The ISU wrestling team became the first collegiate wrestling program in the nation to reach 1,000 all-time dual victories with its victory over Arizona State, 30–10, Sunday in Tempe, Ariz. The Cyclones captured seven victories of the dual meet’s 10 matches against the Sun Devils, nabbing one fall, one technical fall, a major decision and a win by forfeit in four of the seven victories.

“It’s something special to be a part of as a senior,” said Jake Varner, who won by forfeit to improve his career record to 112–10 at Iowa State. “A thousand wins in dual meet competition is pretty impressive, and to be a part of that is kind of a special thing.”

Iowa State (11–2, 2–0 Big 12) began the dual with the marquee match, pitting fifth-ranked Andrew Long against third-ranked Anthony Robles. Long recorded two takedowns, a two-point nearfall and three-point nearfall within the first two periods to take a 10–3 lead heading into the third period. Robles chose to start from the top position to begin the third period, never letting Long out of his grip to record three three-point nearfalls to stage the come-from-behind victory over Long by a decision of 12–10.

“He’s right where he needs to be,” first-year ISU coach Kevin Jackson said of his 125-pounder. “[Robles] is aspecial kid. He’s an expert in a couple things that he does, and unfortunately Andrew allowed him to catch his wrists and once [Robles] gets control of your wrists, he can score a lot of points and he can turn you because that’s what he does and that’s what he does best. What’s most important is that Andrew realized what he would need to do to beat [Robles] and I think he recognizes that now.”

Long suffered his fifth loss of the season by the three different wrestlers. The three wrestlers he has lost to — Cornell’s Troy Nickerson, Robles and Iowa’s Matt McDonough — are ranked second, third and fourth in the nation, respectively.

The Cyclones and Sun Devils proceeded to split matches, heading into the 157-pound match tied at 7–7. Sophomore Andrew Sorenson propelled the second-ranked Cyclones, recording his ninth fall of the season by pinning Michael Swigart with a fall time of 1:53. Sorenson’s win by fall put the Cyclones out to a 13–7 lead with five matches to go in the dual meet.

“It’s nice to step back and look at [the victory], but we’ve still got to move forward and we’ve still got goals this year,” Sorenson said. “So it’s just a stepping stone for us.”

In the next match, junior Jon Reader displayed the perfect display of dominant wrestling, defeating Kyle DeBerry by technical fall, 15–0, with a fall time of 3:23. Reader, who is ranked second in the nation at 165 pounds, recorded a team-leading fourth technical fall on the season.

“Coach Jackson has told his guys to go out there and wrestle like it’s your last time you’re going to go out there, and I take that to heart,” Reader said. “I go out there and give it everything I’ve got and put my heart on the line.”

Reader defeated DeBerry by a major decision of 16–7 at last year’s dual meet in Hilton Coliseum.

Duke Burk made a triumphant return to his winning ways, defeating Eric Starks by a decision of 7–2 after hitting a snag of nine straight losses in the middle of the season.

“We’re continuing to believe in Duke and have confidence that he’s going to wrestle to his ability,” Jackson said. “I think he came really close to that today. He did some things that we were happy with, and obviously we still need to improve in a couple areas, but I do think Duke is back on track and I hope we’ll see that when we wrestle Missouri.”

Senior David Zabriskie’s 4–1 decision over 17th-ranked Erik Nye finalized the Cyclones’ 1,000th all-time dual victory, an event with an unlimited amount of significance for all of those who put their heart and soul into Cyclone wrestling.

“We’re a university and a wrestling team that’s used to winning, and that 1,000 wins tells you that that’s what we do: We win matches and we contend for national championships,” said Jackson, who led the Cyclone wrestling team to its last national title in 1987 as a senior captain. “That’s what our program stands for and that’s what it’s all about, and I hope we made everyone in Cyclone Nation proud of us to get their 1,000th win. We’re very excited about it and the guys were thrilled that they were the team to get it.”

The second-ranked Cyclones return to Big 12 Conference action this Sunday against Missouri at 2 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum.