Iowa's Daniel Dennis (right) battles Michigan State's Franklin Gomez in the semifinals. Photo by Darren Miller, University of Iowa.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Iowa senior Brent Metcalf is a perfectionist.

He may win by fall or technical fall in most of his matches, but there is always work to do and room for improvement.

Metcalf was one of six Hawkeyes to win his semifinal bout at the Big Ten Championships on Saturday night at the University of Michigan's Crisler Arena.

Metcalf is seeking his third straight league title at 149 pounds.

"You always want 10 guys in the finals and you want 10 champions," Metcalf said. "Maybe that was the talk because that was the expectation. But we need guys to perform. This isn't the final show, so we still have a chance to do better."

Iowa still did a lot better than everyone else on Saturday.

The No. 1 Hawkeyes hold a 137 to 104.5 lead over No. 5 Minnesota in the race for the team title. Iowa placed six in the finals and Minnesota four. Ohio State is third with 86 points and three in the finals.

Iowa is seeking its third straight Big Ten title and 34th overall.

"We have six guys in the finals, so we have six automatic qualifiers (for the NCAA Championships)," Iowa coach Tom Brands said. "We got work to do. There are certain things that happened out there that cannot happen ever - lack of hustle, putting your head on the mat. They just cannot happen. That's not how you are going to get yourself to where you want to be. We have some things we need to iron out."

The finals are scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday and will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.

The Big Ten has secured at least 56 qualifiers for the NCAA Championships, set for March 18-20 in Omaha, Neb. An additional 46 overall at-large qualifiers, among all Division I teams, will be named March 10.

Indiana's Angel Escobedo (125) also has a chance to win his third Big Ten title. Escobedo will meet Iowa freshman phenom Matt McDonough in a battle of unbeatens in the finals.

Wisconsin's Andrew Howe (165) and Iowa's Dan Erekson (285) are looking to repeat as Big Ten champions.

Michigan State's Franklin Gomez (133) came up short in his bid to become a three-time champion. The third-seeded Gomez lost on a locked hands call in a 5-4 setback to No. 2 Daniel Dennis of Iowa in the semis.

Dennis beat Gomez, a 2009 NCAA champion, for the second time this season.

Minnesota's Jayson Ness (133) is looking for his second Big Ten title. Ness will face Dennis, who he beat in the team's Big Ten dual meet, in the finals.

"It would mean a lot to win another Big Ten title," Ness said. "Dennis is a tough kid who is going to come after you hard for seven minutes. It's going to be a battle against him. I need to match his intensity."

SUNDAY'S FINALS MATCHUPS

125 pounds
No. 1 Angel Escobedo (Indiana) vs. No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa)

133 Pounds
No. 1 Jayson Ness (Minnesota) vs. No. 2 Daniel Dennis (Iowa)

141 Pounds
No. 1 Reece Humphrey (Ohio State) vs. No. 2 Mike Thorn (Minnesota)

149 Pounds
No. 1 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) vs. No. 2 Lance Palmer (Ohio State)

157 Pounds
No. 1 Colton Salazar (Purdue) vs. No. 2 Cyler Sanderson (Penn State)

165 Pounds
No. 1 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) vs. No. 3 Colt Sponseller (Ohio State)

174 Pounds
No. 1 Jay Borschel (Iowa) vs. No. 3 Scott Glasser (Minnesota)

184 Pounds
No. 1 John Dergo (Illinois) vs. No. 3 Phil Keddy (Iowa)

197 Pounds
No. 5 Sonny Yohn (Minnesota) vs. No. 2 Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin)

285 Pounds
No. 1 Nathan Everhart (Indiana) vs. No. 2 Dan Erekson (Iowa)

Video interview with Iowa's Brent Metcalf

Video interview with Minnesota's Jayson Ness

Video interview with Penn State's Cyler Sanderson

Video interview with Ohio State's Colt Sponseller