Ames, Ia. - Ethen Lofthouse was not content to settle for a garden variety major decision for No. 5-rated Iowa’s wrestling team Sunday in the Iowa State Regional of the NWCA National Duals at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

Lofthouse was holding an 18-6 lead against No. 16 Oregon State’s John Tuck with under 20 seconds remaining in their 174-pound bout of the regional finals.

Lofthouse got his eighth takedown of the match with one second left and used his 2:51 of riding time to post a 21-6 technical fall. That gap-widening win helped the Hawkeyes to a 22-14 victory over the Beavers.

Iowa will be trying to win its fourth National Duals championship in five years next weekend. The Hawkeyes won in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and did not compete in the 2011 event.

When Lofthouse took the mat Sunday, Oregon State trailed 11-7 thanks to a 9-1 major decision at 157 by R. J. Pena over Iowa’s Derek St. John.

“This is a team competition. You worry about yourself and then the team, but you go out and score as many points as you can,” Lofthouse said. “I needed one more takedown, there were 15 seconds left  … you’ve got to push yourself. That makes you better, and then it helps out the team too.”

Iowa was expected on Sunday to join three other teams in next weekend’s National Duals “Final Four,” but coach Jim Zalesky’s Beavers tried to make it as tough as possible against Zalesky’s former team.

Oregon State scored the first takedown in four of the first five matches, but only won two of those bouts - at 149 where Scott Sakaguchi beat Mike Kelly 8-3 and at 157, where Pena racked up 5:05 of riding time against St. John. The Beavers didn’t stay the course of trying to widen a lead, Zalesky said.

“We didn’t try to build on it,” said Zalesky, who was a fellow assistant coach with Brands at Iowa before taking over for Dan Gable as an interim head coach and then head coach. “We just tried to win by one point. That’s not how you win.”

One painful situation of not building the lead for Zalesky was at 141, where No. 4 Michael Mangrum scored first on Iowa’s No. 6 Montell Marion, but Marion kept attacking throughout the contest and was rewarded with a 6-4 overtime win. The deciding points came with 23 seconds left in overtime.

“He’s used to doing it sometimes in high school, sometimes in bigger matches, you know he’s good enough defensively, but when you let a guy on your leg five, six times you’re going to get beat,” Zalesky said of Mangrum.

One match earlier, Iowa’s Tony Ramos completed a strong day with a 24-8 technical fall over Garrett Drucker. Ramos earlier avenged a 6-4 overtime loss to Virginia Tech’s No. 1 ranked Devin Carter with a 3-2 victory. 

Despite giving up the first takedown in those contests, Iowa coach Tom Brands liked the way his guys charged back and pressed the attack. But Brands was not pleased overall.

“The thing that irritates me is when we’re almost completing something - whether it’s an escape or a takedown or a guy’s in on our leg and we’re sprawling - all of a sudden we just stop and our head goes to the mat or our belly goes to the mat and we give it up,” Brands said. “That’s what is in my head right now as far as what’s probably irritating me the most.”

To reach the finals Sunday, Iowa beat Virginia Tech 31-3. Oregon State beat Iowa State 27-12 in the other semifinal.

Northern Iowa, which lost, 20-17, to Virginia Tech in the first round, came back with a 30-15 victory over Wisconsin to finish fifth.

Virginia Tech advanced to the semifinals with its first victory in three tries against Northern Iowa. A 56-second pin by Chris Moon at 174 broke a 10-10 tie and a 13-5 major decision at 197 by Nick Vetterlein proved to be the deciding match.
Northern Iowa had a 7-0 lead after the first two bouts, keyed by Joe Colon’s 13-3 major decision over Carter at 133. The meet was tied twice before Moon’s fall put the Hokies ahead to stay.

Colon extended his winning streak to 15 matches Sunday. The former NJCAA national champion for Iowa Central had five major decisions, five pins and four technical falls during that run. 

According to Northern Iowa records, the Panthers held victories over the Hokies during the 2004-05 and the 2005-06 seasons.

Iowa State met Wisconsin for the first time since the 2008-09 season in the other first round bout Sunday, and the results were similar.

Jackson Hein’s 10-6 victory at 197  prevented the Badgers from being shut out Sunday. The Cyclones, who beat Wisconsin 27-7, in the Nov. 21, 2008 meeting, collected pins by Ryak Finch at 125 and Joe Cozart at 149 along with major decisions by Luke Goettl at 141, Michael Moreno at 157 and Chris Spangler at 174 on Sunday.

The highlight match of the Iowa State-Wisconsin dual was at 165, where the Cyclones‘ No. 4-ranked Andrew Sorenson avenged his only collegiate setback of the season with a 3-2 victory over Ben Jordan. In the consolations of the Midlands tournament in December, Jordan beat Sorenson 8-4.

NWCA/CLIFF KEEN NATIONAL DUALS – IOWA STATE REGIONAL
AMES, IOWA
FINALS
#1 IOWA 22, #2 OREGON STATE 14
125 - Matt McDonough (Iowa) over Pat Rollins (Oregon State) Dec 7-2
133 - Tony Ramos (Iowa) over Garrett Drucker (Oregon State) TF 24-8
141 - Montell Marion (Iowa) over Michael Mangrum (Oregon State) OT 6-4
149 - Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) over Mike Kelly (Iowa) Dec 8-3
157 - Roger Pena (Oregon State) over Derek St. John (Iowa) Maj 9-1
165 - Michael Evans (Iowa) over Joe Latham (Oregon State) Dec 4-0
174 - Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) over John Tuck (Oregon State) TF 21-6
184 - Vinnie Wagner (Iowa) over Ty Vinson (Oregon State) Dec 7-6
197 - Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) over Tomas Lira (Iowa) Maj 14-3
285 - Clayton Jack (Oregon State) over Bobby Telford (Iowa) Dec 5-3

SEMIFINALS
#1 IOWA 31, #4 VIRGINIA TECH 3
125 - Matt McDonough (Iowa) over Erik Spjut (Virginia Tech) Maj 16-5
133 - Tony Ramos (Iowa) over Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) Dec 3-2
141 - Montell Marion (Iowa) over Zach Neibert (Virginia Tech) Maj 13-2
149 - Mike Kelly (Iowa) over Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech) Dec 2-1
157 - Nick Moore (Iowa) over Matt Stephens (Virginia Tech) Dec 5-2
165 - Michael Evans (Iowa) over Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) Maj 9-0
174 - Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) over Chris Moon (Virginia Tech) Maj 13-3
184 - Vinnie Wagner (Iowa) over John Dickson (Virginia Tech) Dec 9-2
197 - Nick Vetterlein (Virginia Tech) over Tomas Lira (Iowa) Dec 11-7
285 - Bobby Telford (Iowa) over Chris Penny (Virginia Tech) Dec 4-2

#2 OREGON STATE 27, #3 IOWA STATE 12
125 - Cory Finch (Iowa State) over Pat Rollins (Oregon State) Dec 8-1
133 - Garrett Drucker (Oregon State) over Shayden Terukina (Iowa State) Dec 12-10
141 - Michael Mangrum (Oregon State) over Robert Hallman (Iowa State) TF 21-3
149 - Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) over Joseph Cozart (Iowa State) Dec 8-1
157 - Roger Pena (Oregon State) over Michael Moreno (Iowa State) Pin 1:58
165 - Andrew Sorenson (Iowa State) over Joe Latham (Oregon State) Dec 8-3
174 - John Tuck (Oregon State) over Michael England (Iowa State) Pin 2:47
184 - Boaz Beard (Iowa State) over Bryan Engdahl (Oregon State) Dec 11-5
197 - Jerome Ward (Iowa State) over Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) Dec 11-7
285 - Clayton Jack (Oregon State) over Matthew Gibson (Iowa State) Maj 9-1

QUARTERFINALS
#4 VIRGINIA TECH 20, #5 NORTHERN IOWA 17
125 - Cruse Aarhus (Northern Iowa) over Ty Mitch (Virginia Tech) Dec 7-4
133 - Joe Colon (Northern Iowa) over Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) Maj 13-3
141 - Zach Neibert (Virginia Tech) over Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) Maj 10-2
149 - Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech) over Ryan Jauch (Northern Iowa) Dec 3-0
157 - David Bonin (Northern Iowa) over Cameron Hurd (Virginia Tech) Dec 10-4
165 - Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) over Riley Banach (Northern Iowa) Dec 12-5
174 - Chris Moon (Virginia Tech) over Onni Prestidge (Northern Iowa) Pin 0:56
184 - Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) over John Dickson (Virginia Tech) Maj 8-0
197 - Nick Vetterlein (Virginia Tech) over Taylor Kettman (Northern Iowa) Maj 13-5
285 - Blayne Beale (Northern Iowa) over Chris Penny (Virginia Tech) Dec 8-3

IOWA STATE 36, WISCONSIN 3
125 - Cory Finch (Iowa State) over Austin Hietpas (Wisconsin) Pin 1:37
133 - Shayden Terukina (Iowa State) over Shane McQuade (Wisconsin) Dec 8-5
141 - Luke Goettl (Iowa State) over Thomas Glenn (Wisconsin) Maj 10-0
149 - Joseph Cozart (Iowa State) over Frank Baer (Wisconsin) Pin 4:01
157 - Michael Moreno (Iowa State) over Alex Yde (Wisconsin) Maj 13-2
165 - Andrew Sorenson (Iowa State) over Benjamin Jordan (Wisconsin) Dec 3-2
174 - Christopher Spangler (Iowa State) over Frank Cousins Jr. (Wisconsin) Maj 8-0
184 - Boaz Beard (Iowa State) over Timothy McCall (Wisconsin) Dec 7-2
197 - Jackson Hein (Wisconsin) over Trevor Voelker (Iowa State) Dec 10-6
285 - Matthew Gibson (Iowa State) over Cole Tobin (Wisconsin) Dec 5-2

CONSOLATION
#5 NORTHERN IOWA 30, #6 WISCONSIN 15
125 - Cruse Aarhus (Northern Iowa) over Austin Hietpas (Wisconsin) Dec 3-2
133 - Joe Colon (Northern Iowa) over Shane McQuade (Wisconsin) Pin 3:41
141 - Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) over Thomas Glenn (Wisconsin) Pin 3:35
149 - Ryan Jauch (Northern Iowa) over Frank Baer (Wisconsin) Dec 6-2
157 - David Bonin (Northern Iowa) over Alex Yde (Wisconsin) Pin 4:37
165 - Benjamin Jordan (Wisconsin) over Riley Banach (Northern Iowa) Dec 3-0
174 - Frank Cousins Jr. (Wisconsin) over Onni Prestidge (Northern Iowa) Pin 2:44
184 - Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) over Timothy McCall (Wisconsin) Pin 6:11
197 - Jackson Hein (Wisconsin) over Taylor Kettman (Northern Iowa) Dec 4-1
285 - Cole Tobin (Wisconsin) over Blayne Beale (Northern Iowa) Dec 5-1