The 300th dual meet contested at Carver-Hawkeye Arena featured a bevy of Top 5 (and Top 10) showdowns, a few upsets, plenty of intense action -- and another explosive highlight from the biggest current star of Iowa wrestling -- as #2 Iowa blazed through #11 Northwestern, 27-9. The Hawkeyes won seven of 10 matches in the dual, including a four-match streak from 157 lbs to 184 lbs that firmly swung the dual in their favor after Northwestern earned victories in two of the meet's first three matches.

Northwestern presented an interesting opponent for Iowa. The Wildcats had already upset Minnesota earlier in the season and they have a roster that features five Top 10-ranked wrestlers at their weights. But their strongest weights mirrored Iowa's strongest weights -- Iowa also has Top 10-ranked wrestlers at 125, 133, 149, and 285. The formula for Northwestern's success this season involves winning all/most of those matches and then picking off a few matches at the other weights. That formula is challenged when an opponent (like Iowa) has wrestlers as good (or better) at those same top weights -- and also has better wrestlers at most of the other weights.

The dual started at 133 lbs and Northwestern managed to strike first with #13 Chris Cannon edging #17 Cullan Schriever with a pair of takedowns and a tough ride in the first period. Schriever wasn't able to do much on his feet against Cannon. Iowa got its first win of the night at 141, where #2 Real Woods made his return to the lineup and had a dazzling first period -- he got #10 Frankie Tal-Sharar's leg right off the whistle, converted the takedown, and put on a tilt clinic for the remainder of the period, earning four sets of four-point near fall points and opening up a 14-0 lead after the first period. That first period seemed to expend most of what was in Woods' gas tank, though, because the second and third periods didn't feature much action from him, aside from a pair of escapes. He kept Tal-Sharar at bay for the most part, though, and the riding time point locked up the technical fall victory.

149 featured the first of three Top 5 showdowns in the dual meet and was the only one that went in Northwestern's favor. #4 Max Murin and #5 Yahya Thomas have wrestled several close matches in recent years and this one fit that pattern, as they traded escapes early in the second and third period after a scoreless first period. The match came down to a single takedown, which Thomas secured with a slick attack in the final seconds of the third period. Murin took a few decent shots during the bout, but mostly seemed a bit too cautious. Iowa regained the momentum in the dual meet in the very next match, as #20 Cobe Siebrecht picked up a solid 6-3 upset win over #9 Trevor Chumbley. Siebrecht used a fast takedown to take an early lead and added to that in the third period, while also racking up exactly 1:00 of riding time. Another really solid performance from Siebrecht, who remains one of the best stories on the Iowa wrestling team this season. The final pre-intermission match featured #10 Patrick Kennedy, who earned a workmanlike 4-2 decision thanks to a first period takedown. Kennedy was aggressive and firmly controlled the match, but wasn't able to turn that into more points on the scoreboard.

Iowa kept the wins rolling after intermission, with Nelson Brands first earning a comfortable 8-2 win at 174 and then Abe Assad picking up Iowa's second bonus point win of the dual with a 10-2 major decision at 184. Brands got a first period takedown and rode Enkhmandakh for the entire second period before tacking on another pair of takedowns in the third period to extend the margin of victory. Assad got a first period takedown on Bates with a nice foot sweep and rode him out for a 2-0 lead, then added a takedown and a pair of escapes (one after an injury break for Bates) in the second, and a pair of takedowns in the third period (including one in the final seconds) to lock up the major decision. Zach Glazier filled in for Jacob Warner at 197 and lost a high-scoring match with Northwestern's Andrew Davison; Davison got a pair of takedowns to go up 4-2 in the first period, but Glazier got a takedown in the second to cut the deficit to 5-4. He tied the match at 5-5 in the third after an escape, but Davison got the winning takedown in the third period after getting to the leg and getting around behind Glazier, finishing off a 7-6 win.

285 featured the second of three Top 5 clashes and featured a hugely entertaining 3-2 match. #3 Tony Cassioppi was on the back foot more than normal in this bout, but he showed some tremendous defensive skills (and core strength) in wriggling free of some deep attacks from #4 Lucas Davison. After they traded escapes to start the second and third periods, Cassioppi got the winning takedown in the third with an explosive single-leg takedown that he finished well. He had to put his defensive acumen to work again at the end of the period, as Davison almost put him in danger again with a scramble situation as time expired. This was far from Cassioppi's most dominant showing, but he showed a lot of skill in outfoxing Davison in this bout.

The dual wrapped up at 125 with the third and final matchup of Top 5 wrestlers -- but this was not a tightly-contested nail-biter decided late in the third period. #1 Spencer Lee got to #3 Michael DeAugustino's leg with a duck-under into a single-leg takedown 20 seconds into the match. Lee wasn't able to lock up the arm bar and get his usual sequence of tilts going on the mat against DeAugustino, but it didn't matter. After a DeAugustino escape, Lee chained a fireman's carry into a cradle and picked up another first-period pin, his fourth in a row this season. Unreal.

Lee just blitzed through the #3-ranked wrestler in the country. Spencer Lee is just an absolute force of nature.

Overall, a very solid showing for Iowa against a game opponent in Northwestern. Iowa's brightest stars (Woods, Lee) shone very brightly in their bouts. Tony Cassioppi earned a solid win over a tough opponent and one that will pay dividends in the seeding for the Big Ten Tournament. Iowa handled business well at 165, 174, and 184, and got another impressive performance from Cobe Siebrecht in his upset win. This team seems to be getting healthier and rounding into form, which is good to see.

Iowa returns to action next Friday, January 20 (8:00 PM CT, BTN) with another home dual meet, this time against #16 Nebraska (5-2, 1-0 Big Ten). The Cornhuskers beat #12 Minnesota 21-9 on Friday night and feature a quartet of Top 10-ranked wrestlers, including #5 Brock Hardy (141), #1 Peyton Robb (157), #2 Mikey Labriola (174), and #10 Lenny Pinto (184).