One day and 80 miles separated the ISU wrestling team’s 997th and 998th all-time dual victories as the Cyclones opened Big 12 Conference action by defeating Oklahoma 21–12 on Friday and Oklahoma State 20–18 on Sunday.

“The team responded very well with winning both those duals,” said coach Kevin Jackson. “We thought we let some matches get away that we probably could have won.”

On Friday, the second-ranked Cyclones (9–2, 2–0 Big 12) scored 16 of their 21 points in five-straight victories after trailing 6–5 three matches into the meet with No. 10 Oklahoma. Sophomore 184-pounder Jerome Ward started the five-match win streak by defeating Eric Schmidtke by a decision of 10–3, followed by senior Jake Varner’s 9–3 decision over the Sooners’ Eric Lapotsky. David Zabriskie (Hwt), Andrew Long (125) and Nick Fanthorpe (133) rounded out the scoring frenzy with two decisions and a major decision, respectively.

“As a team we’re starting to make the connections that we’ve been training to do,” said Jon Reader, whose 19–4 technical fall over Tyler Caldwell sparked the Cyclones’ first points of the night. “It was a great atmosphere and competitive playground, and we went out there, and we had to rally as a team.”

Iowa State’s victory over Oklahoma extended its winning streak against the Big 12 opponent to eight matches dating back to 2003.

The Cyclones hit the road Saturday for a day of preparation before facing an even greater challenge in No. 3 Oklahoma State on Sunday.

The redshirt freshman Long started off the dual meet with a 20–5 technical fall over Chris Notte — who is ranked ninth at 125 pounds — with a fall time of 6:59. The Cyclones found themselves behind again after three matches, but this time by a greater margin of 9–5 after sophomore Dalton Jensen got pinned by eighth-ranked Jamal Parks in 2:42.

The Cyclones responded with three straight decisions, starting with Mitch Mueller’s 7–2 decision over Quinten Fuentes. Sophomore Andrew Sorenson pulled off an upset by defeating No. 13 Neil Erisman by a decision of 8–7. Sorenson’s victory helped the Cyclones regain the lead, 11–9, heading into the 165-pound match.

“We were losing that match 3–0 and we also had riding time against us,” Jackson said of the 157-pound match. “Andrew Sorenson had to get three takedowns in the third period to win that match with the takedown at the very end of the period. That was definitely one of the turning points in the dual. If we lose that match, we probably don’t win that dual.”

Reader, who is ranked third at 165 pounds, rounded off the scoring surge for the Cyclones by defeating ninth-ranked Alex Meade by a decision of 7–5.

Varner recorded a team-leading 10th pin of the season by pinning seventh-ranked Alan Gelogaev with a fall time of 4:43. Varner, the reigning national champion at 197 pounds, handed Gelogaev, a native of Moscow, his second loss of the season. Varner’s pin put the Cyclones into a critical 20–15 lead with one match to go in the dual meet.

“Jake Varner coming up with the fall at 197 pounds was very huge, and it separated us enough to have that match,” Jackson said. “It really looked like the dual meet was going to come down to the heavyweight [match], but Jake went out there and he does what the best wrestler in the country does, and that’s perform at a very high level; and for him to get that fall was huge for us.”

The senior Zabriskie ended the dual with his eighth career match against Jared Rosholt, who is ranked No. 1 in the nation at heavyweight. After trailing 5–2 heading into the third period, Zabriskie tied the match at 5–5 with a takedown with one minute to go in the match. Rosholt managed to escape and score a late takedown to beat Zabriskie by a decision of 8–5.

Despite the loss, Zabriskie’s performance secured the 20-18 victory for the Cyclones, who will keep the momentum going next Sunday against No. 6 Cornell at 1 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y.,