The No. 2 Iowa men’s wrestling team escaped the Iowa State Cyclones in a 21-15 win inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday night — its 20th-straight against the rival.
Both No. 9 Drake Ayala at 133 pounds and No. 4 Kyle Parco at 149 pounds earned ranked wins, the former over No. 5 Evan Frost and latter over No. 7 Anthony Echemendia.
Iowa senior Patrick Kennedy got the nod at 174 pounds against Aiden Riggins, showing sheer dominance with takedown after takedown and a crucial technical fall victory that pushed Iowa into the lead for the first time in the night.
Likewise, freshman Angelo Ferrari started at 184 pounds with No. 15 Evan Bockman, igniting even more fire in this team with an 8-2 ranked win. Iowa head coach Tom Brands explained the changes as “just shaking it up.”
On the other side, No. 1 Jacori Teemer sacrificed six points to the Cyclones in an injury-default loss at 157 pounds, seemingly suffering a very painful hamstring injury that inhibited his ability to continue. Teemer left the arena on crutches.
“We had a bad thing happen at the break,” Brands said. “Hey, we’ve got to get ready to go.”
Iowa 0, Iowa State 0 — 125 pounds
A lot of hand fighting marked the start of the 125-pound matchup between Iowa’s Kale Petersen and Iowa State’s Kysen Terukina. While Petersen couldn’t secure Terukina’s leg for a three-point takedown, Terukina caught his back and rolled him down and into a 3-0 lead.
And he was saved by the bell to end the period where it looked like Petersen was mounting a reversal, so he spent the second period adding to his riding time that made for a 5-1 Hawkeye loss and 3-0 Cyclone lead.
Iowa 0, Iowa State 3 — 133 pounds
Carver-Hawkeye Arena woke up quickly when Ayala swept Frost’s leg for an early 3-0 lead, but Frost quickly countered that as he latched onto Ayala’s leg and brought him to the mat for three points of his own and a 5-4 advantage.
Ayala’s escape tied it at five apiece, this time securing Frost’s leg and putting Hawkeye fans on the edges of their seats, rolling it over into a three-point takedown. And where he looked gassed after Frost’s escape, Ayala shot at his leg when Frost’s own shot missed, making an 11-7 win and 3-3 tie on the day.
“He was in a tough scrap, and he persevered,” Brands said. “And I like that. He wasn’t forcing things … and it came more natural, and it’s progress. Love it. Love him. He’s a leader. And he was gutsy in that match. He had some gutsy performances tonight.”
Iowa 3, Iowa State 3 — 141 pounds
At 141 pounds, Iowa’s Ryder Block opened the match with a dive at Iowa State’s Zach Redding’s leg for three, maintaining firm control thereafter. But two escapes and a persistent attack on Block’s leg put Redding back up, 5-3, into the third period.
Block’s escape with a minute left set the two up and face-to-face with a 5-4 deficit, but he ran out of juice into the loss. So the Cyclones regained the 6-3 lead.
Iowa 3, Iowa State 6 —149 pounds
Echemendia slapped Parco’s hand away in the introductions and took his time getting to the mat when his name was called to start, setting the 149-pound match up to be a dogfight.
Parco’s IQ and athleticism shined early in making Echemendia pursue, but not much came out of it as the two entered the second period tied at zero. Echemendia’s neutral start gave him space to take Parco’s leg down for three points, and a lot of scrappy hand play and stalling from the former slowed the latter down.
With a 3-1 deficit entering the third, Parco grabbed the lead with a violation and penalty and rode it out to the end for the ugly 4-3 win.
Iowa 6, Iowa State 6 — 157 pounds
Teemer’s confidence fuels his wrestling — smart, strong, and reactive. But a 0-0 deadlock after one continued into the second as Johnson hooked Teemer’s leg and yanked it awkwardly, Teemer escaping but limping across the mat in clear pain with his hamstring.
Teemer really tried to protect his leg after the injury timeout, but it was clear he couldn’t do much about it. The injury default gave Johnson the win and Iowa State the 12-6 lead headed into intermission.
“It’s not a morgue,” Brands said he told his team at the break. “‘Here, guys, we’ve got five matches. We’ve got to get ready to go. Let’s go’ … We’re with Teemer.”
Iowa 6, Iowa State 12 —165 pounds
Iowa’s No. 2 Michael Caliendo made quick work of the leg of Iowa State’s Connor Euton, and after a debatable Euton takedown, Caliendo’s two reversals narrowed his deficit to 5-4 halfway through the match.
Tied at five entering the third, Caliendo clearly weakened Euton’s leg, and a pair of three-point takedowns carried him to the 12-7 win to shrink Iowa State’s lead back to just three.
Iowa 9, Iowa State 12 —174 pounds
Carver-Hawkeye Arena erupted once more when Kennedy took the mat at 174 pounds — earning a quick three-point takedown within the blink of an eye and another roughly 30 seconds later for a 6-1 lead, then one more for a 9-2 lead after just one period.
Kennedy’s persistence found his fourth takedown of the match in the second period with a 12-3 lead and more than three minutes of advantage time, which carried him to the 20-4 technical fall win with an escape and two more takedowns.
Iowa 14, Iowa State 12 —184 pounds
Ferrari’s first dual meet points came on a powerful pickup and slam for the takedown, but the match was a battle from there. When Ferrari swept Bockman’s leg as the second-period clock winded down, he rotated into three more points and a 7-1 lead.
Bockman had no answer to Ferrari’s gritty defense and swift leg attacks, producing an 8-2 win as he blew a kiss to the Cyclone sideline.
“I don’t think I wrestled my best match,” Ferrari said. “I think there’s a lot of finishes I could have gotten. And the way I think of it is … on my worst night, I’ve still got to be the best in the country … But if I make those adjustments and keep getting better, I can kill these guys.”
Iowa 17, Iowa State 12 —197 pounds
Hawkeye No. 2 Stephen Buchanan’s patience jumped him into a single-leg takedown on No. 20 Christian Carroll for a 3-0 lead after one. And Carroll stalled much from there, unable to work out of Buchanan’s constricting hold.
In fact, Buchanan simply man-handled his opponent, dragging him around the mat like a toy and working his leg for another takedown and a 10-0 win. That gave the Hawkeyes a 21-12 lead and secured the win with one match left.
Iowa 21, Iowa State 12 —285 pounds
Iowa’s No. 13 Ben Kueter lined up with Iowa State’s No. 4 Yonger Bastida to close out the evening, but it was quickly clear Bastida is and will be a postseason threat as the season continues with his strength and size.
Kueter’s leaner frame could not mount enough force to out-power Bastida, but Kueter impressed as he nearly rolled Bastida around into a pin. But Bastida escaped with the 7-2 win.
“He worked hard to get him in that position in the third period,” Brands said. “That’s where we’ve got to capitalize. It’s that one time you’ve got to capitalize.”