Perry out for Iowa State meet

By Andy Hamilton
Iowa City Press-Citizen

Iowa will have to take on the top-ranked wrestling team in the country without one of its top wrestlers.

Defending NCAA champion Mark Perry Jr. won’t be in the lineup Sunday when the No. 4 Hawkeyes wrestle Iowa State in Ames.

Perry, a senior 165-pounder, will serve a one-meet suspension after being disqualified during Iowa’s Nov. 24 meet against Old Dominion at the St. Edward Duals.

“I can’t articulate it exactly because I haven’t actually read it,” said Iowa associate athletics director Fred Mims, who oversees wrestling. “I’ve been informed about the misconduct he had at the last (tournament). The rule says if you are disqualified for misconduct, you are required to sit out the next scheduled meet.”

Perry had been prepared to sit out the UNI Open this past Sunday, but the tournament was canceled because of inclement weather. Several Iowa wrestlers are expected to compete Saturday at the Jim Fox Open in Dubuque, but Perry wouldn’t be allowed to serve the suspension by sitting out that tournament.

“That’s not a scheduled meet,” Mims said. “We had our schedule submitted to the Big Ten at the start of the year and the next meet is what he’s required to sit out. We waited for interpretation on that, and we got the interpretation on that today, so that’s the way it is.”

Thus, Iowa will likely use freshman Jake Kerr in place of Perry against sixth-ranked Iowa State freshman Jon Reader. Kerr dropped a decision against Reader last season in the championship match of the Glen Brand Open, but Kerr defeated Reader in a freestyle meeting later in the spring at the FILA Junior freestyle championships in Las Vegas.