The Panther Train rolled into the Air Force Academy this past weekend as the Panthers and Falcons went head-to-head for the seventh time in series history, which UNI leads six to one. The Panthers were coming off two big wins, 20-13 over Missouri, and 32-6 at Northern Colorado before heading into Air Force, and came out of the meet with a strong, 28-12 win, advancing to 3-1 in the Big 12 conference.

Max Thompson, a redshirt junior, (149) began the meet with a 4-0 decision over Dylan Martinez, starting out the Panthers with a solid 3-0 lead. Redshirt-freshman Derek Holschlag (157 pounds) improved the UNI lead to 6-0 after claiming a 7-4 decision. Austin Yant (165 pounds) fell to Randy Meneweather II in a close 7-4 battle, but Panther juniors Bryce Steiert (174 pounds) and Taylor Lujan (184 pounds) both had big wins to improve the Northern Iowa lead to 16-3, as Bryce Steiert had a 13-0 major decision followed by the pin at the 4:48 mark by Lujan.

The Falcons made a short run back at the Panthers lead as Noah Glaser (197) pounds fell to a 1-0 decision followed by Bryce Esmoil (285 pounds) falling at the 2:32 mark, bringing the score to 16-12 UNI.

The Panther Train, however, would not allow another point from the Falcons as Jay Schwarm (125 pounds) pinned Graham Shore at the 1:46 mark, followed by Drew Bennett (133 pounds) grabbing the 9-7 decision over Jared Van Vleet, ending the day with a 6-2 decision by Michael Blockhus (141 pounds) as the Panthers closed out the day on three wins.

Northern Iowa finished the day with a score of 28-12, advancing to 4-3 in duels while holding steady in conference play with an impressive 3-1 record.

The Panther Train returns home to the West Gym on January 25th at 7 P.M. for Purple Out matchup against their Big 12 rival Oklahoma State Cowboys.