Winning eight of 10 matches and a dominating performance by the ISU wrestlers Friday night in Hilton Coliseum propelled the Cyclones to a win over instate rival Northern Iowa, 26-9.

The Cyclones (12-2, 2-0 Big 12) were feisty right out of the gates and continued the trend throughout the whole meet, giving up an astounding one takedown to the Panthers (7-6).

“I don’t really want to be known as a defensive team,” coach Cael Sanderson said. “But I guess you start somewhere, and if people aren’t taking us down, well, it will be tough to beat us.

“Our goal as a team is to wrestle hard and attack and take some risks.”

It didn’t take long for Iowa State to get on the board after sophomore Tyler Clark (125), who had been in a slight slump lately, came out with a convincing 10-4 victory over Cruse Aarhus.

Northern Iowa would grab its only lead in the meet after Sanderson opted to not wrestle All-American Nick Fanthorpe in the 133 pound match. Fanthorpe has been recovering from a leg injury suffered in a meet with Oklahoma two weeks ago, and instead of putting him on the mat, Sanderson said he wanted to give his wrestler a little more rest and not rush him back too quickly.

Despite the dual being between two teams, it was an individual dual between two All-Americans at 165 pounds highlighting the meet. Cyclone fans got an early taste of a possible NCAA Tournament showdown when sophomore Jon Reader, ranked No. 7, used a quick reversal and a late takedown in the third period to seal a big win over fourth-ranked Moza Fay.

The sophomore’s win bumped his record to 2-1 against the Panther senior.

Cyclone wrestlers corralled seven of the first 10 matches, and held a 19-6 advantage before Northern Iowa recorded its first and only takedown of the meet when Alex Dolly used a late shot in the third period to edge the Cyclone’s Jerome Ward (184), 3-2.

Before fans began to shuffle out of Hilton, a surprising heavyweight showdown would cap off an already big night for Iowa State. No. 2 David Zabriskie won in the second tie breaker by riding time criteria over No. 15 Christian Brantley, 4-3.

Although the score was one-sided, Panther’s head coach Brad Penrith found bright spots for his young team.

“You can’t be disappointed. You know the scoreboard shows 26 to 9, and it’s not pretty, but to be honest with you, we wrestled [Iowa State] a lot tougher than I thought Oklahoma State did. My guys are still taking baby steps and getting better and better. [Iowa State] is a heck of a team.”

Overall, both coaches saw things they liked out of their wrestlers, but the train doesn’t stop here for either team. From here on out, every match gets more crucial as wrestler’s jockey themselves for position come NCAA Tournament time.

The Cyclones next wrestle at home Friday when they welcome former ISU standout Chris Bono and his Tennessee-Chattanooga team to Hilton Coliseum.

Results:

125 – No. 10 Tyler Clark (ISU) dec. Cruse Aarhus (UNI), 10-4

133 – Steve Fitzgerald (UNI) won by forfeit

141 – No. 3 Nick Gallick (ISU) dec. Trent Washington (UNI), 9-2

149 – No. 18 Mitch Mueller (ISU) dec. Brett Robbins (UNI), 7-3

157 – No. 7 Cyler Sanderson (ISU) major dec. Tyson Reiner (UNI), 14-4

165 – No. 7 Jon Reader (ISU) dec. No. 4 Moza Fay (UNI), 4-2

174 – No. 18 Duke Burk (ISU) dec. Scott Hazen (UNI), 8-3

184 – No. 15 Alex Dolly (UNI) dec. No. 18 Jerome Ward (ISU), 3-2

197 – No. 1 Jake Varner (ISU) major dec. No. 14 Andrew Anderson (UNI), 9-1

HWT – No. 2 David Zabriskie (ISU) dec. No. 15 Christian Brantley (UNI), 3-3 RT (TB2)