CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Inside the West Gym, No. 13 Oklahoma and Northern Iowa began their dual the old-fashioned way, at the lightest weight, and it looked pretty good when 125-pounder Kyle Garcia started the Sooners off on a run of four straight decisions to begin the night.
It didn’t end nearly so well.
The Panthers didn’t just win five of the last six bouts, but they won the last one when heavyweight Blayne Beal accumulated all three of his points in the third period to top Sooner heavyweight Keldrick Hall.
That’s how OU fell 18-15.
The loss dropped the Sooners to 5-4 in dual matches this season. OU’s final home dual of the season comes Sunday with a 2 p.m. start against Big 12 rookie West Virginia at McCasland Field House.
The bout of the night came at 157 pounds where UNI’s 17th-ranked David Bonin bested No. 14 Matt Lester 5-3 in quadruple overtime. A takedown 12 seconds before a fifth overtime began was the difference.
The Sooners could have used some bonus points but failed to register any. That even went for top-ranked 141-pounder Kendric Maple, who had to settle for a 6-3 decision over unranked Joey Lazor.
The difference in the match was the disqualification OU’s Matt Reed suffered in the 174-pound bout against UNI’s Cody Caldwell. At the time, OU’s lead went from 15-3 to 15-9.
After a win at 184 pounds, UNI tied the dual up with a 10-9 victory at 197, Blaize Cabell over Brad Johnson. That set the stage for Beal’s 3-1 victory over Hall.
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