By Courtney Baumann | [email protected]

The Iowa wrestling team snapped its two-dual losing streak on Jan. 27 with a 21-13 win over No. 4 Ohio State.

The win was sorely needed by the No. 3 Hawkeyes, who have only lost three in a row once (2006-07) in the past 50 seasons.

Top-ranked Thomas Gilman started the night out on the right foot with a technical-fall victory over No. 18 Jose Rodriguez late in the third period.

The one-two punch of Gilman and Cory Clark was broken up with Clark’s absence. Phillip Laux competed at 133 instead of the No. 3 ranked wrestler. Although he lost, Laux held No. 1 Nathan Tomasello to a 10-3 decision, which was key in keeping the team score close in the first half.

This is the first year for Tomasello to wrestle at 133; he spent the last two years at 125 and won a national championship in 2015. Gilman went 2-1 in matches against Tomasello over those two years, and he has made it clear he does not like his former competition.

In fact, after Gilman won his match, he said he would have had no problem wrestling another seven minutes at 133.

“I was ready to wrestle Tomasello tonight. I would’ve wrestled him right after my match,” Gilman said. “It’s always fun wrestling that guy; everyone loves watching us wrestle.”

Brandon Sorensen and Michael Kemerer added victories for Iowa at 149 and 157 to put the Hawkeyes at a 12-6 advantage heading into the break.

No. 2 Kemerer nabbed a major decision against Jake Ryan, and No. 3 Sorensen earned a decision over Micah Jordan, who is ranked fifth.

Although he got a victory after losing two in a row, Sorensen was less than pleased with his 2-0 victory. His only points came from an escape after starting down in the second period and riding time, which he earned in the third period.

“It’s nice to be on the other side, but here’s the thing … That’s not a match I want to wrestle right there,” Sorensen said. “Definitely more points, what was it, 2-0? Not very exciting. I don’t like it, fans don’t like it. We need to figure something out there.”

Coming out of the break, Iowa needed at least two wins from the upper weights, and Joey Gunther, Sammy Brooks, and Steven Holloway provided three.

Brooks’ match put Iowa up by 9 points with two matches to go, but a Cash Wilcke major-decision loss left a glimmer of hope on the Ohio State bench. The Buckeyes’ second-string heavyweight, Josh Fox, hoped to hand a third-straight bonus point loss to Iowa’s Holloway.

Holloway instead turned it around and won his first match since Dec. 2, 2016. The 6-1 victory was his first Big Ten win.

After the match, Iowa head coach Tom Brands noted that many fans left the Penn State dual during the heavyweight match a week ago, but that was not the case this time and should not be the case going forward.

“There’s going to be a lot of talk about how Steven Holloway scored two fourth-period takedowns. I say fourth-period because of all the video review and whatnot,” Brands said. “He didn’t have to go that second one, so now those fans will buy one more ice-cream cones, they’ll sit there a little bit longer for Steven Holloway.

FINAL RESULTS:

No. 3 Iowa 21, No. 4 Ohio State 13

125 – No. 1 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) tech. fall No. 18 Jose Rodriguez (Ohio State), 23-8; 5-0

133 – No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) dec. Phillip Laux (Iowa), 10-3; 5-3

141 – No. 14 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) dec. No. 15 Topher Carton (Iowa), 5-4; 5-6

149 – No. 3 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Micah Jordan (Ohio State), 2-0; 8-6

157 – No. 2 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) major dec. Jake Ryan (Ohio State), 14-3; 12-6

165 – Joey Gunther (Iowa) dec. Cody Burcher (OSU), 3-0; 15-6

174 – No. 1 Bo Jordan (Ohio State) dec. No. 11 Alex Meyer (Iowa), 3-2; 15-9

184 – No. 5 Sammy Brooks (Iowa) dec. No. 10 Myles Martin (Ohio State), 5-3; 18-9

197 – No. 5 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) major dec. Cash Wilcke (Iowa), 19-7; 18-13

285 – Steven Holloway (Iowa) dec. Josh Fox (OSU), 6-1; 21-13