CLEVELAND — Two weeks ago, six Iowa wrestlers fell to the backside in their opening matches at the Big Ten Championships.

On March 15 at the NCAA Championships, Tom Brands sent eight of his nine wrestlers into the second round. Iowa’s lone loss of the day came from 174-pounder Joey Gunther — he was topped 13-2 by Oklahoma State’s Jacobe Smith.

Other than that blemish, Iowa wrestlers won nine matches, two of which came courtesy of unseeded 141-pounder Vince Turk. The sophomore won his pigtail match with a major decision over Lock Haven’s Kyle Shoop.

He returned roughly an hour later to take down the No. 16 seed Cole Weaver of Indiana with a buzzer beater. Turk wound up down to Indiana’s Cole Weaver but somehow managed to emerge on top. He used a final-second takedown and 2 back points to overcome a 3-0 deficit as time expired.

Six of Iowa’s nine matches in Session 1 ended with bonus points in favor of the Hawkeyes, catapulting Iowa to the front of the team race with 18.5 points. Ohio State is a close second at 17.0, and Penn State is third with 16.0.

“[Bonus points] are a big deal,” Brands said. “It’s a philosophy tougher to execute than to say, and our guys did a good job this round.”

After Turk’s pigtail match, Spencer Lee started action in Round 1 for Iowa with the quickest technical fall of his season. Lee walked off the mat in 1:41 with just one takedown and 14 near-fall points on Alonzo Allen of Chattanooga.

Michael Kemerer continued Iowa’s bonus point parade with a fall over Coleman Hammond of Cal State-Bakersfield in 1:38. Alex Marinelli followed with a pin in 6:20 over Jacob Morrissey of Purdue.

After Gunther’s loss, Iowa’s Mitch Bowman earned a major decision over 15th-seeded Canten Marriott of Missouri. Cash Wilcke earned a decision over Eric Shultz of Nebraska with a last-second takedown.

Iowa closed the session with a Sam Stoll fall at heavyweight. The junior stuck Antonio Pelusi of Franklin & Marshall in 2:25.

The Iowa wrestlers’ efforts will need to continue if they hope to stay out front. Ohio State still has all 10 of its wrestlers in the championship bracket, and Penn State has eight.

“There’s a lot of wrestling left,” Brands said. “We’re getting ready for the next matches. That’s the most important thing. It can be a lot of fun. Make it go your way, and it’s a lot of fun. That’s what we want to do — keep it rolling, and do what do best: wrestle our matches.”