"When I first started coaching at Cornell 20 years ago, we got beat by Wilkes-Barre," Koll said with a smile. "To be here, wrestling in front of this crowd, is exciting. But obviously you don't want to be satisfied with how it ended."
Koll's third-ranked program nearly made it to the top of the Division I ladder on Sunday afternoon.
But in the end, No. 1 Iowa showed the grit and resolve that has put it on top of the college wrestling world the past two seasons.
Iowa rallied from deficits of 6-0 and 13-8 to post a 23-13 victory over Cornell to win the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals before 8,236 fans at the UNI-Dome. Iowa led 17-13 before heavyweight Dan Erekson iced the win by pinning Taylor Moore in the first period.
"When you lose the first two matches of the dual, you've got a lot of work to do," Iowa coach Tom Brands said. "But we were able to battle out of that hole. We have guys who are going out there and battling. Now we need to make sure we are building on leads and keeping the pressure on. We need to wrestle complete matches, from start to finish."
Erekson's dramatic fall sent Iowa, wrestling without injured All-American Charlie Falck (125), to its 28th straight dual meet victory. It was Cornell's first appearance in the finals of the National Duals.
Iowa won back-to-back National Duals titles for the first time since 1995 and 1996. ESPNU will air a taped-delay broadcast of the championship finals on Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.
Cornell grabbed its early lead when two-time All-American Troy Nickeson capped an unbeaten weekend by scoring a 4-0 win over Iowa's J.J. Krutsinger at 125.
Cornell All-American Mike Grey delivered a key early win at 133, taking down Daniel Dennis with three seconds left en route to a 4-3 win. Dennis had been on a recent tear after winning the Midlands and beating NCAA runner-up Jayson Ness of Minnesota earlier in this event.
"That kid is a bear, he really took Mike out of his game," Koll said of Dennis. "Mike's a great competitor, and he took advantage of the opportunity at the end of the match."
Iowa's Alex Tsirtsis followed with a major decision at 141. Hodge Trophy winner and NCAA champion Brent Metcalf also won by major for the Hawkeyes at 149. Metcalf has won 51 straight matches.
"Tsirtsis getting the major decision to get us right back in it was huge," Brands said. "And then Metcalf got a major decision. That's two bonus points right there."
NCAA champion Jordan Leen of Cornell came back to win by major decision at 157 before All-American and top-ranked Mack Lewnes edged No. 3 Ryan Morningstar of Iowa 3-2 at 165.
Cornell took a 13-8 lead, but then Iowa took command. Hawkeye All-American and fifth-ranked Jay Borschel scored a pivotal 7-3 win over No. 3 Steve Anceravage at 174.
"174 was really a key match," Koll said. "Steve got in on the guy a number of times, but (Borschel) is just so flexible. Borschel did a great job and kind of wore Steve down a little bit. That hurt obviously."
Iowa All-American Phil Keddy followed by downing Iowa native Justin Kerber 6-2 at 184. Iowa's Chad Beatty then outlasted Cameron Simaz 4-3 at 197. That gave Iowa a 17-13 edge entering the final bout at heavyweight.
"197, we needed to win that one," Koll said. "Cam got banged up a little bit. He's really a 184-pounder wrestling 197, and he got in a situation where he maybe could've scored a couple of back points late in the match."
Erekson quickly ended all the suspense in the final bout, cranking Moore to his back for a fall in just 1 minute, 46 seconds. That set off a huge roar from the pro-Hawkeye crowd.
"Our team got behind early, but that's what our coaches preach – you've got to wrestle through adversity," Erekson said. "In my match, I saw an opening to turn him with that bar arm and I smelled blood. I knew when I got in the top position I had to really keep the pressure on. I stayed focused and I knew we needed the win. It feels great to finish it off."
Ohio State's Reece Humphrey (133) was named Outstanding Wrestler. He capped the tournament with a 5-4 win over Ness. Humphrey also beat Cornell's Grey on Saturday. The Buckeyes finished fifth.
The remaining team champions crowned on Sunday included Nebraska-Omaha (Division II), Augsburg (Division III), Iowa Central (Junior College), Southern Oregon (NAIA) and Oklahoma City (Women).
In a rematch of last year's finals, Iowa downed No. 4 Nebraska 22-11 in one semifinal on Sunday.
The Hawkeyes broke out to a 13-0 lead by winning the first four weight classes against the Huskers. Krustsinger fought back from an early 4-0 deficit to beat NU's Andy Pokorny 7-4 at 125.
Krutsinger was filling in for Falck, who suffered a sprained ankle at the Midlands Championships.
Morningstar pulled out a 3-2 win over Nebraska All-American Stephen Dwyer at 165. Husker Brandon Browne scored a pair of late takedowns to rally past Borschel 5-4 at 174. Borschel beat Browne in the third-place match at the 2008 NCAA tournament.
Third-ranked Cornell knocked off No. 2 Iowa State 22-15 in the other semifinal.
Cornell won featured bouts at 133 and 165 against the Cyclones. Grey downed ISU's Nick Fanthorpe 7-5 in overtime in a battle of All-Americans at 133. Lewnes beat Jon Reader 6-5 in another matchup of All-Americans at 165.
Leen came out aggressively in a punishing 13-5 major decision over Iowa State's Cyler Sanderson at 157. Sanderson is a returning All-American.
In the third-place dual, Iowa State held off Big 12 rival Nebraska 20-19.
Nebraska fell behind 17-0 before rattling off four straight wins to close within 17-16. But third-ranked Jake Varner earned a 10-3 win over No. 1 Craig Brester to give the Cyclones a 20-16 lead.
Varner led 4-3 late in the match before scoring a takedown and then cradling Brester to his back for a near fall. He added a point of riding time in the win.
Nebraska nearly won the dual when freshman heavyweight Tucker Lane caught ISU All-American David Zabriskie on his back in the second period. Zabriskie broke free and closed the gap in the third period before Lane pulled out a 7-6 win.
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