Craig Sesker USA Wrestling

Iowa’s Brent Metcalf shoots in on North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell during the 2009 NCAA finals in St. Louis. Photo by Larry Slater.

IOWA CITY – Brent Metcalf took the college wrestling world by storm during the 2007-08 season.

Metcalf’s first season as an Iowa Hawkeye was a memorable one as he won his first NCAA title, led Iowa to the national team title and won the Hodge Trophy as the best college wrestler in the country.

He came back strong again last season, extending his winning streak to 69 matches before he was upset by North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell in the 2009 NCAA finals. Metcalf helped the Hawkeyes edge Ohio State for the team title last March. Iowa won the title without crowning an individual champion.

Metcalf jumped right into freestyle competition after the NCAAs and placed second at the 2009 U.S. Nationals. He fell short of placing at the U.S. World Team Trials.

He just started his senior season as the nation’s top-ranked wrestler at 149 pounds for the No. 1 Iowa Hawkeyes.  Read more... (1333 words, estimated 5:20 mins reading time)

Brent Metcalf has been a national champion. He has been a national runner-up. He has been an All-American — twice. He has been a Big Ten champion — twice. He has been the Outstanding Wrestler at the Big Ten championships — twice. He has been the Outstanding Wrestler of the NCAA championships. He has been the Dan Hodge Trophy winner. He has a 69-match winning streak.

Yet, he is not satisfied.

Accolades such as that could make anybody’s head swell. But Metcalf is not the pompous type. While the 23-year-old exudes cool confidence, he has remained grounded. He doesn’t bask in the glory of his victories; instead, he chooses to find motivation in his few losses.

The Hawkeye senior has been wrestling since he was 8. From the moment he first stepped onto the mat, he has been an opponent to be feared.

He began in the novice division of youth wrestling, but that didn’t last long. In just one weekend, he advanced to the regular division, a transition that took other successful wrestlers months. After that, he won the youth state championships in his home state of Michigan as well as tournaments across the country.  Read more... (276 words, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

Portion of a sports columnist from the Creston (Iowa) News-Advertiser drawing some links between Caldwell-Metcalf and Owings-Gable…

Creston/O-M coach Darrell Frain has often told me tournaments are won on the back side of the brackets, and Iowa proved that with its consolation performance on the Saturday morning of this year’s NCAA meet in St. Louis. Guys like Ryan Morningstar, Dan Erekson and Phil Keddy were the real heroes for the Hawks, rebounding from disappointing losses to gain important team points in the consolations.

Of course, the most noteworthy match was the unexpected loss by unbeaten junior Brent Metcalf at 149 pounds, and the team point deduction he got for shoving North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell on the edge of the mat as time expired.

But here’s the deal. Metcalf only knows one thing, to wrestle until the final whistle. Caldwell started doing back clips, inbounds, before time expired. Some wrestlers would have shoved that showboat right off the stage in those circumstances. What’s with no unsportsmanlike call against Caldwell?

And here’s the curious part. In a tiring match against a wrestler (Metcalf) known for his third-period domination, Caldwell took 20 seconds for injury time in the final period because of back spasms. Then, he is able to do back flips with five seconds left?  Read more... (334 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

By J.R. Ogden
Gazette sports editor

The college wrestling season ended last weekend in St. Louis with the University of Iowa earning its second NCAA championship in Tom Brands’ three years as head coach.

But the news didn’t stop at the Scottrade Center.

Last week, the University of Northern Iowa gave Coach Brad Penrith a three-year contract extension, and the University of Iowa’s Brent Metcalf apologized for his late push of North Carolina State national champion Darrion Caldwell.

My question on both stories is, why?

Brad Penrith is a great person who cares deeply about his wrestlers and his program. The Panthers’ 22nd-place finish hurts him as much as anyone. He wants the program to be among the best in the country, a consistent top-10 team that flirts with the top five from time to time.

But isn’t nine years enough time to get that turned around?

Penrith’s teams have finished 22nd, 20th, 34th and 28th in the past four NCAA tournaments. Moza Fay was the Panthers’ lone All-American those years.

He placed twice, including sixth this season.  Read more... (647 words, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

By John Huckaby

This year’s NCAA championships will be remembered for three things — North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell’s upset win over Iowa’s Brent Metcalf at 149 pounds, Metcalf’s unsportsmanlike push of Caldwell after losing and the courage and skill of Arizona State’s Anthony Robles, a fourth-place finisher. Let’s look at each.

Caldwell has wrestled Metcalf three times — a dual meet early in the 2007- 2008 season, this season’s All-Star meet (doesn’t count in NCAA records), and the finals on Saturday night. He’s beaten him twice.

The first time, Caldwell, from New Jersey, decked Metcalf. Then in the All-Star meet, Metcalf easily won a 19-3 technical fall. It was Caldwell 11-6 in the finals Saturday.

Caldwell took it to Metcalf — who had won 69 straight bouts including last season’s championship final — early and managed to tire out the Hawkeye to a certain extent with a tough ride in the first period, eventually building a riding time point for the match. Metcalf isn’t a strong technical wrestler on his feet and that’s where Caldwell made his hay. Here’s hoping we see a couple more of these matchups down the line.  Read more... (889 words, estimated 3:33 mins reading time)

PARK RIDGE, IL – Iowa wrestler Brent Metcalf and Northwestern lacrosse standout Hannah Nielsen were respectively named the Jesse Owens Male and Suzy Favor Female Athletes of the Year, the Big Ten Conference announced on Thursday. The Big Ten Athletes of the Year are selected by a panel of conference media members from nominations submitted by each institution.

Metcalf led the Iowa wrestling program to its 21st overall NCAA Championship in 2008, scoring 23 team points to be named the event’s Outstanding Wrestler. The sophomore earned the individual national title at 149 pounds by defeating Bubba Jenkins of Penn State, 14-8, in the finals. At the conclusion of the season, Metcalf took home the Dan Hodge Trophy, given each year to the nation’s best wrestler, and was also named the NCAA Wrestler of the Year by RevWrestling.com. The Davison, MI, native was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year and the Outstanding Wrestler of the Big Ten Championships, becoming just the fourth grappler in school history to earn both awards in the same season. In 2008, his first year with the Hawkeyes, Metcalf finished with a 35-1 record, ending the season on a 35-match winning streak, posting a 21-1 dual record and a perfect 8-0 mark in Big Ten competition. He was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 16 and Jan. 23, becoming first wrestler in conference history to earn the honor in consecutive weeks. Metcalf also picked up weekly accolades from TheMat.com on Jan. 16 and Mar. 12. An academic all-Big Ten honoree and NWCA all-academic team member, Metcalf was named Division I Outstanding Wrestler at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in January. He is the fourth male Hawkeye to be named Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year and the first since Chuck Long in 1986. He is the third Iowa wrestler to receive the top conference distinction.  Read more... (1212 words, estimated 4:51 mins reading time)