CEDAR FALLS — The Northern Iowa women’s basketball team closed the regular season with a comeback victory Sunday, defeating in-state rival Drake 65-58 at the McLeod Center.

Jenna Twedt led all scorers with 20 points for UNI, converting 8 of 10 free throws. Ryley Goebel added 10 points, eight rebounds and five blocks, while Bri Robinson also scored 10 points for the Panthers, who improved to 17-13 overall and 13-7 in the MVC.

Anna Becker paced Drake with 14 points and five rebounds. Lexi Carlsen added nine points off the bench, while Abbie Aalsma scored eight for the Bulldogs, who finished the regular season 11-19 overall and 10-10 in league play.

The Panthers enter the MVC Tournament as the No. 4 seed and will face Bradley in Friday’s quarterfinals, while Drake will open Thursday against Valparaiso.

Iowa finishes 4th at Big Ten Championships

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The University of Iowa men’s wrestling team finished fourth at the 2026 Big Ten Championships on Sunday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Seven Hawkeyes finished on the podium, and Iowa qualified nine of 10 weights for the NCAA Championships in Cleveland.

Iowa dropped its lone finals bout, as third-seeded Michael Caliendo fell to No. 1 seed Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State, losing a 12-3 major decision at 165 pounds.

The Hawkeyes won three placement matches. No. 5 seed Drake Ayala finished third at 133 after defeating No. 4 Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin, 4-2. At 141, No. 4 seed Nasir Bailey also finished third, defeating No. 3 Vance VomBaur of Minnesota, 7-4. In the 125-pound fifth-place match, No. 8 seed Dean Peterson defeated Michigan’s No. 9 Diego Sotelo. Patrick Kennedy (174) and Ben Kueter (285) both finished fourth.

Elam, Bastida claim second Big 12 titles

TULSA, Okla. — Rocky Elam and Yonger Bastida claimed individual Big 12 titles Saturday night at the BOK Center, marking Iowa State’s eighth-consecutive year with a Big 12 champion and the second time in the last three seasons with two champions.

Both Elam (197) and Bastida (285) earned their second career Big 12 titles with Elam having also won in 2023 while at Missouri and Bastida taking the heavyweight crown in 2024. Bastida is the 40th two-time conference champion in Iowa State history.

Stevo Poulin (125) and Anthony Echemendia (141) fell short in their title attempts.

Iowa State placed second as a team with 144 points behind champion Oklahoma State (176). Nine Cyclones punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships during the weekend.

Elam defeated Wyoming’s No. 3 Joey Novak, 5-4, while Bastida topped Oklahoma State’s No. 7 Konner Doucet, 4-1.

Northern Iowa came away in 10th place in the final team standings, sending one wrestler to the finals.

Caleb Rathjen finished as runner-up at 149, while Julian Farber placed third for a second-straight season at 133. Ryder Downey took fourth at 165, and Nick Fox finished in ninth at 184.

Rathjen fell to top-seeded Casey Swiderski of Oklahoma State in the 149 finale, falling by a 5-3 decision.

Rathjen, Farber and Downey all qualify for the NCAA Championships in Cleveland.