Northwestern closed its 2024-25 dual season on a sour note with a blowout 37-3 loss at No. 3 Iowa Sunday.
The Wildcats (4-7, 2-6 Big Ten) improved on their 46-0 home loss to the Hawkeyes (13-1, 7-1 Big Ten) in 2024. NU hasn’t beaten Iowa on the road since the 1966-67 season or won the matchup since the 2004-05 season.
No. 9 graduate student 157-pounder Trevor Chumbley scored the visitors’ only team points in the first bout of the afternoon with a 4-1 overtime victory against Iowa’s Miguel Estrada. A cagey match ended in the sudden-death period when Chumbley got his first clean shot at the freshman’s ankles, locking them up to score the takedown.
While the hosts racked up 35 takedowns across all ten bouts, Chumbley’s winner was the only one for the Wildcats. In other matchups, NU frustrated the Hawkeyes with their defense at times but rarely generated offense of their own.
Iowa’s No. 2 Michael Caliendo and Nelson Brands established their superiority through technical fall victories in the 165-pound and 174-pound bouts. Graduate student 184-pounder Jon Halvorsen sidestepped numerous attacks by the Hawkeyes’ No. 8 Gabe Arnold but still lost 13-2 by major decision.
No. 14 redshirt junior 197-pounder Evan Bates put Iowa’s No. 1 Stephen Buchanan in uncomfortable positions early on, coming within inches of scoring a takedown multiple times. However, his aggression left him defensively vulnerable, and Buchanan capitalized with four takedowns to win by technical fall.
Hawkeye heavyweight No. 11 Ben Kueter gave the hosts a 19-3 lead at the halfway point with five first-period takedowns en route to a technical fall win over redshirt freshman Dirk Morley.
In the lightweights, redshirt freshman 125-pounder Dedrick Navarro and sophomore 133-pounder Massey Odiotti kept their matches competitive but lost by decision. Graduate student 141-pounder Chris Cannon was rested, and sophomore Luis Bazan lost by major decision.
Iowa’s No. 3 Kyle Parco snapped No. 25 redshirt freshman 149-pounder Sam Cartella’s four-match winning streak in a 9-2 decision. After conceding a takedown late in the first period, Cartella held the top position in the second, refusing to let Parco escape. Nonetheless, Parco took control with Cartella chasing a takedown, scoring two takedowns to put the match to bed.
NU will take a three-week break before hosting the Big Ten Championships in early March.
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