Wrestling

After winning the first three duals and jumping out to a 13-0 lead, No. 3 Iowa had to hold on late in its 22-16 win over No. 1 Penn State on Friday night.

In a national title rematch from last year, No. 1 Matt McDonough and No. 2 Nico Megaludis wrestled another close bout at 125 pounds. Neither registered a takedown as the Hawkeye wrestler won 2-1 in the tiebreak period on an escape.

In the next two bouts, Iowa started to build its advantage. No. 2 Tony Ramos earned his team a full six points with a pin against Jordan Conaway at 133 pounds, and No. 8 Mark Ballweg defeated Bryan Pearsall 12-2 at 141 pounds to push the lead to 13-0.

After the Alton brothers split their matches with No. 8 Andrew winning 18-8 and No. 5 Dylan losing 4-3, the Lions trailed 16-4 at the break.

No. 2 David Taylor started the Lions rally by earning a technical fall against No. 13 Nick Moore to cut the score to 19-9.

After No. 4 Matt Brown was defeated by decision to widen the Iowa lead to 19-9 at 174 pounds, No. 1 Ed Ruth registered a 21-10 major decision over Grant Gambrall to earn four points for Penn State.

No. 3 Quentin Wright earned an 8-3 win at 197 pounds over No. 19 Nathan Burak, but the senior failed to pick up any bonus points, meaning that the dual would be decided by heavyweight as Iowa led 19-16.

With Penn State holding the tiebreak due to earning more points in the dual, the heavyweight fight between No. 17 Jon Gingrich and No. 6 Bobby Telford was a must win for both sides. It was Telford who was the aggressor, as he registered the first takedown to take a 2-0 lead in the bout. The Hawkeye wrestler spent most of the first period picking up riding time. Telford built up a 4-0 lead and would cruise from there, as Iowa held on to give Penn State its first loss, 22-16, snapping the team's 20-game winning streak.

Penn State will continue its road trip as it takes on No. 8 Illinois Sunday at 2 p.m.