Pressure is an everyday ingredient in the sport of wrestling. Individuals are expected to compete at the highest level day in and day out.

	T.J. Williams won his 90th career match with an 8-6 decision against Minnesota on Sunday.

But if you ask Iowa wrestlers Jody Strittmatter, Eric Juergens, Doug Schwab or T.J. Williams what pressure is, they will just shrug it off.

"Coming in to the program, there's already pressure, but that's why we all came here," Schwab said. "We knew that there was going to be pressure, but we want titles. You can't be afraid to work."

For the Iowa wrestling team, this is unfamiliar ground -- not because they have lost four dual meets this season, but because this is one of the most unbalanced teams Hawkeye fans have seen in a long time.

Strittmatter, Juergens, Schwab and Williams are the leaders of this squad, and if Iowa is going to win the national title this year, the pressure lies on their shoulders.

Wrestling's version of the Fearsome Foursome set the standard for the level most others in the sport of collegiate wrestling strive to achieve. The four have combined to win three Division I national titles and two Division II national titles, along with five third-place finishes at the NCAA Tournament -- astonishing numbers, unless you are one of the four.

"We want first or nothing," Schwab said as Juergens nodded in agreement. "That's what we work for, that's what we believe -- that every single one of us is going to be a champion."

"In my mind, I can't see any of us not climbing atop the podium," Juergens added. "There's some question marks, but the good thing about our team is there are some guys who you can really count on to pull through."

To use the term "question marks" might be an understatement. The 197- and 285-pound weight classes together have combined for 20 wins to go with 42 losses. Ben Shirk recently won the 165-pound starting spot.

But when a teammate starts discussing question marks, a teammate also lacks confidence, which could be the only thing to stop Iowa this season.

"This team is just not as balanced as previous teams have been," Juergens said. "When we lose, we have three or four guys who win, but none of us have seemed to be able to put it together at the same time this year. We need to have total team effort.

"We really don't have that confidence. That's why we have to work that much harder. There's a couple of holes. There are question marks, no doubt about it, and whenever you have question marks, the rest of the guys have to pick it up."

	Eric Juergens and the Hawkeyes seek their seventh straight team title.

The team effort has indeed been lacking in each of Iowa's losses.

In a 21-14 defeat at Oklahoma State, top-ranked Juergens was defeated in a crucial match that could have helped decide the dual. In that meet, as well as in a 20-17 loss to Minnesota and recent losses to Michigan (18-16) and Minnesota (17-16), Iowa lost at 165, 184, 197 and 285 pounds.

And that is when pressure turns into expectations. The pressure to win is no longer valid. It is now a pressure to conquer and destroy.

" (Iowa head coach Jim) Zalesky said the pressure is going to be on us all year long to score bonus points," Strittmatter said, "so we've been in this position already."

Added Juergens: "We get told to get bonus points a lot more. Every match it's stressed on us before we even leave for the trip."

It has been hard for the Hawkeyes to hide their weaknesses, but they have basked in showing off their strengths.

Only three losses -- the Juergens upset and Strittmatter losses to Stephen Abas and Leroy Vega -- have scratched the records of these four. Other than that, they have been the glue that has kept this team together. Make that super glue.

"We've had some weights where we struggled," Schwab said. "Right now, 197 and heavyweight, they haven't had a win for quite a while, so to think that we might not get some points at a couple of spots makes us have to pick up our pace even more and make us have to work that much harder.

"I still have confidence in those guys, but the reality of the way they're competing and the way they're wrestling doesn't look real good right now."

The struggles of some of the individuals in Iowa's starting lineup this year has disappointed and frustrated Juergens, among others.

"I can understand if a guy loses once in a while, you can't fault him," Juergens said, "but I have a hard time with people getting major decisioned on our team. I don't think that's acceptable."

The status of this year's Hawkeye team has led many to believe the Iowa wrestling program is going downhill. But in the minds of Iowa wrestlers, if being favored to win a seventh consecutive NCAA title constitutes going downhill, it's one most coaches wouldn't mind taking a peak over.

"I heard that coming in when Gable left," Schwab said. "This is the fourth year and we're still going."

Schwab also feels that other teams still fear Iowa, no matter what they say in the press and media.

"I think a lot of people don't want to wrestle a hard pace," he said. "I see a lot of guys who seem happy with winning by one point but that's not what we're about. We are about dominating."

To help keep the program at the top level, the four seniors agreed that their roles changed somewhat, especially with them exiting the team after this season. They stressed the importance of being leaders and to set examples, even if, as Juergens puts it, it's something as simple as "showing some guys how to warm up right or to show them how sometimes you have to go the extra mile."

Strittmatter also added that coaches have worked endlessly to ensure that Iowa wrestling is still No. 1.

"(Zalesky) has spent a lot of time here, coming in at 7 in the morning and leaving late at night some nights," the No. 2-ranked 125-pound wrestler said. "He's trying to do what it takes to get those guys where they need to be."

	Jody Strittmatter and his senior teammates feel pressured to score bonus points.

But for now, this foursome must worry about their future, and then their team's future -- in that order. Winning a team title is always a top priority in the Iowa wrestling room, but these wrestlers understand that the best way to help their team win is to worry about their individual performance first.

"No matter what happens with those guys, my job is to win a national title," Schwab said. "It's a team sport, but it's also an individual sport. I got third last year and nobody else had to go home with that or think about that every day since. I want the team to win no matter what but it doesn't change what I need to do."

Juergens added that "around tournament time, the best you can do for your team is to take care of yourself. When it comes to a tournament, I'm pulling for my teammates and I want them to win, but until I wrestle my match, I have to worry about myself."

With the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments now on the horizon, this is the attitude the foursome will need to take with them. Iowa needs these four wrestlers as much as a shark needs food. They are the Hawkeye life support system for the remainder of the season, and even though a national title can't be won on the performance of four wrestlers alone, it definitely can't be won without them.

"We can't just count on four guys to win. We have to have other guys step up," Zalesky said. "You always have to have leaders. They are the guys who have been there before. They are very important to our team right now."

If this is the last run for Iowa, it is only fitting that the NCAA Tournament will take place in the friendly confines of Carver-Hawkeye Arena in mid-March. This comes after Iowa endured five straight weeks of being on the road, and for Strittmatter, Juergens and Schwab, they endured an extra road trip for the NWCA All-Star Classic at the end of January.

"One thing about being on the road is that it's hard to get a lot of good training time in," Zalesky said. "We are going to be in our environment and any time you are in your own environment, that helps out."

Juergens doesn't feel Iowa would be able to use a home-mat advantage at the NCAA Tournament to win the title, but does agree it is nice for him and the team.

"I don't think it's advantageous as far as winning, but it's advantageous as far as having familiar surroundings," he said. "We don't have to worry about where to be, what time are we leaving, what classes do we have to make up."

Is there pressure on this powerful foursome in the Hawkeye lineup? Zalesky seems to think there is, but feels "it's just going to help them prepare for the national tournament."

But pressure is something these kids have known for years. This may be the only program in the nation that does not necessarily praise a wrestler for being just an All-American. They want, and expect, more.

The only question now is how much longer can the Fearsome Foursome continue to achieve more than anyone else in the country?

Contact John Fuller at fuller@intermatwrestle.com. For more information, check out InterMat at www.intermatwrestle.com.