This season started quite differently than last season did for coach Kevin Jackson’s squad.

Last season, then-second-ranked Iowa State began its season with a dual meet at home and a tournament at home two days later.

This season, the Cyclones began their season with a weekend chock-full of wrestling that included two dual meets Saturday and a tournament Sunday in Salem, Va.

“It was a challenge that we put in front of our guys, to wrestle both days, but it will only make us better,” Jackson said.

Iowa State (2-0) defeated No. 26 Virginia Tech (0-1) and No. 14 Kent State (1-1) on Saturday in two closely contested dual meets to begin its season.

Against the Hokies, the Cyclones fell into a 10-0 hole after three matches, but found themselves neck-and-neck with Virginia Tech as the meet progressed.

With major decisions from junior Andrew Sorenson at 165 pounds and senior Jon Reader at 174 pounds, Iowa State earned its first lead of the season, 14-13.

A 1-0 loss in the 184-pound match by true freshman Matt Riley put the Hokies in the lead, 16-14, with only the 197-pound match remaining.

Junior Jerome Ward was entrusted with deciding the team’s fate in the first dual meet, a task that was unnerving to him.

“It kind of put a lot of pressure on me,” Ward said of the situation. “Any other time, I probably would have wrestled better, but [at that time] I just felt like I had to go win, I had to go do something big.”

Despite the looming cloud hanging over Ward’s head, he managed to defeat Chris Penny in a 6-4 decision to give Iowa State the three points it needed to pull off a 17-16 victory.

“I had been on the mat for a little while fighting fatigue, and I just made it through it, got the victory to help get the victory for the team,” Ward said.

Starting the season with a comeback victory might have been a confidence booster for the Cyclones, but many of the veterans on the team still feel there is room for improvement.

“We came out a little slow in the first dual, and we have some work to do,” Reader said. “It kind of showed that we’re still flawed in some areas. It’s about wrapping our heads around what our coach is implementing, and as long as we do what we’re taught, then the results will come.”

In the second dual meet, Iowa State found its bearings and maintained momentum to defeat Kent State 23-19, led by a pin from junior Kyle Simonson at heavyweight and another major decision from Reader.

Despite the feeling of a need for improvement, there were some positive aspects that came out of the team’s first two dual meets of the season.

“We beat a team that was ranked ahead of us, and we did that with a team that was very new to Iowa State,” Reader said. “For some of these guys, it was their first time putting on a Cyclone singlet.”

The following day was a trial of tests for Iowa State, as 16 of its wrestlers donned the cardinal and gold for the Hokie Open.

Despite the grueling atmosphere of the all-day tournament, nine ISU wrestlers placed in the event, with two placing first in their respective weight classes.

Reader made a first-place finish at 174 pounds look effortless, recording two major decisions and two pins en route to the title.

Redshirt sophomore Matt Gibson redeemed himself after losing a 7-4 decision in the dual meet against Virginia Tech by going on to place first at heavyweight.

“I just wasn’t right mentally throughout the dual,” Gibson said of his match in the dual meet the day before. “I kind of let it affect how I wrestled then.”

Gibson’s loss to Virginia Tech’s David Marone in the dual meet was avenged in the championship match, where Gibson would go on to defeat Marone in an 11-8 decision.

“I just wanted to redeem myself,” Gibson said. “I just wanted to show everybody that I can compete at this level.”

Simonson, however, traveled a tougher road to redemption after getting beaten in the preliminary round of the heavyweight bracket to drop to the wrestlebacks.

It was there that the Algona native pulled off a string of six straight victories that consisted of a major decision, two pins and a technical fall on his way to a fifth-place finish.

Iowa State will continue its schedule with its home-opening dual meet Thursday against Boston University at Hilton Coliseum. The meet is slated to begin at 7 p.m.