The hallowed house
Carver-Hawkeye perfect site for wrestling tourney

By JONATHAN BOMBULIE
Collegian Sports Writer

Like Yankee Stadium for baseball, Augusta National for golf or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for auto racing, the 1995 NCAA Wrestling Championships begin at 11 a.m. today in the mecca of the sport -- Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.

And as if No. 1 Iowa, which steamrolled through the Big Ten championships and is heavily favored to take the national title, needed another advantage, it will have the backing of its hometown fans.

"We're not real crazy about going in there with all those Iowa fans," Penn State Coach John Fritz said. "But to be honest, it's good for wrestling. It has the best facilities . . . which is good for the wrestlers. And for the fans, there isn't a bad seat in the house. It sold out a while ago, and that's pretty neat."

The Hawkeyes' dominance in their home arena, which opened in 1983, is unsurpassed. Iowa has won two national titles, two Big Ten crowns and compiled an 84-1 overall record.

"The crowd will probably be intimidating," Lion freshman Glenn Pritzlaff said. "They probably don't like me too much. I'm not going to be nervous, intimidated or anything like that. I'm just going to go out and wrestle."

On a positive note for Penn State -- the Hawkeyes' lone loss at Carver-Hawkeye was to the Lions in 1988, 19-18.

Aside from the Hawkeyes, two other teams qualified all 10 wrestlers for the tournament -- No. 8 Nebraska and No. 14 Illinois. But the Cornhuskers and Fighting Illini aren't expected to claim any individual championships.

The Lions are the only team other than Iowa to have more than two wrestlers ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in their weight class. Consequently, Penn State is No. 2 in the Amateur Wrestling News Tournament Poll.

As dominant as Iowa has been on a team basis, five wrestlers have been just as impressive individually. There are five competitors coming into NCAAs with undefeated records, three of them Hawkeyes.

Jeff McGinness (126), Lincoln McIlravy (150) and Joel Sharratt (190) are decided favorites at their respective weights. The others are T.J. Jaworsky of North Carolina (134), who defeated former Lion Cary Kolat in the 1993 finals, and Lion heavyweight Kerry McCoy.

-- 118 pounds: The favorite is Mike Mena (Iowa). Others to watch include Danny Felix (Arizona State) and Kelvin Jackson (Michigan State).

-- 126 pounds: The favorite is McGinness. Others to watch include Sanshiro Abe (Penn State) and Shawn Enright (Ohio).

-- 134 pounds: The favorite is Jaworsky. Others to watch include Babak Mohammadi (Oregon State) and Mark Ironside (Iowa). The 1994 winner was Jaworsky.

-- 142 pounds: The favorite is Gerry Abas (Fresno State). Others to watch include John Hughes (Penn State) and Bill Zadick (Iowa).

-- 150 pounds: The favorite is McIlravy. Others to watch include Steve Marianetti (Illinois) and Temoer Terry (Nebraska). The 1994 winner was McIlravy.

-- 158 pounds: The favorites are Joe Burke (Seton Hall) and Earl Walker (Boston). Others to watch are Dan Wirnsberger (Michigan State) and Tony Robie (Edinboro).

-- 167 pounds: The favorite is Marcus Mollica (Arizona State). Others to watch include Mark Branch (Oklahoma State) and Chad Biggert (Michigan). The 1994 winner was Branch.

-- 177 pounds: The favorite is Les Gutches (Oregon State). Others to watch include Quincey Clark (Oklahoma) and Ray Brinzer (Iowa).

-- 190 pounds: The favorite is Sharratt. Others to watch include Emilio Collins (Michigan State) and J.J. McGrew (Oklahoma State). The 1994 winner was Sharratt.

-- Heavyweight: The favorite is McCoy. Others to watch include Dan Hicks (Navy) and Tolly Thompson (Nebraska). The 1994 winner was McCoy.