By DAN McCOOL
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Iowa is entering its final Big Ten Conference wrestling weekend today at home, and the key word is avoidance.
The ninth-ranked Hawkeyes (9-6) face sixth-ranked Illinois at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena before rolling out the mat for a 2 p.m. meet against No. 13 Northwestern on Sunday.
Northwestern upset then-No. 3 Illinois 19-16 five days ago to give the Illini their second consecutive conference loss.
Iowa is trying to avoid losing three straight league meets for the first time since falling to Michigan, Northwestern and Michigan State in 1966-67. Illinois has beaten Iowa just twice in the last 43 years, but one of those was last year’s 25-7 decision at Champaign.
“You want to win these duals, but we realize if we don’t, we still have time to get better, “Iowa coach Jim Zalesky said. “The emphasis we’re putting on is more the Big Tens and NCAA.”
Tonight’s meet will be televised live by Iowa Public Television.
A highlight tonight is the clash of styles at 157 pounds between top-ranked Alex Tirapelle of Illinois and No. 7 Joe Johnston.
They met in the finals of the Midlands tournament in December, with Tirapelle winning, 3-0.
The last of Johnston’s two victories over Tirapelle came in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament last season. Tirapelle is riding a 14-match winning streak. Johnston has averaged 14 points in his last four matches since losing to C.P. Schlatter of Minnesota, 12-7, on Jan. 22.
“Tirapelle is a pretty good mat wrestler, good at cutting corners and is a pretty good scrambler, “Zalesky said. “When (Johnston) beat him, he won some of the scrambles. This year he’s lost some of those scrambles.”
A possible rematch Sunday is not expected not to happen. Iowa’s third-ranked Mark Perry sustained his first loss of the season, 5-4, to Jake Herbert of Northwestern, who now is ranked No. 2, in the 174-pound finals of the Midlands. Perry has been bothered by a stinger-like injury to his neck and has not been in the lineup since pinning Marc Bennett of Indiana on Jan. 29.
Herbert said after the Midlands match that he didn’t expect an easy time when he and Perry would meet again.
“I beat him this time, but now he’s got tape on me, “Herbert said.
Zalesky said Perry is not expected for either meet this weekend.
“I’m not sure when he’s going to be in the lineup, “Zalesky said. “We’ve got to have everybody for the Big Tens, that’s where we’ve really got to be ready.”
Northwestern ended a string of 35 consecutive losses to Iowa with a 22-19, come-from-behind victory in Evanston, Ill., last season.
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