The No. 2 Iowa men’s wrestling team finished Army in a 23-16 win at Journeymen Wrestling’s “Uncivil War” in St. Louis, Missouri, on Friday night.

After a 39-3 defeat of Princeton at 6 p.m., head coach Tom Brands returned many of his wrestlers in that meet to the mat two hours later for the Black Knights at 8 p.m. Despite a hiccup or two early in the match with Army’s strong lighter half of the lineup, Iowa’s strong back half finished the job to improve the Hawkeyes to 6-0 this season.

Iowa 0, Army 4 — 125 pounds

A series of failed leg attacks marked the beginning of Joey Cruz’s match with No. 22 Charles Farmer at 125 pounds for a scoreless end to the first period. Starting down to open the second, Farmer’s escape earned him a point, and he took advantage with a quick strike and wrap of Cruz’s lower half on the mat for a takedown and 4-0 advantage.

Cruz found no openings in Farmer’s attacks and holds beyond that, especially after another takedown expanded his margin and gave the Black Knights a 4-0 lead in the team total.

Iowa 3, Army 4 — 133 pounds

Persistence on No. 23 Ethan Berginc’s leg gave Iowa’s No. 6 Drake Ayala a 3-0 lead with the takedown, and Ayala defended Berginc’s quick shots at his legs to duck any potential for a quick comeback. A series of athletic rolls with Ayala in control after a slam showed his athletic ability, and a second takedown showed his strength and capacity in the 133-pound class.

That resulted in a 7-3 win to narrow things up in the team total.

Iowa 3, Army 7 — 141 pounds

After a loss against Princeton, Cullan Schriever returned to the mat for Army’s No. 29 Braden Basile, the two’s arms interlocked to open this one. A softer slam put Schriever in position to roll Basile around into a three points to the Hawkeyes, which he rode out to close the first.

A pair of Basile escapes narrowed that lead, though, and he pushed through Schriever’s legs into a collapse and three-point takedown of his own for a 5-4 lead after the latter escaped too. One more tied it at 5-5 as the third-period clock winded down, seeing Basile drag Schriever to the mat for three and three more upon catching his leg attack for an 11-6 Army win.

Iowa 7, Army 7 — 149 pounds

No. 4 Kyle Parco wasted no time in pushing his athleticism onto Army’s No. 26 Trae McDaniel, snagging his ankle and rolling him up and into a 3-0 deficit. And even as McDaniel seemed to save himself from anything growing out of hand, a massive Batista-esque spinebuster gave Parco not just the 6-1 lead but the confidence to close this one out quickly from there.

Parco has the IQ to get himself out of sticky positions, which makes him so successful and highly ranked, this time working into a near-fall that earned him three points and a 10-3 lead entering the third period. Hoisting McDaniel onto his shoulder and slamming him again, Parco worked into another takedown that seriously constrained his opponent and ended in the 14-5 major-decision win.

Iowa 7, Army 13 — 157 pounds

Kael Voinovich started at 157 pounds for the Hawkeyes in place of the injured Jacori Teemer, jumping into a quick takedown on Army’s Dakota Morris. A quick leg attack brought Voinovich another three at the outside of the mat for six points to Morris’ two moving into the second period.

Voinovich leaped out of Morris’ shot and swung his body around into control of the leg, producing nothing but another 6-3 deadlock at the end of two periods. A slippery reversal put him up, 8-3, but Morris rotated him back over, onto the mat, and into a pin that put the Hawkeyes down 13-7 on the team total.

Iowa 10, Army 13 — 165 pounds

Needing some energy out of the gate, Iowa’s No. 2 Mikey Caliendo had a challenge in Army’s No. 13 Gunner Filipowicz, but not much movement went any which way in the first for a 0-0 stalemate into the second. There, Filipowicz got on the board first with an escape for a 1-0 lead, but Caliendo sought a pin before settling for the takedown and 3-1 lead after two.

To seal the match, Caliendo pushed through Filipowicz’s legs for three more and all but refused to let him loose from there, securing the 11-2 win with one final takedown in the closing seconds.

Iowa 15, Army 13 — 174 pounds

Patrick Kennedy got the nod for the Black and Gold at 174 after a dominant showing against Iowa State last weekend, this time taking No. 31 Dalton Harkins. Kennedy rolled over and onto Harkins, just barely into a takedown for an early lead. Wrapping and driving Harkins’ knees to close the first period, Kennedy opened the second gluing his opponent to the mat with his weight.

Allowing an escape, Kennedy shot again at Harkins’ leg and wrapped his left side into a third takedown to lead, 9-2, as the third period started. But Kennedy doesn’t quit, driving again and again with takedown after takedown into a massive 21-4 technical fall win.

Iowa 18, Army 13 — 185 pounds

No. 8 Gabe Arnold followed up a strong win against Princeton with a match against Andrew Christie, in which he started slower, had to duck a pin, and sacrificed three for a takedown and 5-0 deficit. A strong tackle in the second period narrowed this one to 6-3 in Christie’s favor, demanding Arnold score quickly in the winding minutes of the match.

And he did so, sweeping his leg over and into a second takedown to even things at six apiece. Starting down, Arnold won a point on a coach’s challenge and another on an escape for an 8-6 lead, after which he dodged Christie’s shot and jumped over it into a takedown and the 11-7 win.

Iowa 23, Army 13 — 197 pounds

Iowa’s No. 2 Stephen Buchanan took Wolfgang Frable at 197 pounds, the former making quick work of the latter after that with serious strength on the ground and almost three minutes of riding time. Letting Frable up and shooting again and again, Buchanan didn’t let the match go any further and secured a 20-4 technical fall win to lock Iowa’s team win.

Iowa 23, Army 16 — Heavyweight

Easton Fleshman got the nod at 285 pounds in place of Ben Kueter for Army’s No. 27 Lucas Stoddard, the two pushing back and forth without much advantage either way after the first period. While Stoddard gathered some riding time after the second period, the score remained square at zeroes moving into the third.

So Fleshman started on top to erase that advantage, doing little before Stoddard escaped and took that riding time to a quiet win.