Tie puts an end to Iowa’s dual win streak at 69 matches

STILLWATER, Okla. - The University of Iowa wrestling team didn't lose Sunday afternoon in Gallagher-Iba Arena, but its 69-match winning streak is over.

The ninth-ranked Hawkeyes and sixth-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys split the 10 bouts, settling for a 15-15 tie.

Iowa's streak now is a 70-match non-losing streak. That makes Oklahoma State's 76 wins in a row from 1937 through 1951 safe and it ties the Hawkeyes with a pair of Cowboy win streaks in 1921-32 and 1996-99 for second best all-time.

Sunday's dual was a classic back-and-forth affair. Iowa never trailed until Clayton Foster nipped Luke Lofthouse, 5-3 at 197 pounds, giving the Cowboys a 15-12 lead.

Iowa's Blake Rasing ended the dual with a 3-1 overtime win over Blake Rosholt at heavyweight, securing the tie. In regular-season duals, there is no tiebreaking criteria. That rules applies only in dual tournaments. Under tiebreaking rules, OSU would have won with more back points than the Hawkeyes.

Iowa's Matt McDonough (13-1) opened the dual with a 7-3 win over Jon Morrison at 125, but OSU tied it on top-ranked Jordan Oliver's 11-4 win over Tyler Clark at 133.

Mark Ballweg (12-3) scored a big 8-3 win over Josh Kindig at 141, putting Iowa back on top. But Jamal Parks toppled Mark's brother, Matt, 8-4, to tie the dual again.

Derek St. John (10-2) put Iowa up 9-6 by scoring a takedown with five seconds left to beat Neil Erisman, 7-5, at 157, but once again the Cowboys answered with Dallas Bailey's 6-2 win over Aaron Janssen at 165, thanks to a big five-point move early in the bout.

Ethen Lofthouse (11-4) gave Iowa its last lead, 12-9, with a 4-3 win over Mike Benefiel at 174. The Cowboys (7-2-1) won the next two bouts - Chris Perry's 2-0 win over Grant Gambrall and Foster's win over Luke Lofthouse - to take their first and only lead.

Iowa's focus now turns to the Big Ten, hosting Ohio State on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Hawkeyes (8-0-1) have won 28 consecutive Big Ten duals.