Two days after a dominating victory over South Dakota State in the season-opening dual meet, the ISU wrestling team hosted the Harold Nichols Open tournament at Lied Recreation Athletic Center. A total of 270 wrestlers from 18 teams came to compete in the all-day wrestling extravaganza.

The Cyclones dominated in their home tournament, winning seven of the 10 individual championships while compiling a combined record of 78–27 over the course of the entire tournament.

“I want to congratulate our champions and place winners,” said coach Kevin Jackson. “Those guys were doing the things we’ve been asking them to do. Our errors in concentration remain the same. We still need to work on those certain areas and improve. We are going to get better and will continue getting better.”

Freshman Dallas Collier was the first Cyclone to take an early exit after getting pinned by Tim Francisco of Iowa Lakes Community College in 4:26. In the wrestlebacks, the Hawaii native continued to struggle before losing to Nebraska’s Kyle Waldo by a decision of 7–2.

“The main things I want to improve on [are], obviously, everything so far,” Collier said. “I have a little trouble on the bottom position, but that’s something I can get through by getting stronger and more experienced.”

All of the Cyclone wrestlers except Collier, freshman Ben Cash (133), sophomore Kyle Simonson (197) and redshirt freshman Eric Thompson (Hwt.) advanced out of the first round in a variety of outcomes. Cash stayed alive for most of the day before being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket by Wartburg’s Sean White by a major decision of 13–5. Simonson, a native of Algona, worked his way up through the wrestleback bracket to place fifth at 197.

Before the season started, Jackson said he feels it is unacceptable for any of his wrestlers to go scoreless in the first period of a match. In Thursday night’s match against South Dakota State, junior Nate Carr Jr. went scoreless in the first period against Nick Flynn before defeating Flynn by a major decision of 9–1. After the match, Jackson had a talk with Carr about his performance.

“He just said, ‘If you keep getting your offense off and keep wrestling hard, just keep working and make some connections and you’ll get better,’” Carr said. “I’m sure he’d rather me go 0–0 than me being down 2–0.”

Carr rolled through the 157 bracket on Saturday before taking a medical forfeit due to an injury to his knee to place sixth overall.

A matchup of intrigue took place in the semifinals of the 184 bracket as Cyclone teammates Jerome Ward and Joe Curran squared off as a rematch of the preseason’s intrasquad match, where Curran defeated Ward by a decision of 7–5. Curran, a senior, went on to receive the nod from Jackson to wrestle in the team’s season-opening dual meet, where he dominated South Dakota State’s David Michaud by technical fall, 17–2. However, Ward does not feel as though this has soured their relationship.

“There’s no hostility toward each other,” said Ward, who entered his junior season ranked 14th in the nation. “We’re competitors, so we feed off each other and whatnot, so we’re pushing one another, and in these next couple tournaments we’ll be pushing each other.

“We’re actually pretty cool. When I first got here, he showed me around and everything. If I needed something, he’d be there; and if he needed something, I’d be there for him.”

Senior Jake Varner, defending national champion and top-ranked wrestler in the nation at 197 pounds, won the 197 bracket with ease as he recorded four pins on the night.

According to Jackson, Varner was particularly unhappy with being unable to pin South Dakota State’s Tyler Sorenson — who is ranked 11th in the nation at 197 pounds — on Thursday night, despite beating him by a major decision of 13–4. On Saturday, Varner got a second chance at Sorenson and successfully pinned him in 2:27.

“Whether I’ve wrestled a guy once or five times, you just kind of learn from each match,” Varner said. “Every match is different. I felt a lot better at this tournament than I did in the dual meet being down to weight for my second time now. The dual meet was my first time down, but no excuses. It’s just one of those things, you go out there and wrestle.”

The Cyclones continue their season next Saturday at the Omaha Open.