5. Mike Kelly must wrestle above seed. Kelly has shown more than once this season that he has the capability to wrestle far above his current ranking. If Iowa is going to win the 2015 NCAA championship he'll have to. Losses like the one he had in the dual against Missouri to Joey LaValle aren't going to cut it. Performances like he had at this year's Midlands with a third place finish and against All American Anthony Perrotti with a 4-0 win, are an absolute must if Iowa wants to get past Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio State and Cornell for a team title.
4. Mike Evans needs to be THE BEST at 174 lbs.He's already one of the best at 174, but that isn't good enough if Iowa is going to win the NCAA title. The fabulous four of 174, include Evans, Penn State's Matt Brown, Nebraska's Robert Kokesh and Minnesota's Logan Storley. When it is all said and done, Evans needs to be the one amongst them that is standing at the very top of the podium. If not, he can stand no lower than fourth.
3. Josh Dziewa and Nick Moore need to step it up and perform. Dziewa has the ability to defeat a lot of guys and be a top eight wrestler. Moore has the talent and ability to be a NCAA finalist. No way is he beating Oklahoma State's Alex Dieringer, but as far as capability is concerned he can beat anyone else at this weight including Bo Jordan, Michael Moreno, Isaac Jordan and Nick Sulzer. Is making the finals and finishing in second place within Moore's potential? Without a doubt it is. Unfortunately so is going 0-2 and the same can be said for Dziewa. The pressure is on these two. What will make or break Iowa is how well Dziewa and Moore end up wrestling. At the end of the day if Iowa win's the title, it'll be cause of Dziewa and More, if they lose the title, it'll be because of Dziewa and Moore.
2. Offense must replace counter wrestling. Some guys are able to strictly stick to counter wrestling and be successful with it. Hell look at Derek St. John who countered his way to four All American honors and an NCAA title. It can certainly be done but for all of the Hawkeyes currently relying solely on counter wrestling I would love to let them in on a little secret. It is NOT working! Take a friggin' shot!!! You wrestling for the University of Iowa. A program that prides itself on tradition and that tradition is a relentless state of attack, attack, attack. Why the Iowa guys aren't being offensive is beyond me. Counter wrestling leads to 3-2 or 2-1 wins, when you can win with it. It doesn't generate the bonus points of major decisions, technical falls and falls. You earn those through offense. To get past the other teams in the hunt, bonus points will be a must.
1. Eliminate the "First or Nothing" mentality. To quote the film, "The Season: Iowa's Men of the Mat" - "Luke Eustice just finished second in the nation. To a Hawkeye, it's as good as last." No, actually second place is a hell of a lot better than last place because second place gets a ton of team points that help win your team an NCAA title, even if you individually don't. Going 0-2, which would be last, doesn't do jack squat for your school. I know how bad these guys want to win individual NCAA titles, but for your team, you have got to be hungry for third place. Ideally it'd be fantastic if the Hawkeyes could go into the NCAA tournament and walk out with 10 individual NCAA champions. That's not realistic though. Guys are going to get beat, not everyone is making the finals. Team championships are won through the consolation bracket. When beat in the first, second, quarter final or semi final rounds, these guys need to be hungry and fighting through the consolation bracket to get third. The feeling like a failure because you aren't going to be NCAA champion and then losing to someone in the consolations you would have otherwise majored because your heart just isn't in it anymore isn't going to cut it. You have to be hungry for third. That's how team titles are won.
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