#1 Hawkeyes Flood Gophers, 23-12

MINNEAPOLIS — Nick Moore used short time, Mike Evans used overtime, and for the 71st time in 100 meetings the University of Iowa defeated Minnesota in a battle for the Border Belt, 23-12, on Friday night inside Williams Arena.

Moore opened the dual with a quick six, whipping Brandon Kingsley to his back in the second period to give Iowa a 6-0 lead, and Evans topped fourth-ranked Logan Storley with a takedown 39 seconds into the first sudden-victory period to give the Hawkeyes a 9-0 edge.

Moore played down the importance of setting the tone. “It’s good for me. It’s good for me to build. Other than that I don’t know how much it helps or hurts.”

Evans, who was waiting on deck, was much more in tune with the moment.

“You feel it for sure, definitely in a hostile environment,” Evans said. “You’ve got a guy who goes out there and puts six on the board it shuts them up real quick. You don’t have to listen to those fans so much, it’s really nice.”

The Hawkeye seniors stole a couple big moments from 13,603 Minnesota fans, and before the shock had a chance to settle in, Sammy Brooks scored six takedowns at 184 to extend the Iowa lead to 12-0.

The Hawkeyes won six-of-10 matches overall and scored the only bonus points of the dual. Besides Moore’s pin, Thomas Gilman notched nine takedowns, one reversal, and terminated his match, 23-7, with two nearfall points at 125. All told, Iowa scored 23 takedowns to Minnesota’s 10.

“I think the way (Gilman) is wrestling, said UI head coach Tom Brands. “We’ve talked about it a lot this year because there’s a difference from last year, but the way he’s wrestling those bonus points are going to come because he’s not keeping it close.”

Minnesota got on the board when sixth-ranked Scott Schiller scored a takedown in the final seconds to beat third-rankedNathan Burak, 3-1, at 197. Telford then put Iowa up 15-3 at the break with a 6-4 win at 285. Telford scored two takedowns and added 1:49 of riding time to beat 13th-ranked Michael Kroells.

Gilman’s win extended the Hawkeye lead to 20-3, but Minnesota closed the gap with wins at 133, 141, and 157. Cory Clarknarrowly lost, 5-3, to top-ranked Chris Dardanes at 133, and Michael Kelly led 8-5 in the final minute before giving up a four-point move to top-ranked Dylan Ness at 157. Josh Dziewa lost 7-3 at 141, and Brandon Sorensen picked up Iowa’s sixth win, 4-0, at 149.

“It was 6-4, but we had a lot of bonus points tonight,” added Brands. “We had a fall and a tech fall and that’s a big difference. We’ve got to keep it going.”

The dual victory gives Iowa (11-0, 6-0) sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. Minnesota (10-1, 6-1) trails Iowa by one in the loss column.

Iowa returns to the mat Friday, Feb. 6, at Maryland. The Hawkeyes and Terps meet at Comcast Pavilion at 6 p.m. (CT).

NOTES: Attendance was 13,603, the second largest crowd in series history and the 17th largest crowd in NCAA dual history… tonight was the 100th all-time meeting between the programs, Iowa leads the all-time series 71-28-1… the dual started at 165 pounds… Evans went into overtime for the first time this season, he is 19-0 on the year… Thomas Gilman’s five technical falls tie for the team lead (Topher Carton)…

#1 IOWA 23, #2 Minnesota 12 
165 – #7 Nick Moore (IA) pinned Brandon Kingsley (M), 4:27; 6-0
174 – #2 Mike Evans (IA) dec. #4 Logan Storley (M), 3-1 SV1; 9-0
184 – #8 Sammy Brooks (IA) dec. #11 Brett Pfarr (M), 13-6; 12-0
197 – #6 Scott Schiller (M) dec. #3 Nathan Burak (IA), 3-1; 12-3
285 – #2 Bobby Telford (IA) dec. #13 Michael Kroells (M), 6-4; 15-3
125 – #5 Thomas Gilman (IA) tech. fall Ethan Lizak (M), 23-7; 20-3
133 – #1 Chris Dardanes (M) dec. #5 Cory Clark (IA); 5-3; 20-6
141 – #4 Nick Dardanes (M) dec. #5 Josh Dziewa (IA), 7-3; 20-9
149 – #2 Brandon Sorensen (IA) dec. Jake Short (M), 4-0; 23-9
157 – #1 Dylan Ness (M) dec. #15 Michael Kelly (IA), 11-9; 23-12