The intensity of the reborn Iowa and Iowa State wrestling rivalry was evident from the very beginning.

Emotion, tempers, debatable calls – the dual lived up to the drama that had been building since April, with fireworks between both coaching staffs and a raucous crowd of 13,732, which more than doubled the 6,682 crowd in Ames a year ago.

By winning eight out of 10 matches, the sixth-ranked Hawkeyes (3-0 overall) took some of the controversy and suspense out of the 24-6 victory, but continued to build the bad blood between the two programs after the meet was through.

The marquee matchup that started the dual set the tone for what was a heated evening.

Second-ranked Hawkeye Mark Perry came back from a 4-1 third-period deficit, winning 6-4 in overtime over Travis Paulson and catalyzing a shouting match on the center of the mat between both coaching staffs.

Perry was awarded a takedown with 13 seconds left in regulation, in a position in which ISU coaches believed he wasn’t in complete control.

Heated dialogue across the mat ensued, and after the match was over, head coach Cael Sanderson and assistant Tim Hartung argued with referees and Iowa coaches Tom Brands and Dan Gable.

Through the exchange, Sanderson claimed Gable made an obscene gesture.

“If anyone has any pictures of Gable flipping us off, let me know,” Sanderson said while leaving the post-meet press conference.

Gable, the former coaching legend who is coming back after almost a decade of retirement, denied the claim.

“I didn’t flip him the bird, I flipped him the arm,” Gable said, then giving the upward thrust of his arm. “I gave him the arm. To me, I know what the bird means. I don’t know what that means, he just had called the cry-baby before that or something like that. You get a little bit emotional.”

Brands threw more gasoline on the fire, as he put it, in his press conference, criticizing ISU assistant Tim Hartung, who coached Perry for the past two years.

“I had Mark Perry for a year here, and then Hartung had him for two years, and we’re still working the kinks out of him,” Brands said.

After the controversy in Paulson’s match, several other calls went against the fourth-ranked Cyclones (2-1). In the next match, Iowa’s Eric Luedke was given back points against David Bertolino when the Cyclone’s shoulders appeared parallel to the mat. In the next match, Iowa State’s Jake Varner was called for stalling twice when he was avoiding shots to set up offensive counters.

The first time he was warned, Varner came directly behind opponent Phillip Keddy and earned a takedown. Iowa’s Matt Fields was penalized twice for stalling in the heavyweight bout, drawing a shower of boos from the fans in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.