The first full day of freestyle at the Junior Duals featured an all-Ohio showdown that never went down, a scintillating run by Wisconsin, a bounceback from Oklahoma and an all-out annihilation by Iowa. 

Those four states took the first steps toward title contention Friday by advancing through pool competition before notching victories in the opening round of the Gold/Silver pool. 

Top-seeded Iowa obliterated everything in its path Friday, compiling a 57-3 record in matches and outscoring its opponents by a combined 230-29 count in Pool A competition before handing perennial power Illinois one of its most lopsided defeats in the history of the event. 

Iowa won 13 matches against Illinois, including 10 by technical superiority on its way to a 53-13 win against its border rival. Illinois hadn’t been beaten by more than 20 points at the Junior Duals since 2008, the first year tournament results were posted on Trackwrestling. 

After rallying past Florida in the Pool B semis, Wisconsin picked up steam throughout the rest of the day to complete a 5-0 performance Friday. Wisconsin trailed Florida 24-16 with six matches remaining before closing with three techs, a pin and Spencer Brewton’s 10-8 victory against Chris Greil at 220  in the final bout of a 36-31 Wisconsin win. 

The boys from the Badger State downed Illinois 37-33 in the Pool B final and then defeated California 37-30 in the opening round of Gold/Silver competition. 

Ohio blitzed through Pool C with blowout wins against Indiana (63-1), Tennessee (56-6) and Oklahoma Blue (42-21), setting up a first-round Gold/Silver matchup against Ohio Scarlet. The Scarlet squad forfeited all 15 matches. 

Oklahoma Blue rebounded from its pool championship setback to Ohio by edging Minnesota 35-33 in the opening round of Gold/Silver competition. Oklahoma took control with four straight wins midway through the dual, including techs by Talon McCollom (170), A.J. Heeg (182) and Jersey Robb (195). 

The tournament resumes at 10 a.m. ET Saturday with the second round of Gold/Silver pool competition.