The No. 2 Iowa men’s wrestling squad defeated No. 11 Northwestern, 27-9, on Friday behind an upset victory from 20th-ranked 157-pounder Cobe Siebrecht. 

Siebrecht downed the Wildcats ninth-ranked Trevor Chumbley, 6-3, in the 300th all-time dual inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena for his third ranked victory of the season. 

“I felt that my hand fighting and moving my feet was better this match, so I could just feel him kind of fading,” Siebrecht said after the dual. “Then when I got the opportunity to get in on a shot, I put him down hard.”

Siebrecht is 14-4 in his Hawkeye career and 7-1 in his junior season. Five of Siebrecht’s seven wins this season have come in bonus point victories, including two pins and three major decisions. 

Siebrecht suffered his first loss of the season, 12-7,  against Illinois’ Michael Carr on Jan. 6. Then, Siebrecht was scratched from the starting lineup against Purdue on Jan. 8. 

Iowa’s 149-pound Caleb Rathjen bumped up a weight to fill in for Siebrecht and put up a good fight against the Boilermakers’ third-ranked Kendall Coleman, but ultimately fell, 3-2. 

“Last Friday humbled me a little bit,” Siebrecht said. “So, I’m just getting the right mindset back and feeling good, staying healthy, stuff like that. I felt good for this match. I was ready to go, got up for it, and it showed.”

Siebrecht scored takedowns in the first and third periods and mustered one minute of riding time against Chumbley to secure the highest-ranked win of his career. Chumbley was coming off an 8-4 victory over Minnesota’s then-No. 8 Brayton Lee on Jan. 7.

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Siebrecht’s previous highest-ranked win came in Iowa’s 26-11 dual meet victory against Penn on Nov. 26, 2022, where he pinned then-No. 10 Anthony Artalona in 4:02. 

Siebrecht’s victory was an instrumental factor in regaining momentum inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

The Hawkeyes trailed the Wildcats, 6-5, going into the 157-pound bout. Iowa’s fourth-ranked Max Murin fell to Northwestern’s fifth-ranked Yahya Thomas, 3-2, in the 149-pound match.

“It was a pretty loud ovation for [Siebrecht after his win],” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said. “The crowd showered him with affection for his win, but we don’t have to be there, even though it’s exciting.”

While Siebrecht tends to go with the flow in his matches and takes whatever shots he can get, he is focusing more on establishing one distinct move that he can use to score points. 

Former Iowa wrestler Mark Ironside, who was a two-time national champion, three-time Big Ten Wrestler of the Year, and 1998 Dan Hodge Trophy recipient, has been helping Siebrecht build a go-to move. 

“I talked to Mark Ironside last Sunday about [having a go-to move], ” Siebrecht said. “I kind of score off flurries and stuff like that. Whatever is there I take and put them down and get my two. But, I’m trying to work more on one move and trying to hit that move a hundred times in practice.”

The Hawkeyes are now 10-0 on the season and 3-0 in the Big Ten. Iowa will next take on Nebraska at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 20 at 8 p.m.