IOWA CITY, Iowa – The third-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team won two matches, but top-ranked Penn State claimed eight of 10 bouts to post a 29-6 dual victory on Friday night on Mediacom Mat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“We have to score more takedowns,” said head coach Tom Brands. “We have to get off the bottom at five weights. I don’t know how much riding time was combined, but it was a lot.”

Seventh-ranked Drake Ayala put together a 4-2 victory over No. 2 Braeden Davis at 125 to start the dual. Ayala recorded a first period takedown before Davis escaped to make it 3-1 after the first period. The wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third period as Ayala earned his ninth ranked win of the season.

Penn State took the lead at 133 when No. 6 Aaron Nagao used a pair of takedowns and third period nearfall points to major decision No. 20 Cullan Schriever. No. 1 Beau Bartlett followed with a 7-2 decision over No. 2 Real Woods at 141.

The Hawkeyes narrowed the gap with an 11-8 sudden victory win from No. 12 Caleb Rathjen over No. 10 Tyler Kasak at 149.  After Rathjen recorded the first two takedowns of the match, Kasak rallied back with a pair of third period takedowns to send the bout to overtime. With 1:10 remaining in the sudden victory period, Rathjen converted on a single leg to pick up his third ranked win of the season.

Penn State won the final match before intermission when No. 2 Levi Haines pieced together a major decision over No. 5 Jared Franek at 157. Haines used three takedowns to win 11-0 and bring the Nittany Lion lead to 11-6 at the break.

The Nittany Lions closed out the dual winning all five bouts following intermission. Seventh-ranked Mitchell Messenbrink won via a decision against No. 6 Michael Caliendo at 165.

No. 1 Carter Starocci won a 13-5 major decision over No. 7 Patrick Kennedy at 174. Starocci tallied four takedowns, two in the first and two in the second.

Penn State recorded another bonus point victory at 184 when No. 6 Bernie Truax recorded an, 8-0, major decision over Aiden Riggins and the Nittany Lions followed with a 5-1 victory by No. 1 Aaron Brooks over No. 11 Zach Glazier at 197. After a scoreless first period Brooks used a second period takedown to hand Glazier his first loss of the season.

No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet closed out the dual with a 9-1 victory over Ben Kueter at heavyweight.

“They have a high-powered team,” said Brands. “They score a lot of points, and you have to be ready, like, beyond ready. And if you just think you’re ready, and you think it’s normal, it’s not normal. It’s not a normal team, and that’s not me putting them on a pedestal. That’s not me conceding anything. We have to be better when we go out there. We have to be more ready when we go out there.”

Class 1A: Substate 1
Boyer Valley 78, Whiting 30

Class 1A: Substate 7
Lamoni 51, Melcher Dallas 41
Nodaway Valley 45, East Union 44

Class 1A: Substate 8
Essex 80, Hamburg 45
Woodward Academy 58, Paton-Churdan 43

Hawkeye Ten Conference:
Glenwood 61, Denison-Schleswig 49
Harlan 68, Creston 45
Atlantic 67 Lenox, 65 – OT (NC)
Sergeant Bluff-Luton 49, Lewis Central 34 (NC)

Raccoon River Conference:
Winterset 77, Ballard 64
Gilbert 78, Carlisle 42
ADM 58, Carroll 45
North Polk 64, Boone 41

Pride of Iowa Conference:
Albia 58, Southeast Warren 35 (NC)

West Central Conference:
Des Moines Christian 62, Indianola 54 (NC)

Atlantic has been chosen as host site for a Class 2A District Wrestling Tournament on Saturday. The first match starts at 10:00 a.m.

The 16 ranked Wrestlers competing Saturday according to IAwrestle:

106: Taye Jordan, Atlantic, #7, Quinn Arellano, Van Meter, #9
120: Christian Ahrens, Creston, #2
126: Aiden Smith, Atlantic, #2
132: Kolton Kellar, Knoxville, #12
144: Austin Evans, Creston, #5, Tucker Wheeler, PCM, #6
150: Hewitt Brinegar, PCM #11
157: Gavin Scheuermann, Greene County, #4
165: Brent Dennhardt, Greene County, #4 Brent Bollinger, Creston, #10
175: Daniel Gorskikh, Knoxville, #4
190: Kain Kilmer, Perry, #4
215: Keegan Snyder, Perry, #10
285: Max Chapman, Creston, #5, Evan Sorensen, Atlantic, #6

The Atlantic Trojans basketball team had the fight of their season at home and hung on to win in overtime against the Lenox Tigers 67-65 on Friday night. Friday’s first quarter could be described as a seesaw with Atlantic starting the game on a 6-1 run. Lenox responded with an 8-0 run to take the lead at 9-8 and Atlantic capped off the first quarter scoring six straight unanswered points to make a 16-11 lead.

In the second quarter Atlantic continued to feed the ball to Colton Rasmussen all around the basket who seemed to be unstoppable with 17 first half points. Lenox looked to Gabe Funk 11 first half points to be their response in the second quarter. The Trojans fed off of Rasmussen’s perimeter shooting and Gavin McLaren’s 8 first half points to go up 33-25.  During the third quarter Lenox’s main focus was to score quickly and force Atlantic turnovers. Their strategy worked as the Tigers won the third quarter 22-9 and had the lead at 47-42.

As soon as the fourth quarter started Colton Rasmussen took the ball and singlehandedly gave his team the lead by scoring eight straight points. Lenox had no answer and both teams exchanged trips to free throw line to send the game into overtime at 61-61.

Atlantic looked poised at the beginning of the extra period, especially when Nolan Waters knocked down a left wing three to give his team the lead and the first points in overtime at 64-61. Midway through overtime Brock Henderson was fouled while driving to the basket and had two crucial free throws to put his team back up 66-64. The Tigers then got the ball back with under 10 seconds to play down 66-65. Gabe Funk took the inbound, but the aggressive defense by Rasmussen was too much for Funk as he was pressed back behind the half court line and called for a back court violation. Rasmussen was then fouled on the ensuing inbound and he went 1 for 2 and helped Atlantic go up 67-65. The half court heave at the buzzer for Lenox missed and Atlantic survived overtime.

Atlantic Head Coach Dalton Franken was proud of the way his team fought back throughout the second half of the game.

Colton Rasmussen led the Trojans in scoring with 33, Gavin McLaren had 20, and Brock Henderson chipped in 7. Up next for Atlantic, the Trojans will be facing a familiar Hawkeye 10 foe the Harlan Cyclones. Coach Franken noted that Atlantic needs to be patient, in order to be successful against a talented Harlan squad.

The Tigers were led in scoring by Gabe Funk with 27 and 19 points from Carter Reed.

KJAN will have coverage of the Harlan at Atlantic game beginning with the pregame show at 7:20 p.m.

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – In its first matchup with a ranked opponent in 2024, Iowa State (1-1) fell to No. 11 Duke (1-1) by a score of 16-3 in five innings.

ISU had eight hits on the day, led by Tatum Johnson and Angelina Allen who each had a pair. Ashley Minor provided the Cyclone scores, as the sophomore belted a two-run blast in the second inning and had a near grand slam sacrifice fly the inning after.

Jaiden Ralston (0-1) got the start for the Cyclones, pitching an inning and two-thirds where she gave up four runs (two earned). Johnson would replace Ralston for a pair of outs before both freshmen, Aziza Rodriguez and Lauren Schurman, would see game action.

19 of Iowa State’s 25-man roster saw the field on Friday.

The Cyclones ran into a hot offense, as the Blue Devils scored their 16 runs on 16 hits, powered by a pair of homers – one being a grand slam. Cuke’s Claire Davidson had 6 RBI on the morning, going 3-of-4 at the plate. Eight different Blue Devils had hits and seven recorded RBI.

Dani Drogemuller (1-0) picked up the win for Duke.

Friday Notes

Home Runs

Iowa State: Ashley Minor (1)

Duke: Claire Davidson (1), Amiah Burgess (1)

WP – Dani Drogemuller (1-0): 2.1 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

SV – N/A

LP – Jaiden Ralston (0-1): 1.2 IP, 4 hits, 4 runs (2 earned), 1 walk, 0 strikeouts

On Deck

Iowa State will be back at Nancy Almaraz Stadium tomorrow afternoon for a second straight top-15 matchup as it’s set to square off with No. 7 Washington. Saturday’s first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed on FloSoftball.