And while it was a 25-point victory for the USA wrestlers, the group from Iowa did win five matches and came very close to splitting the matches at seven apiece.

Iowa fell behind 10-0 win wins by fall and major decision at 103 and 112 for the U.S. squad. At 103, top-ranked Gilberto Camacho of California decked Kris Thompson of Marion in 3:28. At 112, No. 1 B.J. Futrell of Illinois handed 11^th-ranked Ridge Kiley of Eagle Grove a 17-6 loss.

The group of Iowans got on the scoreboard at 119, when top-ranked Andrew Long of Creston/Orient-Macksburg defeated No. 2 Thomas Williams of California, 6-2.

After a scoreless first period, Long earned a reversal in the opening seconds of the second period for a 2-0 lead.

“I felt him a little high, so I just swam out of that and got the two,” Long said of the reversal.

After a Williams escape, Long added a takedown with a bear hug later in the period for a 4-1 lead. Williams earned another escape 30 seconds into the third period, but Long put the finishing touches on the win with a go-behind for another takedown with a minute left in the match.

“I would have liked to have added a few more points. But the kid’s strong and knows what he’s doing. He knows how to scramble and was a tough opponent,” Long said. “I’m glad that I got the win and it was a good atmosphere to wrestle in.

“I like wrestling it this type of atmosphere. It’s a good experience. Great wrestlers at every weight class.”

Long, who didn’t get a lot of time on the mat after State Duals because of mouth surgery, didn’t appear to be out of shape at all during the high-pressure match.

“I didn’t get on the mat as much as I should have, but enough to keep me where my game was still sharp,” he said. “It was always in the back of my mind, but I just have a natural conditioning on the mat because I’ve been doing it for so long. But we were both tired out there.”

The future Iowa State Cyclone said he wanted to get that first victory for the Iowa squad.

“There’s a little bit of pressure. You want to do good for yourself for your confidence and you also don’t want to do bad for the team,” he said.

The win by Long got the crowd energized and it would become hysterical in the next match at 125, between Iowa City West’s top-ranked Nate Moore and No. 2 Brian Owen of Washington.

The two faced off earlier in their careers at Cadet/Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D., but that match didn’t give Moore much of a scouting report.

“I wrestled him two or three years ago in Fargo when it was the old rules of freestyle. I took him down and trap armed him and it was 10-0. So I really didn’t know what to expect at all. I knew he had got better and he felt big and strong,” he said.

After a scoreless first period in their second career meeting, Moore escaped and took Owen down with a strong double leg takedown in the final 20 seconds of the second period.

After Owen escaped early in the third to cut the lead to 3-1, Moore hit another double leg and drove Owen to his back for a two-count and two near fall points and a 7-1 lead.

“I didn’t know I was going to hit that move. It just sort of happened,” Moore said of the second takedown. “He had a neck wrench on me and his arm kind of got stuck and that’s why he ended up on his back.”

Moore let Owen go and added a third takedown and went on to a 9-3 victory.

“I just did what I was supposed to do. I just went out and wrestled,” Moore said.

The future Iowa Hawkeye may not have scored in the first period, but said the physical style he uses paid off in the final two periods.

“The first period went like that because we were both fresh. I just kept clubbing him and clubbing him and clubbing him,” he said. “Finally, my takedowns started opening up. I think it started wearing on him and he got a little frustrated and that’s when my scoring holes opened up.”

Moore said wrestling in the Dream Team Classic in front of his home crowd was exciting.

“The crowd was a lot of fun. They really got into it and made me get into it. I never felt that before,” he said. “It meant a lot. I was really excited. It’s really fun to wrestle in front of your home crowd.”

The two-time State champ said watching Long win right before him was extra motivation.

“That inspired me. I like Andrew a lot. It was fun watching him win,” he said.

Moore’s victory cut the Dream Team’s lead to 10-6.

One of the more surprising outcomes of the evening came at 130, where top-ranked Jordan Oliver of Pennsylvania jumped out to an 11-3 first-period lead on three-time State champ Matt McDonough of Linn-Mar and cruised to a 16-5 major decision, to give the Dream Team a 14-6 lead.

Fifth-ranked Mark Ballweg of Waverly-Shell Rock started strong at 135 with an early takedown on top-ranked Colin Johnston of Pennsylvania, but the Keystone State grappler rallied for a 9-6 victory, to make it a 17-6 team score.

The Dream Team went into intermission with a 21-6 lead, after top-ranked Jason Chamberlain of Utah put on a takedown clinic at 140, in a 17-8 major decision win over Central Lyon two-time State champ Nate Herda.

The team from Iowa needed a shot in the arm coming out of the break and got it from Humboldt 145-pounder Tanner Kampen. The unranked 208 State champ used a snap-down for a takedown midway through the first period for a 2-0 lead against second-ranked John Burns of North Carolina.

In the second period, Kampen earned an escape and then put the crowd on it’s feet with a takedown to Burns’ back for a four-point move and shocking 7-0 lead. Burns staged a mild comeback in the third period, but could not make up enough ground in an 8-4 win for Kampen.

And even though, according to the national rankings, Kampen’s victory was the biggest upset of the night, he didn’t see it that way.

“It’s just another win against a very talented kid. He’s done a lot of summer wrestling to get his name out there a lot more than I was able to,” he said. “It was a good match overall. I just went in there thinking he was just some other kid from another state and have fun. I came out on top. That’s all I wanted.”

Scoring the first points of the match boosted Kampen’s confidence.

“Getting the first takedown meant a lot. It made me go through the match a lot easier and show me I could actually win,” he said.

Tacking on a second takedown with back points did nothing but give Kampen even more confidence.

“Once I got those back points I wasn’t as nervous. I was more excited with the crowd getting into it,” he said. “I’ve never been in a gym like this packed so tight. It was a lot of fun. Iowa is a great state for fans. They love their wrestling and it’s nice to see them out here supporting us.”

Kampen said he was honored to get the chance to wrestle against such a highly-regarded wrestler and said the No. 2 ranking Burns carried into the meet didn’t matter.

“It didn’t mean too much to me. I wasn’t scared or anything,“ he said. “It was an honor to get on this team an wrestle. I was very excited and accepted it right away. I started training right away and was just looking forward to it.”

That win by Kampen cut the Dream Team lead down to 21-9, but consecutive technical falls at 152 by No. 1 Alex Meade of Delaware over Jeret Chiri of New London/WMU and at 160 by top-ranked Jason Welch of California over Marcus Edgington of Hinton, made it a 31-9 Dream Team advantage.

Fourth-ranked Grant Gambrall of Iowa City West stopped the bleeding with a dominating 6-0 win over top-ranked Quentin Wright of Pennsylvania at 171.

“There’s plenty of motivation as it is, but wrestling in your own gym, your own arena, is always a big boost, especially with this big of a crowd in front of you,” Gambrall said.

Much of the match looked like a Greco-Roman bout, with both wrestlers more than happy to lock upper body holds. Wright attempted a headlock out of an underhook hold early in the first period and Gambrall locked up a bear hug and sent Wright to the mat for a 2-0 lead. He rode Wright tough the rest of the period.

“I wanted to break him. Every time you break a guy you make it easier on yourself and I broke him early in the first period when I rode him,” Gambrall said “And I beat him in his position. He likes to get the underhook and I just came right in underneath him and bear hugged him. And in both of those positions I think I broke him and he wasn’t the same wrestler after that.”

Gambrall escaped early in the second period and nearly scored another takedown on the exact same move that he scored on in the first, but they went out of bounds before he had control.

“I watched one video of him twice this week. The Dapper Dan against Chris Spangler. I saw how he likes to get underhooks with his left hand side and I like to do the same thing,” Gambrall said. “We were both in our favorite position. I wasn’t surprised that the match was wrestled there and I was kind of glad it was because it’s my favorite position.”

The future Iowa Hawkeye was awarded a stalling point later in the second period for a 4-0 lead.

Wright chose neutral in the third period, but Gambrall would score a counter takedown and ride the top-ranked grappler out the rest of the way for the 6-0 victory. The IC West two-time State champ nearly earned back points in the third period as well, but couldn’t hold Wright on his back long enough.

“I’m very happy that I performed the way I expected to. I’m not really surprised or impressed, I’m just happy that I performed the way I expected to and didn’t let the pressure get to me,” he said.

It was the second big win in a week for Gambrall, who knocked off second-ranked Jordan Blanton of Illinois in another all-star meet the weekend before, 1-0.

Gambrall said he wrestled a more complete match in the Dream Team event.

“I never want to give up points. Last week I did a good job of doing that. I didn’t do a good job of scoring points, which I also want to do” he said. “This week I made sure I scored points. I almost had the major there with close to back points. Also, I almost had a few takedowns on the edge of the mat. I think I completely dominated the kid. It definitely could have been a major and next time I’ll make sure it is, at least.”

The Iowans nearly earned another win at 189, but top-ranked Ryland Geiger of Oregon slipped past No. 9 Josh Ihnen of Sheldon/South O’Brien, 6-5.

Ihnen scored a takedown with 57 seconds left in the match to knot the score at 5-5, but Geiger escaped with 18 seconds remaining and held off Ihnen in the closing seconds for the one-point win.

Top-ranked 215-pounder Tyrell Fortune of Oregon pinned No. 11 Byron Tate of Clinton in 1:32 with a lateral drop, to give the Dream Team a 40-12 lead.

Top-ranked heavyweight Eric Thompson of Waverly-Shell Rock closed out the dual on a high note for the Iowans, with a 4-1 overtime victory against Elijah Madison of Missouri.

Thompson was the aggressor much of the match, but couldn’t finish off a couple near-takedowns in regulation. After a scoreless overtime period, Madison took down in the first tiebreaker. Thompson was able to hold him down the entire 30 seconds and then earned an escape in the second tiebreaker for a 1-0 lead. The future ISU Cyclone scored a takedown in the final 10 seconds of the tiebreaker to seal the victory.