No. 8 Iowa St. bests instate rival UNI

AMES, Iowa -- Eighth-ranked Iowa State (10-2, 2-1 Big 12) won seven matches, including three major decisions in a convincing 24-12 victory against instate rival Northern Iowa (7-8, 4-3 Mid-American Conference) Sunday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum.

Kyven Gadson (197), Dante Rodriguez (141) and Gabe Moreno (149) all registered major decision victories for the Cyclones, as ISU won its fourth consecutive dual meet. Gadson’s win was his 22nd of the season.

Tanner Weatherman put the Cyclones on the board first at 174 pounds with a 6-2 decision against UNI’s Curt Maas. Weatherman scored a takedown on a counter with under a minute remaining in the match to seal the victory.

Lelund Weatherspoon added three more points for ISU with a 10-3 victory against Kyle Lux at 184 pounds. Weatherspoon had a first-period takedown and then rode out Lux the entire second period. He then picked up three additional takedowns in the final stanza.

No. 2 Gadson was dominant in his victory at 197 pounds. He threw Basil Minto in the first period to pick up a takedown and 2-point near-fall. Gadson then added four more takedowns in the match for the 17-5 major decision.

UNI received its first win and its first takedown of the match with a 5-2 victory by Blaize Cabell against Quean Smith at heavyweight. The Panthers then cut the match lead to 10-9 when Dylan Peters pinned ISU’s Kyle Larson at 2:57 in the 125-pound bout.

Third-ranked Earl Hall was victorious at 133 pounds with a 9-3 win against Leighton Gaul. Hall used a second-period reversal to take control of the match. He tacked on two takedowns in the final period.

Rodriguez scored a 13-1 major decision versus Jake Hodges at 141 pounds. Rodriguez appeared to have a pin in the first period after getting Hodges on his back for a long period of time. Ultimately, he was just awarded a 3-point near-fall to take an early 5-0 lead. He added two more back points when he tilted Hodges in the closing moments of the opening period. In the third period, Rodriguez recorded a reversal and then a 3-point near-fall when he turned Hodges at the end of the match.

At 149 pounds, Moreno used two takedowns and a 2-point near-fall in the final minute of the match to secure a 13-4 major decision against UNI’s Gunnar Wolfensperger.

Third-ranked Michael Moreno defeated UNI’s Cooper Moore 5-2 in the 165-pound match. With Moreno leading 1-0, Moore chose down to begin the third period. Moreno immediately turned him on a suck back and was awarded a 3-point near-fall to take control of the match.