friday, Jan. 18 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The match will broadcast in primetime at 9 p.m. ET on BTN, with Tim Johnson, Jim Gibbons, and Shane Sparks on the call. WRSU (88.7 FM) will also have the road radio broadcast.

RANKED SCARLET KNIGHTS (INTERMAT/FLOWRESTLING/THE OPEN MAT)
133: 3/3/3 Nick Suriano (14-1)
149: 2/2/2 Anthony Ashnault (15-0)
157: 14/15/13 John Van Brill (13-7)
184: 17/18/16 Nicholas Gravina (2-1)

WHAT TO KNOW
• Rutgers split its matches at the RAC last weekend, as it defeated No. 10 Wisconsin on Friday, 17-16, on criteria and dropped a 26-5 bout with No. 3 Oklahoma State on Sunday in front of a season-high 7,545 fans in Piscataway.
• The Scarlet Knights earned their signature win of the season over the No. 10 Badgers in front of 4,563 fans at the RAC last Friday. With the dual ending in a five-five split, the Scarlet Knights secured their first Big Ten Conference victory of 2018-2019 by criteria with a 56-50 advantage in total match points.
• No. 2 Nick Suriano (133), No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (149), No. 15 John Van Brill (157), Joseph Grello (174) and Matthew Correnti (197) all collected wins to help RU earn its second consecutive win over the Badgers. The dual victory also marked the first over a top-10 program since Rutgers defeated then-No. 7 Lehigh on Feb. 20, 2016 at the RAC.
• RU moved up four spots to No. 20 in the latest NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll, released on Tuesday. As a team, Rutgers is also ranked No. 11/13 (dual/tournament) by The Open Mat, No. 13 by TrackWrestling and FloWrestling and No. 14/14 by Intermat.
• Five individuals appear in the national rankings for Rutgers. Ashnault is the consensus No. 2 wrestler in the country at 149 pounds, while Suriano is the consensus No. 3 wrestler at 133 pounds.
• Van Brill and Nicholas Gravina (184) also appear in the national polls, with Van Brill as high as No. 13 (TOM) and Gravina as high as No. 16 (TOM). Willie Scott is No. 21 at 174 pounds according to TrackWrestling.

TRACKING MR. ASHNAULT
• The No. 2 149-pounder in the country, Ashnault is 15-0 this season with wins over four ranked foes.
• Through his first 15 matches of 2018-19, Ashnault leads the program with 51 dual points. The graduate student has won 11 of his matches by bonus, including seven falls, two tech falls and two major decisions.
• With his 10-7 decision over No. 6 Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) on Sunday, Ashnault is now tied for seventh in program history with 106 career wins. Ashnault needs 12 more wins to become the program's all-time leader in individual victories.

ALL EYES ON NICK
• The wrestling world's full attention was fixated to the 133-pound showdown at the RAC on Sunday, as then-No. 2 Suriano faced No. 4 Daton Fix during Rutgers' dual with Oklahoma State. In a match that lasted 31 minutes with replays included, Fix edged Suriano, 3-2, in their first collegiate matchup.
• Through his first 15 matches, Suriano is 14-1 and has accounted for 45 dual points. The junior, who has yet to concede a takedown this season, has won 12 of his bouts by bonus, including six major decisions, three pins, two tech falls and a forfeit.

SCOUTING IOWA
• Iowa enters Friday's match No. 4 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll, sporting an unblemished 7-0 record, including a 2-0 mark in Big Ten Conference action.
• In their last time out, the Hawkeyes defeated then-No. 8 Minnesota, 24-10, on Sunday at a sold out Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis. Iowa won seven of 10 bouts against the Gophers to secure the dual victory.
• Nine Hawkeyes appear in the latest rankings by Intermat - No. 2 Spencer Lee (125), No. 2 Alex Marinellii (165), No. 3 Sam Stoll (HWT), No. 5 Kaleb Young (157), No. 5 Jacob Warner (197), No. 8 Austin DeSanto (133), No. 12 Pat Lugo (149), No. 13 Cash Wilcke (184), and No. 15 Max Murin (141).

• Iowa finished last season 12-3 in dual action and 6-3 in Big Ten Conference duals. The Hawkeyes finished fourth at Big Tens and third at the 2018 NCAA Championships with one individual champion (Spencer Lee) and five All-Americans - Lee, Marinelli, Stoll, Brandon Sorensen and Michael Kemerer.
• The Hawkeyes are coached by three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Tom Brands, who is in his 13th season at the helm of the program.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE HAWKEYES
• In front of a then-record crowd of 6,754 fans, No. 16 Rutgers wrestling was edged by No. 7 Iowa, 23-15, on Dec. 8, 2017 at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights raced to a 12-0 lead with wins from Suriano (125), Scott DelVecchio (133) and Michael Van Brill (141), but the Hawkeyes closed out the match with victories in six of their last seven bouts for the dual win.
• In his RAC debut, Suriano earned a 24-5 tech fall over Justin Stickley.
• Gravina also earned a 4-0 decision over Mitch Bowman against the Hawkeyes.

SERIES VS. IOWA
• Friday's matchup will be the fifth meeting all-time between the programs and the fourth since Rutgers joined the conference.
• Iowa is 4-0 all-time against the Scarlet Knights.
UP NEXT
Rutgers returns to the RAC to host Michigan State on Friday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. The match will stream live on BTNPlus.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers wrestling, follow the program on Twitter (@RUWrestling) and Instagram (@RUWrestling). Fans can receive timely information, including special offers and giveaways throughout the year on our social media outlets along with www.ScarletKnights.com. For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.

[jeast]

After DeSanto's disrespect of his opponent Lisiak in Minnesota, all eyes are going to be on that match. I would like to see Suriano kick the crap out of him. That would make my weekend.