By Walker Clemans

Daton Fix in 2018. Photo credit: John Sachs via Flickr.

Bout at The Ball Park on February 12 was an event that pitted two of the best teams in college wrestling against each other. The event took place at Globe Life Field, home of the MLB’s Texas Rangers, in Arlington, Texas.

The day began with the greatest rivalry in College wrestling, Iowa versus Oklahoma State. The Hawkeyes come into this dual meet 12-1 in dual meets this season, with their only loss by way of Penn State. The Cowboys were 11-3 on the year and had dropped their last two duals in upsets by Iowa State and University of Northern Iowa. So fans expected a vengeful approach from the win-starved Cowboys on that Saturday.

The premier matchup in this dual was between 133 pounders Austin Desanto (3) of Iowa and Daton Fix (1) of Okie State. Fix had won the past two encounters between these wrestlers and came into this Bout ranked number one in the nation. Desanto garnered a somewhat infamous reputation, depending on whom you ask, during his years in college and since transferring to Iowa from Drexel University his sophomore year. Desanto’s tough-as-nails, high-paced wrestling style earned him upsets in the past, so a win over Fix was most definitely on the table. This match was an incredible style matchup between Desanto’s unrelenting pressure on offense and Fix’s craftier, slightly flashier approach. Fix pulled out the win 5-3. The Hawkeyes would have the final say, however, securing a 23-9 meet victory.

Helen Maroulis at the 2016 Olympic games. Photo credit: John Sachs via Flickr.

The second scheduled matchup of the day was scheduled to be a rare international dual between the U.S. and Iran. These two teams have been dominant forces on the international circuit in the past few years, with Iran coming in just above team USA in the team race. Unfortunately, six members of the Iranian team, including two wrestlers and a coach, were denied visas to enter the United States. This appeared to be in response to their coach chanting “Death to America” on live television. The matchup was instead replaced with an underwhelming lineup of international all-stars who preceded to fall in short order to the U.S. lineup 

The final scheduled dual was between the U.S. Women’s team and Mongolia. The U.S. women owned this matchup on paper, with almost their entire lineup holding wins over their Mongolian counterparts. This stacked women’s team included world champs Helen Maroulis, Kayla Miracle, and Victoria Anthony. This event was also replaced with an international all-stars matchup, which was equally as underwhelming.