Cy-Hawk dual meets are often characterized by surprising lineup decisions, upsets, unexpected bonus points, and controversy -- and the 2024 Cy-Hawk dual delivered all of that and then some. But after all the fireworks were done, the end result was a familiar one: an Iowa victory.

#2 Iowa wrestling dominated the second half of the dual to come away with a 21-15 win over #12 Iowa State, continuing a (very) long streak of Hawkeye dominance in the in-state wrestling series. The win was Iowa's 20th consecutive victory over Iowa State in a dual meet and pushed Tom Brands' record against Iowa State to 19-0 as a head coach.

The first half of the dual meet did not go well for Iowa -- the Hawkeyes won just two of the first five bouts and were somewhat fortunate to even win those. Adrian Meza got ISU started off with a win at 125, scoring a takedown on #27 Kale Petersen, riding him well, and then keeping Petersen's attacks at bay for the remainder of the match.

Iowa answered back at 133, thanks to a comeback win from #9 Drake Ayala over #5 Evan Frost. Ayala scored first and led 3-1 after the first period, but Frost hit back with an escape and a takedown of his own in the second period to take a 5-4 lead. The third period was all Ayala, though, as he scored an escape and a pair of takedowns, including a match-icing one with 43 seconds remaining.

#31 Ryder Block struck first at 141 and took a 3-1 lead in the first period, but Zach Redding fought back with an escape and a takedown of his own in the second period to take the lead. Block had to work hard to get an escape in the third to cut the lead to 5-4, but he was unable to finish any of his attacks after that to retake the lead.

149 proved to be one of the odder matches of the evening, as #4 Kyle Parco came away with a 4-3 win over #7 Anthony Echemendia -- despite not scoring any offensive points of his own. After a scoreless first period that featured a lot of circling and hand-fighting, Echemendia hit first with a slick upper body throw into a takedown to take a 3-0 lead in the second period. A Parco escape cut that lead to 3-1 entering the third period.

The sequence at the beginning of the third period proved decisive in the match. Parco started on bottom and eventually got an escape. In fact, he was awarded three points in that sequence -- one for the escape, and two penalty points against Echemendia -- one for locked hands and one for an illegal hold. That sequence flipped the match from 3-1 in favor of Echemendia to 4-3 in favor of Parco. He was able to fend off Echemendia's attacks the remainder of the bout and he had a few good shots of his own over the course of the match, but it's still never ideal to win a match without scoring any offensive points.

The worst loss for the Hawkeyes came at 157, both in terms of the dual meet itself and for the season as a whole. After a scoreless first period, #1 Jacori Teemer took bottom and appeared to injure his hamstring in the process of escaping from #10 Paniro Johnson. Teemer took an extensive break with the trainers and tried to continue but eventually had to default out of the match shortly after a Johnson takedown.

Teemer was moving with a very pronounced limp after the injury and seemed very limited in his mobility. There hasn't been any word yet on the severity of Teemer's injury. The good news is that Iowa has a light schedule until the Big Ten season gets underway in January -- Iowa has just three events until the B1G opener against Wisconsin on January 12 -- a pair of duals against Princeton and Army (on December 6) and the Soldier Salute event on December 29-30.

Fortunately for the Hawkeyes, the second half of the dual went much better, starting with #2 Michael Caliendo's 11-7 win over Connor Euton at 165. Euton struck first with a takedown in the first period, but Caliendo was able to score a reversal to cut the deficit to 3-2 (4-2 after Euton's escape). Caliendo scored another reversal on Euton to start the second period, before Euton suffered a leg injury while escaping from Caliendo.

Euton received medical treatment, but was able to continue and finished the match. In the third period, momentum finally swung in Caliendo's favor as he was able to finish a pair of hard-fought takedowns to finish off his 11-7 win.

At 174, Patrick Kennedy made his season debut against former Iowa teammate Aiden Riggins and secured an emphatic win that gave Iowa its first lead of the dual meet. Kennedy spent most of the match taking Riggins down or riding him hard. He led 9-2 after the first period and 12-3 after the second period. He pushed for the technical fall, though, and was rewarded for his efforts with a takedown with two seconds remaining in the match to lock up the 19-4 technical fall win.

There was another new face for Iowa at 184, though blue-chip freshman Angelo Ferrari wasn't just making his season debut, he was making his career debut for the Hawkeyes. Making a debut is never easy, but making it in the middle of a pressure-packed Cy-Hawk dual is even trickier -- though Ferrari didn't show any nerves.

Ferrari showed slick offense with a takedown in the first and second period. He also showed a good mat game and rode #15 Evan Bockman well (and earned a riding time point for his efforts as well). He even got to display some impressive defense in the third period, fending off Bockman's attacks well. A redshirt is probably still in Ferrari's future, but he provided Iowa fans with an exciting glimpse of the fireworks he's capable of providing in a black and gold singlet.

Iowa's final win of the dual came at 197, where #2 Stephen Buchanan controlled #20 Christian Carroll to earn a 10-0 major decision win. Buchanan scored the opening takedown in the final seconds of the first period, then rode the hell out of Carroll in the second period and earned a stall point against Carroll. An escape and another stall point against Carroll made it 6-0 in favor of Buchanan in the third period, before he finished another takedown in the closing seconds of the match to get his major decision.

Buchanan's victory locked up the dual meet win for Iowa with one match to go, though the heavyweight match went in Iowa State's favor. #4 Yonger Bastida used takedowns in the first and second periods to open up a lead. #13 Ben Kueter struggled to get to Bastida's legs and finish attacks, though he was very close to getting a cradle from the top position. While the loss is disappointing, this was a good test for Kueter against one of the top heavyweights in the country.

Long-term, the status of Jacori Teemer's hamstring will be the most important takeaway from this dual meet -- he's arguably Iowa's best shot at contending for an individual national championship this year and a vital part of Iowa's bid to contend for any sort of Big Ten or NCAA championship honors. Hopefully he can be as close to 100% healthy as possible by March.

Short-term, this dual simply re-affirms the reality of the situation: Iowa State has narrowed the gap on Iowa, but the Hawkeyes remain kings of the Cy-Hawk series on the mat.