#2 Iowa wrestling's final competition for over three weeks -- and final dual meet for over a month -- resulted in a pair of dual meet wins over Princeton and Army at the Journeyman "Uncivil War" event in St. Charles, Missouri.

The Hawkeyes (6-0) had little difficulty with the Tigers in the first dual meet of the evening, blasting Princeton 39-3 behind nine wins, including five technical falls and two major decisions. Iowa dominated Princeton from start to finish in most matches and racked up bonus points with ease.

The second dual meet of the night, against the Army Black Knights, proved to be a more challenging affair. Iowa prevailed 23-16, with six total wins and a dominant stretch in the second half of the dual that included a stretch of three bonus point wins (two technical falls and a major decision) in four consecutive wins that turned the dual decisively in Iowa's favor. The dual meet win was the 300th of Tom Brands' coaching career.

There was little drama in Iowa's win over Princeton. The Hawkeyes never trailed in the dual, with Joey Cruz getting Iowa started with a 6-1 win at 125 and #6 Drake Ayala extending Iowa's lead to 7-0 after a solid 13-2 major decision win at 133. Iowa's only hiccup in the dual came at 141, where Cullan Schriever conceded a takedown in the third period to lose 4-2.

Iowa had an emphatic response to that one loss, though, as #4 Kyle Parco kicked off a streak of four straight technical fall wins for the Hawkeyes with a 17-2 over. Freshman Miguel Estrada made his dual meet debut for Iowa at 157 and showed an impressive combination of pace and high-powered offense as he raced to a 21-6 technical fall win. #2 Michael Caliendo and #8 Nelson Brands kept the bonus points flowing with 19-3 and 20-4 tech falls wins, respectively.

In fact, it would have been six straight technical fall wins for Iowa against Princeton if #8 Gabe Arnold had been able to score one more takedown. He had to settle for a 19-6 major decision win instead.

The most notable win of the dual may have been at 197, where #2 Stephen Buchanan manhandled Princeton's highest-ranked wrestler, #18 Luke Stout, with an 18-3 technical fall win. Buchanan's relentless pace broke Stout down and turned the match into a rout.

#13 Ben Kueter closed out the meet with a comfortable 8-2 decision win, snapping Iowa's run of six straight bonus point wins but winning with ease all the same.

Iowa faced much more adversity in the Army dual meet, losing three of the first five matches and falling behind 13-7 at the halfway point of the dual. Joey Cruz couldn't finish any offense or record any escapes against #22 Charles Farmer at 125, losing an 8-0 major decision. #6 Drake Ayala was able to use a late takedown to pull away a bit in a 7-3 win over #23 Ethan Berginc at 133. Ayala was far from satisfied in his performance, but noted that there was still a lot of season left to go.

At 141, Cullan Schriever fell behind early, but tied his match at 5-5, before conceding a takedown (two takedowns, actually) in the third period to lose the match. He had a tough night and Iowa continues to not have many good answers at the 141 lb weight class this season.

#4 Kyle Parco helped turn the tide for the Hawkeyes with a 14-5 major decision win at 149 lbs, pulling away late to secure bonus points and help Iowa tie up the dual meet at 7-7. That tie was short-lived, though, as Kael Voinovich got caught on his back in a scramble and pinned by Army's Dakota Morris. Voinovich had looked solid prior to that mistake and actually had a solid lead over Morris before getting caught on his back and stuck for the surprise defeat.

The middle and upper weights bailed Iowa out of that 13-7 hole, though, behind some relentless offensive displays. #2 Michael Caliendo had a scoreless first period against #13 Gunner Flipowicz, as the Army man engaged in a lot of handfighting and clinging to keep Caliendo at bay. The dam broke in the second period, though, and Caliendo stayed on the attack in the third and was rewarded with an 11-2 major decision win.

Patrick Kennedy got the call at 174 and turned his match into a takedown clinic, rolling to a 21-4 technical fall victory over #31 Dalton Harkins. Seven matches in, Kennedy's win gave Iowa its first lead of the dual, 15-10.

One of the wildest matches of the dual followed at 184 lbs, as #8 Gabe Arnold had to battle from behind to grind out a win over Andrew Christie. Arnold appeared to score a takedown in the first period, but the officials didn't award it; in the ensuing scramble, Arnold got taken down himself and put on his back for a two-count, putting him down 5-0 in the match. Arnold put his head down and went to work after falling behind early.

“Something the coaches talk about is being ready for anything and everything,” said Arnold. “Being down 5-0 is not something that I am used to, but I think for me it shows a lot of growth. Last year I don’t think that the wrestler, the person that I was, I don’t think I would have been able to climb out of that hole the way that I did.”

Arnold kept methodically attacking Christie, and turned the match around, finishing the match off with takedowns in the third period to ice the win. Arnold showed good resolve in fighting back after things went very sideways on him early in the bout.

#2 Stephen Buchanan locked up dual for Iowa with another one-sided victory, steamrolling Wolfgang Frable with a succession of takedowns to secure a 20-4 technical fall win. With the dual win secured, Easton Fleshman got a start at 285, falling 2-0 after failing to score from neutral or record an escape against #27 Lucas Stoddard.

Overall, Iowa won 15 of 20 matches over the two dual meets and recorded bonus points in 11 of those 15 wins. In most matches, Iowa stayed aggressive, stayed on the attack, and was rewarded with takedown clinics (and a few near fall points) that turned decision wins into major decisions and technical falls.

The win over Army was more of a grind than expected, though surprise bonus points can always put a dual on tilt, which is exactly what the Army pin at 157 did. The Hawkeye wrestlers took care of business in the back half of the meet, but Iowa still heads into the holiday period with plenty of things to work on, especially in the lower weights.

NEXT: Iowa will compete in the Soldier Salute tournament in Coralville, IA on December 29-30. The Hawkeyes' next dual meet is the Big Ten opener at Wisconsin on January 12, 2025.