Iowa needed late bonus points to stave off Nebraska’s first win in Iowa City in 88 years. 

Stephen Buchanan and Ben Kueter delivered. 

Buchanan’s furious finish culminated with a third-period pin that put the Hawkeyes back in position to hold off the Huskers and Kueter scored a major decision with the dual on the line, pushing Iowa to a 19-16 victory in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. 

Nebraska grabbed the upper hand after pulling out late wins against top-10 opponents at 174 and 184. Lenny Pinto, ranked 14th at 174, took sixth-ranked Patrick Kennedy feet-to-back in the closing seconds to win a wild 18-11 decision and seventh-ranked teammate Silas Allred followed it up with an overtime takedown to defeat #5 Gabe Arnold 4-1 at 184. 

Pinto raced out to an early 10-1 lead when he nearly decked Kennedy early in the match. But the Hawkeye cut the deficit to 10-9 with a seven-point sequence of his own later in the period and rode out Pinto in the second and escaped early in the third to effectively tie the match. 

It appeared as if they might go to overtime before Pinto exploded to a leg and took Kennedy to his back for the win. That sequence — coupled with Allred’s overtime takedown — gave the Huskers a 16-9 edge in the dual and a 17-point advantage in match points heading to 197. 

No. 14 Lenny Pinto with the top-15 upset over No. 6 Patrick Kennedy ‼️#B1GWrestling on @BigTenNetwork 📺 pic.twitter.com/7u8SSrMjJ2

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) February 8, 2025

Buchanan went to work with a barrage of attacks against freshman Camden McDanel. 

After a scoreless first period, the top-ranked 197-pounder escaped and scored a pair of takedowns in the second to put himself into major decision territory. He cranked the pace even more in the third. 

Buchanan scored three third-period takedowns before running McDaniel over with a whipover for fall with eight seconds remaining that electrified the Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd and made Kueter’s task easier. 

Stephen Buchanan at 197 lbs with the fall 😤#B1GWrestling x @Hawks_Wrestling pic.twitter.com/V5uu7PlPWm

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) February 8, 2025

The freshman heavyweight did his part with an 8-0 major decision against Harley Andrews. Kueter wiggled out of trouble in the first period and scrambled into a takedown to go ahead. He turned Andrews for a two-point near-fall later in the period. 

It took a pivotal win early for the Hawkeyes to set up the Hawkeye heroics late. 

Fourth-ranked Kyle Parco used a third-period bodylock takedown to defeat #2 Ridge Lovett in a clash of All-Americans at 149. The Parco win creates a potential Big Ten seeding dilemma. Lovett scored a major decision last month against Penn State’s Shayne Van Ness, who majored Parco last week. 

No. 4 Kyle Parco with the upset decision over No. 2 Ridge Lovett 😤#B1GWrestling x @Hawks_Wrestling pic.twitter.com/3mkn02Cnqh

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) February 8, 2025