Continuing their momentum and increasing their ferocity, the UNI wrestling team has proven their worth yet again after defeating long-time rivals Iowa State University (ISU) and Eastern Michigan University (EMU) last week, taking both teams by force.

These victories pushed the Panthers up to 7-2 overall this season and 4-0 in the MAC (Mid-American Conference) — leaving Northern Iowa second in the conference only to Missouri, both teams gripping a four-match winning streak.

Starting off their week at ISU on Friday, Panther Max Thomsen shut out his opponent in a 12-8 major decision. This was followed up by the second victory of the night from Bryce Steiert with another major decision of 14-5 after earning four takedowns and near fall throughout the match.

After trailing the Cyclones 8-9 before the intermission, the Panthers came back with four straight individual victories to secure a 20-9 lead that resulted in a 20-12 final score.

Of those four were Jacob Holschlag with a 5-4 decision in a neck-and-neck bout at 197 lbs; J.J. Everard’s 3-1 decision from the heavyweight class earned in a sudden victory after finishing the third period at 1-1; Jay Schwarm’s 8-4 decision in the 125-lb bout who held his opponent at two points until the last seven seconds of the match and Josh Alber’s 8-6 decision in another sudden victory —earning a takedown in 16 seconds to finish on top.

With only one day of downtime between meets, the Panthers took on EMU in the West Gym Sunday night, keeping their momentum to defend their home with an incredible 35-4 victory.

Schwarm dominated the mat as he earned five team points from two near-falls and a final tech fall score of 16-0 over his opponent. Alber earned his decision after accruing riding time to tip the scales, finishing 5-4 in the 133-lb bout. Another shutout came from Paden Moore with a 5-0 decision which was earned primarily with a takedown and some riding time.

The second tech fall of the night came from Steiert, as he secured a total of seven pins and a four-point near fall against his opponent to finish 20-5 overall. Beating out Steiert in takedowns was Panther Lujan with nine takedowns which contributed to his 22-11 major decision.

Yet another five takedowns came from Foster in the 184-lb bout, who took a 12-6 decision over his EMU opponent. Holschlag took a 3-0 decision in a tense 197-lb bout, and Everard trumped his opponent with a 10-4 decision, leaving UNI to take nine of the 10 match bouts.

Looking ahead, the UNI wrestlers will be in Athens, OH this Friday to take on Ohio University at 7 p.m. The next Panther home meet will take place Feb. 5 in the McLeod Center — with free admission offered to high school teams who RSVP.