The No. 10 Gophers lost to third-ranked Iowa 27-11 on Sunday, in Minnesota's fourth home wrestling dual against a top-five opponent this season.
The loss, in front of a season-best announced crowd of 3,749 at the Sports Pavilion, left the Gophers at 6-4 overall, 5-3 in the Big Ten with two duals remaining in the regular season.
Iowa took control by winning the first five matches, but the Pavilion crowd came alive following intermission when No. 2-ranked Brett Pfarr raced to a 10-0 lead over Mitch Bowman in the first period of their match at 197 pounds, on the way to winning 19-4 in his third consecutive technical fall victory.
Eighth-ranked heavyweight Michael Kroells followed with a 7-0 decision over the Hawkeyes' Steve Holloway. Tommy Thorn was the Gophers' other winner, over Topher Carton at 141.
"We knew coming in here that we needed to wrestle really well," Gophers coach Brandon Eggum said. "We knew this was a tough team, but we were a little disappointed in some spots."
Etc.
• Stefan Milicevic teamed with Jesse Sprinkel to win the decisive doubles match, before Milicevic's victory at No. 3 singles gave the Gophers men's tennis team its first road victory, 4-3 at Pennsylvania.
• The Gophers women's tennis team posted two three-set wins among four singles victories in a 5-2 home victory over DePaul.
