The Penn State wrestling team came up short against another top-five opponent yesterday in front of an estimated 5,100 at Rec Hall. This time the team results were not as close as those of matches in recent weeks.

The Nittany Lions lost eight of 10 matches against No. 2 Iowa and fell to the Hawkeyes, 26-10. Penn State, however, was able to keep five individual matches within two points.

"The matches that were close were the matches I was counting on," Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland said.

One of the lone bright spots for the Lions was junior Scott Moore's match against Luke Moffit at 141 pounds. Moore pinned Moffit 4:23 into the bout, tying Carey Kolat's Penn State single-season pin record.

Moore has higher aspirations than just the single-season pins record.

"If I lose my next three matches and I save the rest of my wins for Big Tens and Nationals, I will be fine with that," Moore said.

Sunderland praised Moore's effort in the post-match press conference: "He's an aggressive wrestler, he goes after it, and today he was able to pin a tough kid."

Doc Vecchio shined under the Senior Day lights with a 17-8 major decision over Jason D'Agata. Vecchio, in his second to last match at Rec Hall, continued his dual-meet success over Iowa with his third win against a Hawkeye opponent.

"It's kind of weird because they're always the best team but I always wrestle pretty good against them," Vecchio said.

One of the most highly anticipated matches of the season was at 184 pounds, which pitted No. 1 Jessman Smith of Iowa against No. 5 Mark Becks of Penn State. The match lived up to its billing, as the two wrestlers fought until the final second, and the match still had not been decided.

Becks scored two points for a 4-3 lead late in the third period. Becks barely held on to Smith as time expired, however, because of riding time Smith was awarded a point and the match was sent to overtime. Smith scored a takedown in the sudden-victory overtime to defeat Becks, 6-4.

It was the first dual-meet loss of the season for Becks and snapped his 13-match winning streak.

Iowa opened the meet with No. 6 Luke Eustice's 5-3 decision over Penn State sophomore Adam Smith.

Iowa continued its momentum as No. 4 Cliff Moore defeated No. 9 Josh Moore in a wild match that Moore had taken control of early by scoring a takedown early in the first and riding out the Iowa wrestler for 2:28.

Cliff Moore rebounded with a series of takedowns in the second and third periods, taking the bout 8-6.

Sophomore DeWitt Driscoll wrestled in place of freshman Nate Galloway against No. 13 Ty Eustice. Eustice dominated the matchup with seven takedowns and a near fall late in the third period, taking the major decision 21-8.

No. 12 Joe Johnston of Iowa upset No. 9 Nate Wachter 4-3.

At 174 pounds, Dan Waters ran into tough competition against No. 4 Tyler Nixt. Waters, who trailed early, had many opportunities to cut the lead, could not capitalize and wound up losing by major decision, 19-11.

Going into the final two matches, the Lions needed a fall and technical decision for the upset. However, this was not the Lions' day.

Both senior 197-pounder Ryan Cummins and junior heavyweight Pat Cummins lost decisions. Ryan Cummins lost to No. 14 Ryan Fulsaas, 11-4, and for the second time this week, No. 8 Pat Cummins lost to No. 1 Steve Mocco, dropping a 5-3 decision.