NO. 4 IOWA 27, NO. 8 MINNESOTA 11

After a Friday evening thumping of No. 13 Wisconsin, the fourth-ranked Hawkeye wrestling team kept things up Sunday morning with a 27-11 win over No. 8 Minnesota — surely a preview of what the Patriots will do to the Falcons later on this national holiday.

Iowa won 7 of 10 matches with bonus points in five bouts. With the meet starting at 149, the Hawkeyes managed four major decisions in the opening half, with Thomas Gilman’s fall coming after the break. Fill-in Mitch Bowman, heavyweight Steven Holloway, and Topher Carton were the only Hawkeyes on the losing end of their bouts — Bowman 19-4 to No. 2 Brett Pfarr and Holloway to No. 8 Michael Kroells. Carton lost the final match of the afternoon in the third period.

No. 1 Gilman had an electric finish against No. 4 Ethan Lizak, spotting him an 8-0 lead after the first period and a finishing with a pin early in the third period. Gilman looked like complete and total trash until the waning moments of the second period with a reversal, essentially said screw it, chose neutral to start the third, fired off a few takedowns and turned Lizak to silence the home crowd. Unbelievable showing of will and resilience from the nation’s best 125 pounder.

All in all it was a successful showing for the Hawkeyes against a Minnesota squad in a transition period. It was really nice to see Joey Gunther pick up a win at 165 over a top-10 opponent in Nick Wanzek after a nice showing against No. 3 Isaac Jordan Friday evening against the Badgers. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m starting to believe in Gunther’s ability to put a few points on the board come tournament time. Despite the loss, Holloway put up a decent fight — all things considered — against Kroells as well.

We won’t keep you here too long as you probably have important eating and drinking to do, but keep an eye out for some grapplin’ content sometime midweek. Only two duals left before the National Duals and the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments roll around.

No. 4 Iowa 27, No. 8 Minnesota 11

149 / No. 4 Brandon Sorensen major dec. Brandon Kingsley, 13-2
157 / No. 2 Micheal Kemerer major dec. No 9 Jake Short, 13-5
165 / Joey Gunther dec. No. 10 Chris Wanzek, 5-2
174 / No. 8 Alex Meyer major dec. Chris Pfarr, 10-1
184 / No. 4 Sammy Brooks major dec. Bobby Stevenson, 10-2
197 / No. 2 Brett Pfarr tech fall Mitch Bowman, 19-4
HWT / No. 8 Michael Kroells dec. Steven Holloway, 7-0
125 / No. 1 Thomas Gilman fall No. 4 Ethan Lizak, 5:58
133 / No. 3 Cory Clark dec. No. 20 Mitch McKee, 10-3
141 / No. 11 Tommy Thorn dec. No. 20 Topher Carton, 3-2

FRIDAY: No. 4 Iowa 33, No. 13 Wisconsin 8

184 / No. 4 Sammy Brooks fall Hunter Ritter, 4:54
197 / Cash Wilcke dec. Mason Reinhardt, 3-1
HWT / No. 2 Connor Medbery tech fall Faraan Brantley, 18-1
125 / No. 2 Thomas Gilman major dec. Jens Lantz, 13-5
133 / Phil Laux dec. Eli Stickley, 6-2
141 / No. 20 Topher Carton major dec. Cole Martin, 20-5
149 / No. 4 Brandon Sorensen dec. Andrew Crone, 9-5
157 / No. 2 Michael Kemerer fall Jared Scharenbrock, 29-5
165 / No. 3 Isaac Jordan dec. Joey Gunther, 3-1
174 / No. 8 Alex Meyer major dec. Ryan Christensen, 33-8