In its fifth home dual meet of the season, the ISU wrestling team finally found its way to the win column in front of its home crowd.

The No. 19 Cyclones (2-9, 0-4 Big 12) defeated No. 15 Virginia Tech 20-14 on Friday night at Hilton Coliseum for that victory, with six wrestlers having their hands raised at the conclusion of their respective matches.

“It seemed like everything kind of fell our way,” said senior Andrew Sorenson. “When you have a whole team competing every second of the match, that’s the way it’s going to happen.”

Sorenson’s 17-4 victory by major decision against No. 7 Pete Yates was just one of two matches that featured a loss by a ranked wrestler for the Hokies (3-3, 1-1 ACC).

“I knew [Yates] had some skills, he’s beaten some quality guys, he’s wrestled tough matches with some quality guys,” said Sorenson, who is ranked fifth at 165 pounds. “To go out and wrestle like that [against him] felt good, especially in front of a home crowd.”

The other one of the Hokies’ three ranked wrestlers to lose — No. 11 Zach Neibert — met the vengence of redshirt freshman Luke Goettl, who he had beaten by one point at the Midlands Championships last month, in a 6-2 decision at 141 pounds.

“I think he should have [beaten Neibert] at the Midlands,” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson. “We were in a position to beat him last time, so I figured with him coming in to Ames, coming into Hilton that Luke would be ready for him and we should get some payback on him. And that’s what Luke did.”

The dual began with a 2-0 victory by Ryak Finch, who noticably lacked an offensive attack against the Hokies’ Ty Mitch.

“You’ve got to find a way to win no matter what,” Jackson said. “Obviously, we’d love him to get off more offensive shots, more attacks. We really would like to see Ryak move his feet a little bit more, move his hands a little bit more and explode to his attacks.

“But finding a way to win is the most important part of college wrestling, no matter if you wrestle your best match or your worst match.”

The Cyclones have now won two of their last three dual meets and have four remaining — three on the road — before the NWCA Midwest Regional Duals on Feb. 12.

“It’s just staying positive, staying focused,” Goettl said. “You can’t really let it build up to more than it is. You’ve just got to stay positive.”