Illinois, Feb. 24
Iowa completed its first undefeated dual season in eight years with a 21-12 victory at Illinois.
The Hawkeyes claimed victories in six matches and getting a technical fall from Brent Metcalf, a major decision from Jay Borschel and last-second heroics from Charlie Falck and Dan LeClere in Champaign, Ill.
Falck scored a takedown with 15 seconds remaining to force overtime and then scored midway through the extra period to win a 6-4 decision against Gabe Flores at 125. LeClere used a late takedown to pull out a 6-5 win against Ryan Prater at 141. Metcalf finished off Joey Kotowski in the second period for a technical fall at 149. Borschel handled John Dergo at 174.
Iowa also got victories from heavyweight Matt Fields and Phil Keddy at 184.
“We did some good things today and some not-so-good things,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “The impression we left with was positive, but we gave up the first takedown or first points in a match too many times. That can’t happen. This team thrives on momentum. We are two weeks out from the Big Ten finals and we’ve got work to do.”
The Hawkeyes dropped a pivotal match for seeding purposes at 133. Jimmy Kennedy ended Joey Slaton’s 11-match winning streak with an 8-4 victory, becoming the first Big Ten wrestler to beat the Iowa sophomore this season. The victory also gave Kennedy the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament.
— Andy Hamilton