Iowa’s DeSanto takes down two of nation’s best
Austin DeSanto is getting so good that veteran Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands can predict the outcome of his matches well before they take place.
DeSanto, an Exeter Township grad, is in his first season with the Hawkeyes and is ranked eighth in the nation in 133 pounds. That ranking should move up after he defeated 7thranked Ethan Lizak of Minnesota 6-1 on Jan. 13 in Minneapolis, Minn. and battled to a big 6-4 victory over No. 3-ranked Nick Suriano of Rutgers on Jan. 19 in Iowa City before the usual sellout crowd of 15,000 in CulverHawkeye Arena.
Three days before the Rutgers match, Brands told the media what he anticipated for the DeSanto-Suriano match.
“Austin is going to wrestle for seven minutes and he’s a handful,” the coach said.
DeSanto actually missed his prediction by 1.5 seconds when he scored a 6-4 decision. He’s 12-1 and has won eight straight. The unbeaten fourth-ranked Hawkeyes are 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the Big 12 Conference.
“I’m getting better every single week,” DeSanto said at a press conference following the Rutgers match. “Those guys are all toplevel dudes (talking about his teammates).”
The only drawback is that after that he beat both standouts the team was deducted a point after some post-match jawing from DeSanto.
Teammate Spencer Lee, an All-American at 125 pounds, thinks he’s a “toplevel dude” as well.
“Austin gets all fired up then he goes out there and wrestles his match,” Lee said. “His emotions take over, but he’s working on it. He is an emotional kid and we love him and he believes in us.”
The 5-foot-7 junior had a big week for the Penn State Berks women’s basketball team. On Jan. 13, she had 19 points and 14 rebounds in a 69-66 North Eastern Athletic Conference game against Wells in Reading. On Jan. 16, Herman had 21 points and eight rebounds as the Nittany Lions topped Lancaster Bible 62-57 to go 5-7 overall and 4-3 in league play. She leads the team in scoring (14.3) and is second in rebounding (7.5) along with 29 assists and 14 steals. The sophomore is a member of a strong diving unit for the George Washington men’s swim team. He finished third in the 3-meter dive behind two teammates with a score of 263.40 and sixth in the 1-meter dive with a 224.40 total as the Colonials defeated Georgetown and American on Jan. 12 in Washington, D.C. Tomczyk helped the team capture its second straight Atlantic 10 Conference Championship as a freshman, finishing eighth in both the 1-meter (262.80) and the 3-meter (270.10).
The 6-foot-1 sophomore guard is starting to find the range with the Widener men’s basketball team, the Pride 7-9 overall and 4-4 in MAC Commonwealth play after a 73-66 league loss to Arcadia on Jan. 16 in Chester. Peters had 11 points and four rebounds in the game. He had 10 points in a 10171 league victory over Stevenson on Jan. 12. Peters has played in all 16 games with seven starts and is averaging 8.3 points and 3.0 rebounds with 18 assists and 13 steals. He has hit 21 of 54 3-point attempts (38.9 percent).
The sophomore was just one of two wrestlers to finish third for Ursinus in the annual Will Abele Invitational on Jan. 12 in Collegeville. Maack was beaten in the opening round in the 184 pound division, but bounced back to score a pair of major decisions – 14-1 and 12-4 – to reach the third place bout where he defeated Ryan Marszel of SUNY-Oneonta 9-5. He’s 6-7 on the season with three falls and two major decisions. His fastest pin (1:53) came at York’s New Foundation Invitational on Dec. 1.
The freshman is seeing action and scoring points for the Drexel women’s swim team, the junior-senior dominated squad 5-1 on the season after turning back Georgetown 176-112 on Jan. 19 in Philadelphia. McCurley finished third in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:29.89. She picked up her first collegiate points in a 184.5-109.5 victory over Seton Hall on Oct. 27 when she was a member of the 200 free relay B team which finished third (1:39.78) and was fourth in the 200 breaststroke (2:28.81).
The 6-foot-2 junior forward has played in all 16 games with 14 starts for the James Madison women’s basketball team, the Dukes 12-4 overall and 4-1 in Colonial States Athletic Conference game after suffering their first league loss – 66-63 to North Carolina Wilmington on Jan. 18 in Wilmington, N.C. Merritt had eight points and six rebounds in the game. She’s averaging 8.8 points a game and has three double-doubles, the latest (18 points and 10 rebounds) came in a 68-43 victory over Delaware on Jan. 6.
The junior continues to be a top performer for the 3-5 Rider women’s swim team. In a 178-92 victory over Monmouth on Jan. 15 in Lawrenceville, N.J., Iswalt won the 50 freestyle (24.88) and the 100 freestyle (55.32) and also swam a leg on the winning 200 medley relay (1:48.78). On Jan. 19, in a 185-142 loss to Bryant, also in Lawrenceville, she finished second in the 50 free (24.85) and was also second in the 100 free (55.61).