A little down on its luck, the ISU wrestling team will have a unique form of momentum heading into its upcoming dual against North Dakota State.

Three starters — Logan Molina (157 pounds), Michael Moreno (165) and Kyven Gadson (197) — competed at the UNI Open this past weekend in an effort to compete in more matches.

Moreno took first at 165 pounds after beating returning All-American Conrad Polz of Illinois, who is ranked No. 8 in Intermat’s most recent weekly poll, in a 3-1 sudden victory decision in the title match.

“He’s got really slick shots — some of the best shots I’ve ever felt,” Moreno said of Polz. “Basically what allowed me to win was being able to stick to my baseline defense that we’re always covering and just stick to the basics.”

It was in the sudden victory period that Moreno said Polz tried to “get big” on him by bear-hugging him, to which he retaliated and eventually tripped him up for the match-winning takedown.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t give me a lot of confidence,” Moreno said of the win. “It definitely gave me a big boost, it kind of rejuvenated me.”

Moreno will be facing No. 6 Steven Monk, who is 14-1 on the season and 5-0 in dual meets.

“Right now, the plan is to just keep things simple,” Moreno said. “I’m training in here every day. It can’t really change. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are in the season, you’ve got to train like you always do.

“Like I’ve said, you have some things get sticky when you start changing things up.”

While Moreno’s victory served as the highlight of the tournament, Gadson took second at 197, having gotten pulled from the title match for precautionary reason regarding his shoulder feeling sore and stiff.

“It was kind of a last-minute decision for me,” Gadson said. “The coaches wanted to make sure I could open a little bit more just getting back into wrestling and whatnot. They wanted to see where I was at from a conditioning standpoint.”

Never one to shy away from competition, ISU coach Kevin Jackson said Gadson wanted to wrestle at the UNI Open, which allowed him to get more matches in after a torn labrum had sidelined him for two years.

Gadson had won three straight matches before taking an injury default loss to No. 15 Braden Atwood of Purdue. This is the first season Gadson had wrestled consistently since his undefeated senior year at Waterloo East High School.

“He went out there and wrestled really, really well and beat some really, really good kids,” Jackson said of Gadson. “But we weren’t going to take that chance and get him a UNI trophy for what the big picture consists of.”

In the Cyclones’ 32-3 dual loss to Iowa on Dec. 1, Gadson tallied the lone win — a 5-4 decision against Nathan Burak. However, Gadson held back in the last minute of that match, causing the raucous crowd of Hawkeye fans to boo and call for stalling.

“I kind of tightened up a little bit,” Gadson said of the closing moments of that win. “There was a minute left and the score was 5-3, I kind of shut down a little bit early and cut off my offense. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t make a serious mistake and give the match away.

“It’s not what I’m used to, but I guess I’m still getting used to being back where I’m wrestling.”

Iowa State’s home dual against North Dakota State will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Hilton Coliseum and will be its final home event until its home dual against Arizona State on Feb. 1, 2013.