LINCOLN — Patience has seemingly been the theme of James Nakashima's wrestling career, and Nebraska's 197-pounder provided another example of its virtue Sunday afternoon against Purdue's A.J. Kissel.

Nakashima appeared to have the match won not once, but twice in extra time before finally finishing off Kissel 7-5 in the second sudden victory period. It was Nakashima's third straight match that extended beyond regulation and was one of seven Husker wins as No. 7 Nebraska beat Purdue 24-9 at the NU Coliseum.

The match went to overtime tied 1-1 before the grapplers combined for three reversals in 24 seconds, which left Nakashima up 5-3 heading to a second 30-second overtime period. Nakashima needed only to hold Kissel down for the period, but gave up an escape and was then whistled for a technical violation for grabbing Kissel's singlet to tie the match 5-5.

"It was a tough call. It was disappointing, but I had to get over that right away," Nakashima said. "I had to finish that period out. I wanted to finish that match with a shot because he's tough on top. I just knew I could get that takedown. I was feeling good and I needed to go get it."

The senior from Dwight, Ill., took his shot and scored the match-winner 14 seconds into sudden victory to improve to 14-6 in his first season at 197 pounds. The junior college transfer started his Husker career at 165 pounds two years ago and struggled to 6-17.

A redshirt season last year appears to have paid dividends in Nakashima's conditioning. He is 3-2 in overtime matches this season, while no other Husker has gone past regulation more than twice.

"I've really had to take it to the next level this year," Nakashima said. "I wrestled on varsity one year before and didn't do so well. This year I needed to step up to the plate and break through. I'm trying to get to that next level and it's taken me some overtimes to finish these tough guys off."

Nebraska coach Mark Manning noticed increased focus on Sunday from Friday's dual with Indiana, where the Huskers struggled in a 23-17 win. Freshmen James Green (ranked No. 9 at 165) and No. 7 Robert Kokesh (174) each sparked NU Sunday with their second bonus-point victories of the weekend. Green earned a 16-7 win over Tommy Churchard, while Kokesh improved to 20-3 by beating Kyle Mosier 11-1.

Nebraska's No. 7 Josh Ihnen (184) nearly earned a fall against 18th-ranked Braden Atwood before settling for an 11-2 major decision to improve to 17-2.

"You're not going to be perfect this season — especially on the road — with young guys with their experience a little bit low," Manning said. "We just need to keep building a lot of momentum, but we've still got a lot of work to do."

At 141 pounds, Nebraska's No. 6-rated Jake Sueflohn returned to the mat with a 4-0 win over Nick Lawrence. Sueflohn sat out Friday for precautionary reasons after he suffered what Manning called "a little concussion" Jan. 13 against Iowa.

At heavyweight, No. 8 Tucker Lane grinded out a 2-0 win over Roger Vukobratovich to earn a split this weekend. Lane was upset 3-2 by Indiana's Adam Clafant Friday to snap his 11-match winning streak.

After some shaky performances Friday, Manning said Sunday's matches were another step forward for a young team still learning how to perform consistently. NU ends the month next weekend with matches at Michigan State and Wisconsin. A brutal stretch in early February includes matches with No. 3 Penn State and No. 4 Minnesota before the Huskers head to Stillwater, Okla., for the National Duals, where they could face top-ranked Oklahoma State.

"You've got to wrestle to your talent level," Manning said. "There's no use going out there if you're not going to wrestle to the level of your talent, and that's what we're asking our 10 guys to do. We've got a lot more to give than we even showed today."

Individual results: 125 pounds: Camden Eppert, PU, dec. Shawn Nagel, 5-2. 133: Cashe' Quiroga, PU, dec. Ridge Kiley, 9-5. 141: Jake Sueflohn, NU, dec. Nick Lawrence, 4-0. 149: Ivan Lopouchanski, PU, dec. Skylar Galloway, 6-2. 157: James Green, NU, major dec. Tommy Churchard, 16-7. 165: Robert Kokesh, NU, major dec. Kyle Mosier, 11-1. 174: Tyler Koehn, NU, dec. Drake Stein, 11-4. 184: Josh Ihnen, NU, major dec. Braden Atwood, 11-2. 197: James Nakashima, NU, dec. A.J. Kissel 7-5 (OT). Heavyweight: Tucker Lane, NU, dec. Roger Vukobratovich, 2-0.

No. 3 PSU tops No. 2 Iowa

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Third-ranked Penn State knocked off No. 2 Iowa 22-12 Sunday.

The Hawkeyes won the first three matches to build a 12-0 advantage, but the Nittany Lions won the final seven to rally for their first dual victory against Iowa since 2007.

The Hawkeyes needed a win at 197 pounds to set up a decisive heavyweight bout, but junior Grant Gambrall surrendered an overtime takedown to Morgan McIntosh to fall 5-3, giving Penn State a 19-12 team lead and the win.

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