ISU transfer back in business at Iowa

By Andy Hamilton • Iowa City Press-Citizen • July 3, 2009

Rankings apparently came into play when Tyler Clark made his decision to leave Iowa State and transfer to Iowa.

The two-time NCAA qualifier was listing some of the factors Thursday that led to his departure from the Cyclones when the business major mentioned the University of Iowa’s Tippie Business School, which recently ranked 44th nationally by U.S. News. Iowa State was unranked.

Of course, Iowa’s No. 1 wrestling program factored into the equation too.

“Right now,” Clark said, “this is the place to be.”

Clark, a 125-pounder, feels so strongly Iowa is the place for him that he’s sacrificing a scholarship check and an opportunity to compete next year to join the Hawkeyes.

Clark said Iowa State granted him a conditional release after coach Cael Sanderson left the Cyclones for Penn State and Kevin Jackson took over in Ames. Clark was restricted from transferring to Iowa penalty-free. Thus, he can’t have contact with Tom Brands or the Iowa coaches until his first day of classes in the fall, he’ll have to pay his way through school next year without scholarship assistance and he won’t be eligible to compete for the Hawkeyes next season.