IOWA CITY - Northern Iowa's wrestling team pieced together a solid performance last Saturday in a 16-16 tie against then 10th-ranked Wisconsin at the McLeod Center.

Tonight, the Panthers will have to put together their best performance, and UNI head coach Brad Penrith is keenly aware of it.

"It's going to be a hornet's nest," Penrith said of the Panthers' dual with newly christened No. 1 Iowa. "I heard about Tom Brands' quote and talk about last year's dual and how it came down to heavyweight. They're going to be fired up."

A year ago, Iowa needed a victory by Matt Fields at heavyweight to pull out an 18-15 victory over UNI in Cedar Falls. Each team won five matches.

The victory extended the Hawkeyes' win streak over the Panthers to 31. UNI hasn't won since claiming a 17-15 win in the 1973-74 season.

"It tells us we have to be ready to go," said Iowa coach Tom Brands of UNI's performance against Wisconsin. "Whether they did well or didn't do well (against Wisconsin) we have to be ready to go.

"Everybody has got to be ready … I mean we've got several guys coming off losses, guys who are anxious to get back on the mat, guys that are ready to compete."

Iowa will be an overwhelming favorite coming off its 20-13 upset of then-No. 1 Iowa State on Sunday, propelling it to the top position in both major polls (NWCA/Intermat Top 25 and WIN Magazine).

The Hawkeyes will also have the services of defending 165-pound national champion Mark Perry, who served a one-match suspension against the Cyclones.

Iowa has wrestlers ranked at seven of 10 weight classes, including four in the top 10 in Strawberry Point native Charlie Falck (fifth at 125), Brent Metcalf (third at 149), Perry (second at 165) and Fields (seventh at heavyweight).

"I believe we can go down there and perform well," Penrith said. "We don't beat into our kids that it's a do-or-die situation. We want our kids to improve every time they go out there and compete.

"It's a huge order going down there. Carver-Hawkeye is not the easiest place in the world to wrestle in. You go up and down their lineup and they outrank us at a lot of those weights, but we're not going to take a back seat. I hope not."

With its performance against Wisconsin, UNI vaulted into the rankings at No. 25 in both polls for the first time since early last season.

There should be several interesting individual matchups, highlighted by Perry's match with UNI's Moza Fay, ranked fifth in the NWCA rankings. Perry pinned Fay earlier this season at the Kaufman-Brand Open, but Fay was leading at the time of the pin.

Other weights to watch include 133, 141 and 174.

The Hawkeyes' Joe Slaton (133) was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week following his upset of fourth-ranked Nick Fanthrope.

Iowa will wrestle Cornell College following the UNI match.

"I think coach (Mike) Duroe (at Cornell) is trying to get that program back to where they were when they won a national title in 1947," said Brands. "My relationship with him goes way back, and this meet is a lot like last year with John Oostendorp (Coe College coach and former Hawkeye). I think it is something good for wrestling.

"Plus, two matches are better than one, especially since we have some weights that are unsettled. Instead of seeing just 10 guys wrestle, we're going to see 12, 13, 14 guys wrestle."

NATIONAL HISTORY - Iowa has won 20 NCAA wrestling titles in its program history, but the Hawkeyes were not the first from the state to win Division I team title.

That distinction falls to Cornell, which captured the 1947 crown. It was led by three former Waterloo West standouts in Dick Hauser, Lowell Lange and Leo Thompson.

Three years later, Iowa State Teachers College (a.k.a. Northern Iowa) won behind national champions Keith Young, Bill Nelson and Bill Smith.

Iowa didn't win its first national title until 1974 under Gary Kurdelmeier.

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com

MATCH TRACKER

Northern Iowa, Cornell College at Iowa

When: Today, 6:30 p.m., 8 p.m.

Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Radio: KWAY (99.3 FM)

The series: Iowa leads the UNI series, 39-8-2 and has won the last 31 meetings. Cornell leads its all-time series with Iowa, 3-1, but the two teams haven't met in 38 years.

Probable lineups:

NO. 1 IOWA (5-0)

125 - Charlie Falck (5-0), jr.

133 - Joe Slaton (5-0), so.

141 - Dan LeClere (3-2), so.

149 - Brent Metcalf (4-1), so.

157 - Ryan Morningstar (3-2), so.

165 - Mark Perry (3-1), sr.

174 - Jay Borschel (5-0), so.

184 - Chad Beatty (2-1), so. or Phillip Keddy (4-1), so.; or Rick Loera (5-3), so.

197 - Chad Beatty (2-1), so. or Phillip Keddy (4-1), so.; or Rick Loera (5-3), so.

Hwt. - Matt Fields (5-0), sr.

No. 25 NORTHERN IOWA (0-0-1)

125 - Caleb Flores (0-3), fr.

133 - Trent Washington (8-1), fr.

141 - C.J. Ettelson (3-2), sr.

149 - Charlie Ettelson (7-2), so. or Nick Pickerell (7-3), fr.

157 - Jarion Beets (1-2), fr.

165 - Moza Fay (8-1), jr.

174 - Alex Dolly (6-1), sr.

184 - Danny Dunning (4-2), sr. or Andy O'Laughlin (5-6), fr.

197 - Andrew Anderson (7-1), jr.

Hwt. - Dustin Bauman (4-4), fr.

CORNELL (3-1)

133 - Chris Heilman (15-1), sr.

133 - Nick Northern (8-4), so.

141 - Ryan Mulnix (12-4), fr.

149 - Alex Riniker (10-4), so.

157 - Pat McAuley (14-5), sr.

165 - Christian Coffey (3-3), jr.

174 - Kyle Kehrli (16-5), jr.

184 - Cliff Robertson (1-7), fr.; or Carmen Sacco (1-5), jr.

197 - Josh Pastor (6-5), sr.

Hwt. - Josiah Payne (11-7), fr.