With their undefeated team record on the line, the fate of the University of Northern Iowa wrestling team rested on the shoulders of freshman Dylan Peters. The Panthers found themselves trailing 18-14 going into the last match of the night, and they needed a major decision or a pin from their 125 pounder to win the match.

The score was 6-2 in favor of Peters after two periods, but he needed four more points in the final period to get the major decision over Kent State University’s Del Vinas. Peters used two takedowns, an escape and 1 minute, 8 seconds of riding time to earn the 8-point victory over Vinas.

“I was not sure about the criteria, so I was going for the pin the whole time,” Peters said.

After Peters’s win, the matches were evenly split at five each. The tiebreaker is match points scored, and UNI’s 1-point margin gave them the victory, 59-58.

The Panthers got a solid start to the meet from top-ranked Joe Colon, who earned his ninth technical fall of the season in a 17-2 victory over Mack McGuire.

However, Kent State won three consecutive matches, including a 7-2 Tyler Small victory over Levi Wolfensperger. Wolfensperger filled in at 141 pounds for Joey Lazor, who did not feel physically ready to go after Saturday’s emotional victory against Iowa State University.

After falling down 11-5, Cooper Moore ended KSU’s run. He trailed Tyler Buckwalter 4-2 after two periods but used a reversal in the final period and 5:22 of riding time to get a much needed 5-4 victory.

Cody Caldwell followed Moore’s display with a dramatic victory of his own. With the score tied at 1-1 in the final period, Caldwell turned it on with 1 minute left, scoring a takedown and a 3-point near fall to take the 6-1 victory and even the team score at 11 apiece.

At 184 pounds, Ryan Loder scored the third win in a row for the Panthers with a 5-2 victory over Sam Wheeler. Wheeler came into the meet ranked second in the Mid-American Conference, directly behind Loder.

The victory gave UNI a 14-11 lead with three matches to go.

The lead did not last long as Kent State answered with two victories at 197 pounds and 285 pounds, which set the stage for Peters’s heroics.

“Dylan found a way,” UNI head coach Doug Schwab said. “He wanted to make sure we got the team victory.”