With two dual meets remaining before the Big 12 Championships, the ISU wrestling team is hitting its stride at the right time.

After defeating Northern Iowa 23-12 on Friday, the Cyclones (7-4, 1-2 Big 12) have won six of their last seven dual meets overall and have already earned three more wins than they had all of last season.

Despite the team’s current success and surprising turnaround from last season, ISU coach Kevin Jackson is challenging his wrestlers to improve in a few aspects before the regular season comes to an end.

“We have a few individuals that are struggling getting off the bottom,” Jackson said in a news conference on Monday. “We cannot win matches if we’re rode. The other area would be our counter-offense — attacking once we’re attacked or countering an attack and getting our own offense off of their attack. I really believe we can make huge jumps in those areas, and if we do that, we’re going to be that much better.”

Last Friday’s Beauty and the Beast event was the Cyclones’ last home dual of the season. Jackson said he was satisfied with his team’s effort against Northern Iowa and that each wrestler gave himself a chance to win his match.

Redshirt junior Boaz Beard, who is ranked No. 15 at 184 pounds by Intermat, lost a 6-1 decision to No. 6 Ryan Loder on Friday. However, Jackson said Beard was no exception to the team’s effort and that he did have a chance to come out on top in that match.

“Since Midlands, Boaz has competed at a very, very high level, but there is another level he can reach,” Jackson said. “He has to improve his setups to his attacks and his finishes to those attacks. I did think he competed. [Loder] was ranked No. 5 or 6 in the country, but I do think it’s a match that we could’ve won, and he did compete to win. We just have to improve and tighten down some things.”

Beard fell to 8-5 on the season with Friday’s loss.

The Cyclones’ final dual meets of the season are this weekend as they take on Michigan State on Feb. 15 and Eastern Michigan on Feb. 16.