Iowa Hawkeyes’ 125pounder Drake Ayala is considered one of the best wrestlers in the weight class for a reason. Bouncing back from his recent wobbly patch, Ayala has put an end to Penn State’s Braeden Davis’ winning ways after the latter’s stellar run sent ripples across the nation’s collegiate wrestling community. With that, Davis was hailed as one of the best prospects in the country in his weight class. However, when faced with one of the country’s top talents, the Penn State freshman finally seemed to run out of luck.

No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes went all guns blazing as they hosted Penn State in Iowa City for the Pioneer Showdown. While most fans went in with the thought of seeing the No. 1 Penn State sweeping their opponents with little hassle, the Hawkeyes had something different planned.

A shaky start from Penn State wrestling

In the first bout of the day, Ayala and Davis locked horns in the highly volatile 125lb weight class. All eyes were on this match as the race for the top spot in this category has been one for the history books this season. In the match, Iowa’s No. 7 Ayala took down Penn State’s No. 2 Davis with a 4-2 decision win.

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Last week, when the Nittany Lions hosted the Ohio State Buckeyes, Davis did justice to head coach Cael Sanderson in an exquisite manner when he took down Vinny Kilkeary of OSU. Despite fans crying “shameful” referring, Davis’ win showed exactly why he’s considered a brilliant wrestler. However, being pitted against one of the best wrestlers in the 125lb weight class, it looks like Braeden finally got a taste of the big league as Penn State suffered the first loss of the night.

With that, the Hawkeyes lead the match 3-0 and Penn State has a long way ahead to return to the game. The Penn State team boasts some high-profile names who have the necessary skills and expertise to turn things around for the country’s top wrestling program. And that is exactly what happened later in the matchup.

Penn State overturns initial setback

In the 133lb matchup, PSU’s Aaron Nagao had a major 11-0 decision win over Iowa’s No. 20 Cullan Schriever to give Penn State a 4-3 lead. The Nittany Lions held on to the momentum in the 141lb bout also as Penn State’s No. 1 Beau Bartlett triumphed over Iowa’s No. 2 Real Woods putting an end to Wood’s winning streak.

Read more: Iowa Hawkeyes’ Real Woods Continues to Outshine Nebraska Huskers’ Brock Hardy as He Notches His 30th Win in the Program

Iowa’s 149-pounder Caleb Rathjen maintained his poise once again as he subdued Penn State’s No. 10 Tyler Kasak 11-8. In the 157lb weight class, NLWC’s No. 1 wrestler Levi Haines registered a major 12-0 win over Iowa’s No. 5 Jared Franek, giving PSU an 11-6 lead over their rivals. The night concluded in Penn States’ favor with Greg Kerkvliet securing an impressive 9-1 victory over Iowa’s Ben Kueter in the 285-pound category.

Watch this story: I Can Wrestle With Anybody Anytime: The Unranked Purdue Wrestler Proved His Boast