Iowa won five of the first seven matches, allowing the No. 3 Hawkeyes to top the No. 10 Gophers 22-9 in Minnesota's Big Ten wrestling opener in Iowa City on Monday night.
Iowa (7-0, 2-0) won seven of the 10 matches and received a 13-2 major decision from Patrick Kennedy over Sam Skillings at 174 pounds. The biggest victory for the Gophers (5-1, 0-1) came at 157 pounds, with No. 11-ranked Michael Blockhus' upset over No. 2 Jared Franek in a 5-4 decision that was Franek's first loss of the season and ended his 15-match winning streak. Franek led 4-1 through two periods and was up 4-2 with 20 seconds to go when Blockhus took him down and held on for the win.
Iowa holds the all-time series lead over Minnesota with a record of 79-28-1 in a series that dates back to the 1922-23 season.
