Iowa wrestling, looking a shade shakey toward the end, fell to the No. 7 Wolverines after losing the final four weights in Carver-Hawkeye on Jan. 27.
Getting started was not the problem for Iowa. Third-ranked true freshman Spencer Lee started his match quickly and ended it quickly. He finished the first period up 14-0, with three near falls and more than two minutes of riding time. Lee chose down in the next period and left the mat within seconds of the second whistle with a 16-0 tech fall.
Michigan State’s 133-pounder Stevan Micic responded to Lee’s tech fall with a 19-5 major decision over Iowa’s Paul Glynn. Iowa’s lead narrowed to 5-4.
Sophomore Vince Turk got the next call for the Hawkeyes. Turk never gave up the lead, and it seemed as if he would come away with an 8-7 win, but a challenged technical violation on Michigan’s Sal Profaci put 0:09 back on the clock.
Profaci scored a takedown as time expired to send the match to overtime. Turk defended an early Profaci shot and scored a takedown in the fourth period to seal an Iowa win and contribute 3 team points to the cause.
Senior Brandon Sorensen fired up the Iowa crowd with a fall with 0:06 left in the second period in his match against No. 19 Ben Lamantia and increase the team score to 14-4.
No. 2 Michael Kemerer (leg) was given a break, and sophomore Jeren Glosser filled his spot.
Iowa had built a 10-point cushion for Glosser’s season début, but he lost, 5-2, to No. 7 Alex Pantaleo, and Iowa entered intermission up 14-7.
No. 9 Alex Marinelli started the second half with a 3-2 win over No. 8 Logan Massa. Marinelli scored an early takedown and an escape, then held on for the victory.
But after Marinelli, Iowa started to slip.
174-pounds remained a question mark this week as Kaleb Young got the call over Joey Gunther but fell to No. 7 Myles Amine, 3-1.
No. 20 Mitch Bowman lost to No. 5 Domenic Abounader, 4-1, after giving up two takedowns.
Iowa’s No. 5 Cash Wilcke then narrowly fell to Michigan’s No. 14 Kevin Beazley, 6-5. Wilcke scored two takedowns but two mistakes in the first and second period resulted in two Beazley takedowns. Iowa’s lead was cut to 17-16.
To the tune of “The Imperial March,” No. 3 Sam Stoll came face-to-face with second-ranked Adam Coon in the match that would decide the night.
Coon scored a takedown with 0:44 left in the first, and Stoll earned an escape 0:26 later. But after both earned escape points, Coon left the mat victorious, and Michigan left Carver with a 19-17 win.
