The No. 3 Iowa men’s wrestling team narrowly escaped No. 7 Nebraska in an exciting slate of matches and 19-16 win inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena Friday night.

In what had potential for the match of the night at 149 pounds, Iowa’s No. 4 Kyle Parco and Nebraska’s No. 2 Ridge Lovett met for a top-five matchup. Although it was low-scoring, Parco lit the arena on fire with a late takedown and 3-2 win.

In another top-10 matchup, Iowa’s No. 2 165-pounder Michael Caliendo beat Nebraska’s No. 8 Christopher Minto. But it was No. 6 174-pounder Patrick Kennedy and No. 14 Cornhusker Lenny Pinto who had the most entertaining bout of the night, combining for 20 points in the first period alone. But Pinto’s last-second takedown won him the match.

Iowa’s No. 5 184-pounder Gabe Arnold had the next top-10 matchup with Nebraska’s No. 8 Silas Allred, dropping a 4-1 loss in overtime and thus putting the dual in serious jeopardy.

Top-ranked 197-pound Hawkeye Stephen Buchanan saved Iowa’s chances with a last-second, electrifying pin of No. 20 Camden McDanel, setting No. 11 heavyweight Ben Kueter up for a chance to save the day against No. 21 Harley Andrews — and he did just that with a confident win of his own too.

“That’s the loudest it’s been for me,” Buchanan said of the pop Carver gave him with the win. “So it was definitely a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life.”

Nothing’s ever certain

No. 26 Joey Cruz started things out for the Hawkeyes at 125 pounds with the Cornhuskers’ No. 8 Caleb Smith. Cruz hung well with Smith to start as the more aggressive shooter, but Smith showed some pretty strong defense in the first for a scoreless finish to it.

Cruz couldn’t find a score out of his leg attacks, ending the second with Smith up one on his escape. Cruz tied it at one with a stalling point, but Iowa dropped to a 3-0 deficit as Smith’s advantage gave him riding time points for the 2-1 win.

No. 3 133-pounder Drake Ayala and Nebraska’s No. 15 Van Dee started just as slowly with a scoreless first period, but Ayala worked a leg attack into the first takedown of the night and a 3-2 lead with Van Dee’s two escapes. Ayala’s own escape to start the third put him up, 4-2, which he rode into a win and 3-3 team tie.

Iowa’s Cullan Schriever started at 141 pounds once more — although his opponent, No. 6 Brock Hardy, pushed a double-leg takedown into a 3-0 lead made 3-1 with Schriever’s escape early on. A persistent leg attack brought Schriever’s up over Hardy’s shoulder, the latter tripping the former into another three-point takedown for a 7-1 advantage.

Hardy continued to work the single-leg, letting Schriever up and bringing him right back down into a 14-3 major decision win and 7-3 Nebraska team lead.

An exchange of feints marked the first period between Parco and Lovett, the two testing each other out into a scoreless start to the second. Lovett looked quick, though, forcing Parco to scramble and trusting his own game throughout a tense second period.

Opting to start the third period neutral, Parco pushed Lovett awfully close to a stall warning — and into a massive three-point takedown that erupted Carver-Hawkeye Arena. So he took a 3-2 lead with two Lovett escapes and opted for defense in the last minute of the match. And Lovett had no answer as the Hawkeyes jumped back to a 7-6 deficit.

“I think it’s just some satisfaction, obviously joy and happiness, but a lot of satisfaction,” Parco said of his emotions getting his hand raised. “It was good to get a good win back, get back in that column.”

Again replacing Jacori Teemer at 157 pounds, Iowa’s Miguel Estrada kept a low posture in the opening with No. 4 Antrell Taylor. Yet another scoreless first period became 1-0 in favor of Taylor with an escape to start the second.

That became a 1-1 tie when Estrada did the same in the third, bringing the two into a neutral position where Estrada played some strong defense. Failing to finish a leg attack, though, Estrada opened himself up to Taylor’s flip into a takedown, win, and 10-6 Nebraska team lead for the break.

Back half’s back to the wall

A beautiful duck into a single-leg attack looked like three for Caliendo, but Minto defended it well into a stalemate right out of the break. Starting the second down, Caliendo escaped in three seconds and tucked Minto into a roll on the mat and a three-point takedown.

Pushing for a pin or near-fall, Caliendo instead rode the advantage out to the end of the period. And after Minto escaped to start the third, the Cornhusker worked an ankle pick into a scary spot for Caliendo, who shot right back and just barely missed a takedown as the two went out of bounds. So Caliendo won, 5-1, with riding time to bring Iowa back within one.

Before his walkout music could even end, Kennedy dove for Pinto. One minute later, his frenzy put him on his back and then down, 7-0, after a Pinto takedown and four-point near-fall. So Kennedy got more aggressive from there, but that opened him up to another Pinto takedown and quick 10-2 deficit.

Within the blink of an eye, Kennedy got Hawkeye fans on their feet with a takedown and four-point near-fall of his own for a 10-9 deficit — leading to 20 combined points in the first period alone. A mat return in the second gave him riding time advantage although still down, 11-9, for the third period.

Pinto clearly gassed, Kennedy worked him out throughout the final two minutes, but Pinto made a final push into a takedown and near-fall once more that sealed Kennedy’s 18-10 loss and Nebraska’s 13-9 lead.

Strength and defense defined the opening to Arnold versus Allred, and a pair of escapes were the only points scored before a sudden-death head-to-head. There, Allred secured Arnold in an awkward position and forced him to collapse into a three-point victory for the 4-1 win and 16-9 Nebraska lead.

Buchanan’s power was on display to open his bout with McDanel, working him around a fireman’s carry but unable to get a takedown out of it. But with just over a minute left in the second period, Buchanan’s three-point takedown helped him look for the pin to save this dual meet for the Hawkeyes.

Not finding it, Buchanan instead secured three more at the end of the second and held a 7-1 lead for the third period. He persistently attacked in search of three more, which he found three more times — into a last-second pin that erupted Carver-Hawkeye Arena as Iowa found itself down just one to Nebraska for the final match.

📌#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/VLCFkIIpU7

— Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling (@Hawks_Wrestling) February 8, 2025

“That means a lot,” Buchanan said of the celebration after. “If you have a team like that getting behind you, every win is special. I don’t show that much emotion, but I’m always pumped to wrestle. I’m always pumped to win. I’m a competitor, so I love to win.”

Excitement through the roof, Kueter was just inches away from the wrong end of a three-point takedown before reversing himself around into his own 3-0 advantage. He worked Andrews into a two-point near-fall too for a 5-0 lead after one and then two with over three minutes of riding time.

The two tied up for the final period, Kueter rode his lead out into a two-point reversal and 8-0 win for the 19-16 Hawkeye win.

Up next

The Hawkeyes get a week of rest and recuperation before a trip to Minneapolis for No. 8 Minnesota at 8 p.m. next Friday.

The Golden Gophers are 8-1 overall, dropping their only loss to Nebraska, 21-13, on Jan. 11. Heavyweight Gable Steveson once again headlines Minnesota, arguably the best pound-for-pound college wrestler right now.

“We’ve got to do a better job,” head coach Tom Brands said plainly. “We’ve got to do a better job of scoring match points.”