ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Iowa is hated again, and that can only mean bad news for the rest of the country.

The Hawkeyes love being hated.

Behind individual national titles from Brent Metcalf and Mark Perry and a runner-up finish by Joe Slaton, Iowa ran away with its 21st NCAA Division I national wrestling championship Saturday at the Scottrade Center.

The Hawkeyes racked up 117 1/2 points, 38 1/2 more than runner-up Ohio State in the largest margin of victory at the national tournament since Oklahoma State won by 70 in 2005.

Penn State was third with 75 points, Nebraska was fourth and Oklahoma State and Iowa State tied for fifth.

Northern Iowa, behind Moza Fay's fifth-place finish at 165, finished 20th with 27 points.

But the story was Iowa and Tom Brands, who was named Coach of the Year. Metcalf, meanwhile, was selected the Outstanding Wrestler of the meet.

"You make a lot of people happy with this," Brands said. "This was a little bit of an exclamation mark."

Throughout the week, each time an Iowa wrestler won, there was a huge roar from a large contingent of Hawkeyes fans. Every time an Iowa wrestler lost or fell behind, the rest of the crowd cheered.

Metcalf, who had to overcome a 4-1 deficit to Penn State's Jenkins before storming to a 14-8 victory at 149 pounds, likes it that way.

"I love it - absolutely love it," Metcalf said. "There is no better atmosphere I'd rather wrestle in … besides Carver-Hawkeye Arena when you've got 14,000 fans behind you.

"But you know what, when you have 14,000 fans against you, that is pretty powerful, too."

Iowa led from start to finish as it held the lead after session one and never relinquished it, completing the reclamation project Brands took on two years ago when he returned to Iowa City after a short hiatus in Blacksburg, Va.

"The individuals and the distance in points," said Brands of what he'll remember most about the title. "When you come here, you want to be able to show up and perform, and we did that for the most part."

Iowa had seven all-Americans, the most it has had since 2001. Charlie Falck was sixth at 125, Jay Borschel third at 174, Phil Keddy sixth at 184 and Matt Fields fifth at heavyweight.

Six of the seven Hawkeyes who were wrestling Saturday, along with national qualifiers Nick LeClere at 141 and Ryan Morningstar at 157, return.

Metcalf, one of the five wrestlers to follow Brands from Virginia Tech, wasn't happy with how he started his match, as Jenkins scored twice on the edge of the mat to gain his early lead.

"I'm happy with the win; not so much the performance," Metcalf said. "Both those takedowns were on the edge and the philosophy of Brent Metcalf, philosophy of Iowa wrestling is to wrestle on that edge, and that is where I failed.

"But you know what, I got the win, and that is the important thing."

One thing Metcalf definitely appreciated was where the Hawkeyes finished.

"The Iowa program is growing and working toward dominance," Metcalf said. "Winning by 30 points wasn't enough. We want to set the record. We want 300 points, if that is possible. That is the direction we are heading."

Perry beat top-ranked Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan, 5-2, at 165 to repeat as national champion.

With his second title, Perry finished as Iowa's 17th four-time all-American. He scored the initial takedown against Tannenbaum 18 seconds into the match and stayed on top despite re-injurying his right knee midway through the second period. The same knee cost Perry five weeks of the regular season and required surgical repair.

"I was ready to go," Perry said. "I felt really good, the best I ever felt out there in the national finals."

Perry finished second at 165 as a freshman in 2005 and third at 174 in 2006 before beating Oklahoma State's Johny Hendricks last year.

"Obviously, I went on the defensive after that, but I did as good as I could," Perry said of the injury. "I could hardly squat down in my stance without it caving in. It wasn't the way I wanted to win, but I found a way to win."

At 133, Slaton was on the attack when Scott countered with an inside low single. As Slaton attempted to fight off the shot, Scott locked up a cradle and deposited the Iowa sophomore to his back for a 49-second pin.

The fall is believed to be the fastest in an NCAA final since Andy Daniels of Ohio pinned John Azevedo of Cal-State Bakersfield in 30 seconds at 118 in 1978.

Iowa State also had seven all-Americans, the most the Cyclones have had since 1993.

ISU's Jake Varner fell in the 184-pound title match to Ohio State's Mike Pucillo 3-3 in a second tiebreaker. Pucillo won on riding time.

"He wrestled well," Cyclones head coach Cael Sanderson said. "He was the aggressor. He was so close to getting a couple of takedowns, he just didn't get them. It came down to five seconds of riding time."

For Varner, a sophomore, it was his second consecutive defeat in the 18-pound title match.

Nick Fanthorpe at 133 was seventh, Nick Gallick at 141 was fifth, Cyler Sanderson at 157 was seventh, Jon Reader at 165 was seventh, David Bertolino at 197 was eighth, and David Zabriskie at heavyweight was sixth.

Next year, the Cyclones will return all of their placewinners but Bertolino and Aron Scott, a national qualifier at 174.

"There are a lot of things to build on," Sanderson said. "We had seven All-Americans, and six are back. We just didn't do some of the things you need to do at the national tournament.

"We need to get more bonus points and win the close ones. That's part of having a young team."

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