Minneapolis – Iowa looked nearly unbeatable during Session 1 of the 2019 Big Ten Championships, sending all but one wrestler into the quarterfinals.

That didn’t last long.

Six Hawkeyes dropped their quarterfinal matches and fell to the wrestlebacks, leaving Spencer Lee, Austin DeSanto, Alex Marinelli, and Jacob Warner – who all had first-round byes – in the running for gold.

With plenty of action still to go, here’s a look at Iowa’s performance so far, by the numbers.

4 – Matches lost by 2 points or less

Iowa couldn’t find a way to get the job done in its close matches in Session 1. While the Hawkeyes dropped four matches decided by 2 points or less, they only won one, as Cash Wilcke pulled out a 2-1 victory over Minnesota’s Brandon Krone in the first round.

Iowa’s inability to finish has been a concern all season, as head coach Tom Brands has often noted the importance of wrestling a full seven minutes.

Arguably the most disappointing of the bunch came in Pat Lugo’s match against No. 6 seed Brady Berge of Penn State. It took two sudden victory periods, but Berge got the best of the third-seeded Lugo as Penn State continued to be Iowa’s Achilles’ heel.

“The theme is that points are hard to come by – we have to make them go our way,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said. “[Against] Lugo, the guy went to the edge, went to the edge, went to the edge. We had a stall call early. We’ve got to pick up on that. We never went to offense and points are going to come hard when you don’t go to offense.”

The Hawkeyes have experienced first-hand the importance of finishing matches in just the first session in Minneapolis. Now with four wrestlers remaining in the Championship Bracket, Iowa will need to take that to heart if it wants to crown an individual champion.

2-3 – Seeds of Hawkeyes in the semifinals

The Hawkeyes have performed well when favored to win. All four Iowa grapplers in the semifinals are seeded in the top three, making the favorite in all of their matches thus far.

That talent margin will certainly thin in the semis as each Hawkeye opponent is ranked third or higher.

Luckily for Iowa, three of its four semifinalists have already toppled their opponents this season. Lee beat Sean Russell, DeSanto topped Nick Suriano, and Marinelli defeated Evan Wick twice. Warner is the only Hawkeye who hasn’t battled his opponent this season.

Although some competing already know their opponents, Brands already knows what he’s doing for those in the semis and wrestlebacks.

“Get ready to go, familiarize them with their opponents, of course, and get ready to go,” he said.

1 – No. 1 seeds faced

Iowa has only faced one No. 1 seed all day in Minnesota’s Gable Steveson and although the Gopher heavyweight may be named after an Iowa legend, he wasn’t kind to the Hawkeyes.

Steveson sent Sam Stoll to the consolation bracket with a 5-3 win in the quarterfinals.

The Hawkeyes won’t face another top seed until a potential championship matchup. Sebastian Rivera, Stevan Micic, Vincenzo Joseph, and Bo Nickal all remain in the Championship Bracket.