Nasir Bailey is learning from the master of tilts.

Bailey, one of Iowa’s 141-pounders, is 10-5 this season after transferring from Little Rock. He has won two matches by major decision and two matches by technical fall.

Working out with three-time NCAA champion and Olympic silver medalist Spencer Lee in Iowa’s wrestling room has helped Bailey with his technique.

“I definitely have been trying to take a lot from him,” Bailey said Tuesday. “He was like, ‘Don’t stop moving when you’re on top.’ I feel like I’m not at that point yet. I’m just trying to learn new techniques, things he did, and try to implement them into my wrestling.”

Iowa coach Tom Brands said it’s a good relationship for Bailey to have in the wrestling room.

“They do gravitate toward each other,” he said. “The thing with tilts and being dominant on top is you are a guy that has to be fundamentally strong with the basics to keep the guy down, to keep him flat, to be able to work your tilts. It's not just catching, not, ‘If I catch him, fine.’ That’s a little easier, a little more efficient, but if I don't catch it, I’ve got to work hard at those fundamentals. And that's what the focus is. It's work hard on those fundamentals of riding, keeping a guy down, keeping him flat. Ride flat, turn, pin, in that order.”

Bailey, a junior, is coming off a 3-2 win over Penn State’s Braeden Davis — the Hawkeyes’ lone victory in last Friday’s 32-3 loss to the top-ranked Nittany Lions.

“I think it was a big win, and it just lets me know that I've been doing things right, so keep doing it,” Bailey said.

Bailey went 52-9 in two seasons at Little Rock. He placed fourth at 133 at the NCAA championships as a freshman, but went 2-2 and didn’t place last season.

“I would say my biggest takeaway from last season was just that the season doesn't matter — it doesn't really matter what happened during the season, it matters what happened in March,” Bailey said. “I think I had a great season last year, but I didn't have the tournament that I wanted to have, and that still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

It provided Bailey with motivation for this season as he moved up to 141.

“It’s definitely been an adjustment period, going from being like one of the stronger dudes in a weight class to being a smaller (141),” Bailey said. “It’s different, but I think I'm getting used to it. I mean, I understand what I need to do out there.”

Bouncing Back

Brands said the Hawkeyes, who stayed at fourth in this week’s NWCA rankings, are looking forward to Friday’s dual at #6 Nebraska, and aren’t looking back at last week’s loss to Penn State.

“You have to come back, and they're coming back,” he said. “So you go back to work and you keep moving forward.”

The fact that the Hawkeyes are facing a ranked rival is irrelevant, Brands said.

“The ‘next best thing’ is kind of funny to me, because we're in a dual meet season right now in the Big Ten,” Brands said. “So it's the next date, which is what you said. So yeah, Nebraska is the next one, and that's where our focus is. You analyze with a win the same as you do with a loss. You analyze with a loss the same as you do with a win. You get better. You pick yourself up and you go forward. If you win, you're never satisfied. You pick yourself up and you go forward. 

“Probably the biggest thing is, is the ‘Gable Principle,’ that it's always easier to move forward with success. We didn't have a lot of success, so it's going to take a little more resolve and a little more courage, or whatever the words you want to use, while they're moving forward. And like I said, they're doing that.”

Arnold At 184

Gabe Arnold will move up to 184 pounds for Friday’s dual. Arnold will be replacing Angelo Ferrari, who has wrestled the last five duals at the weight class.

“We have great depth with Gabe Arnold,” Brands said. “We have a guy that is all in for what we need, and that’s where we’re at.”

Arnold has been at three different weights this season. He is 4-2 at 174, including a 4-2 loss to Penn State’s top-ranked Levi Haines last Friday. He is 4-0 at 184, and has two wins at 197.

Keeping It In House

A week after Brands announced that 197-pounder Massoma Endene was no longer on the Hawkeyes’ roster, the subject again came up during Brands’ question-and-answer period.

Brands was asked about an online rumor regarding why Endene was no longer on the team.

“I've learned not to interrupt, but I'm going to interrupt you there,” Brands said. “Sorry. Here's the thing — everybody here knows how we run our program. We do not air it out. And whatever is said out there, we do not air it out. We're not going to air our side of the story. We're not going to do that. Sometimes these things work out, and sometimes they don't, and this is one of them where it didn't work out, and that doesn't have any reflection on anything about if this is personal or not. We’re not going to talk about it.”

Endene, who was ranked fourth nationally at 197-pounder, hadn’t wrestled since an 8-2 defeat to second-ranked Rocky Elam in the 20-14 dual loss to Iowa State on November 30. Endene was 6-1 this season.

Choices At 197

Redshirt freshman Brody Sampson and true freshman Harvey Ludington are the choices at 197 heading into Friday’s dual.

That one, Brands said, might be a true match-time decision.

“They battle quite often — Sampson and Ludington,” Brands said. “And there is a clash of styles there a little bit. It's a very fun, healthy rivalry in the room, and that's great. We're not going to have a wrestle-off there. We're going to do the right thing by the individual and for the team, and this will be a minute-before-they-go-out-to-the-mat decision. We got two guys going — Sampson and Ludington — and we'll figure that out as we come to Friday.”

Sampson was the choice last Friday against Penn State, losing by pin to top-ranked Josh Barr in 3:42.