All it took was a little pumping up of the crowd, followed by an electrifying flurry of moves and a quick fall by junior Cyler Sanderson to send the Cyclones on their way to a 23-15 victory over Oklahoma.

After dropping three of the first four matches in the dual, including the 133 pound match where junior Nick Fanthorpe had to forfeit after hurting his right hamstring, the lack of energy in Hilton Coliseum created enough silence to hear the coaches of both teams talking strategy. The Cyclones needed a big performance to get the life back into the team.

Sanderson put all of his emotion on the mat by clapping his hands and motioning the crowd to get loud. And they responded. The Hilton crowd erupted in a chorus of cheers and yelling after the official slapped the mat, signaling the pin with only nineteen seconds left in the match.

“I knew everybody was a little bit down after [Nick] Fanthorpe got hurt, and I love being out,” Sanderson said. “I was just trying to get everyone fired up.”

The victory sparked a cascade of big wins for the rest of the night, starting with junior Jon Reader’s 16-2 win over Ryan Smith to give Iowa State its first lead of the night.

The Cyclones’ held a 20-15 lead going into the heavyweight match. With enough excitement to last for at least another few hours, junior David Zabriskie provided fans one more for the road. In a match lasting nearly 10 minutes, Zabriskie won in the second sudden victory, 4-2.

Coach Cael Sanderson was glad to get the win despite the lackluster start.

“We just need to get guys to fight,” Sanderson said. “You know fight for the team, fight for each other, and step out there and represent your program. But we’re making progress, we saw that tonight, and we’re just going to keep moving forward.”

The Cyclones square off against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Hilton Coliseum Sunday at 1 p.m.

Results

• 125- Joey Fio dec. Tyler Clark, 4-0
• 133- Brian Shelton won by inj. def. over Nick Fanthorpe
• 141- Nick Gallick dec. Seth Vernon, 10-3
• 149- Kyle Terry dec. Mitch Mueller, 6-0
• 157- Cyler Sanderson pinned Shane Vernon, 6:41
• 165- Jon Reader major dec. Ryan Smith 16-2
• 174- Jeff James dec. Duke Burk, 4-0
• 184- Jerome Ward dec. Pat Flynn, 5-2
• 197- Jake Varner major dec. Eric Lapotsky, 16-5
• HWT- David Zabriskie dec. Nathan Fernandez, 4-2 (SV2)