PHOTO BY BRIAN RAY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM - Iowa’s Kaleb Young wrestles Nebraska’s Caleb Licking at 157 pounds on Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Young, ranked sixth, defeated Licking by major decision, 17-5.

IOWA CITY — The top-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team defeated No. 6 Nebraska, 31-6, on Friday night in the 2021 season opener at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa won eight of 10 bouts, scored bonus points in four matches and defeated six ranked opponents to win its 14th-straight dual overall and extend its Big Ten winning streak to 19. The Hawkeyes held a 28-5 advantage in takedowns and an 89-35 edge in match points.

The Hawkeyes got a fall from Spencer Lee to start the dual, a technical fall from Austin DeSanto, and major decisions from Kaleb Young and Nelson Brands.

In just over six minutes of mat time, Iowa built a 11-0 lead in the team score. Lee led 6-0 before recording the fall in 1 minute, 21 seconds at 125 pounds. DeSanto won 21-6, piling up 10 takedowns before terminating his match in 4 minutes, 57 seconds at 133.

Jaydin Eierman made his Hawkeye debut at 141 and registered a top-10 victory over No. 7 Chad Red, 8-4. Max Murin scored a pair of takedowns on his way to a 6-2 win at 149, his first collegiate match at 149, and Young used four takedowns, two reversals and four back points to earn a 17-5 major decision at 157.

Alex Marinelli scored takedowns in each period to win 9-3 at 165. Nelson Brands earned a top 10 major decision in his Big Ten dual debut, topping No. 7 Taylor Venz, 13-5, and Tony Cassioppi closed the dual with a 3-0 shutout at 285.

Nebraska won matches at 174 and 197. Freshman Patrick Kennedy dropped a 7-4 decision to No. 4 Mikey Labriola at 174, and a third-period takedown was the difference in Jacob Warner’s 3-2 loss to No. 2 Eric Shultz at 197.

This was the Hawkeyes’ first competition since winning the Big Ten Championships on March 8, 2020, in Piscataway, N.J. Iowa has won 14 straight overall, 17 straight at home and 19 consecutive Big Ten duals.

Lee improved to 19-0 all-time inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with five wins against ranked opponents and 16 bonus-point victories. He has won 24-straight matches.

No. 1 Iowa wrestles at No. 14 Minnesota next Friday in an 8 p.m. contest televised by the Big Ten Network.

No. 1 Iowa 31, No. 6 Nebraska 6

125–Spencer Lee (I) pinned Liam Cronin, 1:21, 133–Austin DeSanto (I) tech. falled Alex Thomsen, 21-6, 141–Jaydin Eierman (I) dec. Chad Red Jr., 8-4, 149–Max Murin (I) dec. Brock Hardy, 6-2, 157–Kaleb Young (I) major dec. Caleb Licking, 7-5, 165–Alex Marinelli (I) dec. Peyton Robb, 9-3, 174–Mikey Labriola (N) dec. Patrick Kennedy, 7-4, 184–Nelson Brands (I) major dec. Taylor Venz, 13-5, 197–Eric Shultz (N) dec. Jacob Warner, 3-2, 285–Tony Cassioppi (I) dec. Christian Lance, 4-0.