After much speculation and anticipation, Max Murin and Austin DeSanto returned to action for Iowa wrestling on Saturday night.

Murin had not hit the mat since the Hawkeyes’ Jan. 18 dual with Nebraska, and DeSanto last wrestled Jan. 31 against Penn State.

The pair did not disappoint in their return against Minnesota.

DeSanto seemingly didn’t miss a beat. The 133-pounder amassed nine takedowns and capped a 24-8 technical fall over Boo Dryden with a four-point near fall at 1:24 mark in the third period.

Before Iowa fans finished showering DeSanto with cheers, Murin took the mat.

“I didn’t even know I was wrestling today to be honest,” Murin said. “I talked to [Iowa head coach Tom Brands] earlier in the week and he said, ‘We’re probably going to go with [Carter] Happel.’ I was like ‘alright.’ I mean, I really didn’t know that I was wrestling or anything. I kind of liked it though.”

Brands didn’t inform Murin that he would be participating in the dual until intermission, just one match prior to the 141-pound bout.

“Me and Happel were both warming up, and then [Brands] pointed at me and asked, ‘Do you want to go?’ Murin said. “And I go, ‘Heck yeah, let’s go.’”

Murin came up big against No. 4 Mitch McKee, showing no signs of rust. With 34 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, Murin secured an upset victory with a takedown to end the match.

“I’m kind of mad at myself for celebrating [excessively],” Murin said. I tell myself I don’t want to celebrate like that until I hit my goal at [NCAA National Championships]. [Winning] was kind of a big relief. It felt really good. It was an awesome team win too.”

Noticeably absent during Murin’s match was the shoulder brace he had been sporting all season long.

“Murin made the call,” Brands said. “Medical team green lighted him. [They asked Murin], ‘How do you feel? You’re making the call.’ [Murin] said, ‘I’m going.’”

The eight team points Murin and DeSanto contributed propelled Iowa to a 35-6 victory over the Golden Gophers. Iowa improved to 12-0 overall and 9-0 in the Big Ten this season.

The Hawkeyes officially clinched the Big Ten regular season title outright with the win, and they are only getting stronger.

“Assad could’ve went [tonight],” Brands said “You’ll see him in the lineup next week. It’s one of those things where you’ve got to be smart to the very end, not just smart to the kind of end. So, he’ll be ready, he was ready tonight.”

Assad’s return to the lineup will come Feb. 23 against Oklahoma State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Cowboys are currently ranked 10th nationally.

“There’s things that nag us,” Brands said. “We got to get better. We had some guys that didn’t wrestle their best and did some work to bail themselves out of some holes. We’re getting ready for the Big Ten Championships and the [NCAA] National Tournament coming right up around the corner, but we got Oklahoma State coming to town. That’s a big dual. I don’t know if [the Cowboys] are ranked, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a program that has a lot of pride in the sport of wrestling.”