The weekend proved to be a busy one for the ISU wrestling team.

After a double dual on Friday night, Nov. 15, with Midland and Big 12 foe West Virginia turned out victorious for the Cyclones, they started out their season with a perfect 4-0 record — the first time since the 2010 season.

“We had a little improvement from last week,” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson. “I think the guys competed at a high level, and they didn’t compete down to their opponents’ level. But all in all we improved from last week. It’s a work in progress.”

Iowa State then had its shortest turnaround so far this season. The Cyclones hosted the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open on Saturday morning, which featured 21 teams from around the Midwest.

Some thought having such a short break between matches would hurt the wrestlers, but redshirt senior Kyven Gadson knew better.

“It just makes me make weight twice,” Gadson joked. “It was kind of a warmup match [on Friday], going into [Saturday]. It’s a good way to get our confidence going and get you flowing into [Saturday].”

The Cyclones advanced 12 wrestlers to the quarterfinals of the tournament, and 10 to the semifinals.

“We’re still young, but we have some potential. We have some potential and can get really good,” Jackson said. “You can take away that we have some youth that can wrestle. That’s what this event is for, to go through a whole day of wrestling facing different levels of competition. It’s all just practice until March.”

In the end, five ISU wrestlers advanced to the championship match. Out of those five, just one came away with a meet title.

No. 4 Mike Moreno went 5-0 on the day and defeated his opponent 9-3 in the championship match to bring home his second-consecutive Harold Nichols title.

“It felt really good to get out here and get a tournament under your belt,” Moreno said. “These tournaments are a grind, man; they really are. But that’s what you have to do. They’re a great early season test to see where I’m really at.”

Gadson, Gabe Moreno and Tanner Weatherman also made it to the championship match in their respective weight classes but failed to take home a title.

John Nicholson, who also made it to the 157-pound championship match, withdrew before competing in the final. ISU officials said it was just a precautionary measure, in order to keep him healthy for the remainder of the season.

Whether it performed like it wanted to or not on Saturday, the ISU wrestling team is already looking forward.

“It’s like [Coach Jackson] always says: No time to hang your head in defeat, and little time to celebrate,” Moreno said. “I’ll wake up tomorrow, and it’ll be a new week. We will have already moved on to Old Dominion.”