The wins didn’t come easily, but the second-ranked ISU wrestling team went 10-for-10 in its season-opening dual Thursday night against Utah Valley.

Five matches were decided by fewer than two points in the Cyclones’ 39-0 win at Hilton Coliseum. Rust from the off-season may have had something to do with the team’s low scoring, said coach Cael Sanderson.

“They had some pretty good defense in there; we just needed to have a little more attitude and find more ways to score points,” said Sanderson, who is entering his third season as head coach. “That’s what we talked about, as a team, here. So these guys know what to do, we just gotta do it.”

The first matchup of the meet was only between ranked wrestlers. Iowa State’s thirteenth-ranked sophomore Tyler Clark (125) scored a first-period takedown and two escapes to edge the Wolverines’ eighteenth-ranked Benjamin Kjar, 4-2.

After a technical fall by fifth-ranked Nick Fanthorpe, second-ranked Nick Gallick (141) stepped on the mat against fellow-junior Jeffrey Newby.

Gallick scored a takedown 40 seconds into the match but struggled to set up his offense the rest of the way in a 5-3 win. Thirteenth-ranked Mitch Mueller followed with an 8-4 decision over true sophomore Justin Morrill.

At 165 pounds, fourth-ranked Jonathan Reader was briefly thrown to his back in a 5-3 win over true sophomore Jeb Clark.

“We weren’t at our best tonight, you know,” Sanderson said. “It’s an early match, so I’m guessing that’s what the deal is, but it’s something that should pick up momentum as we move along here.”

Unranked junior Chris Pursel and redshirt freshman Jerome Ward each scored third-period takedowns to win their matches. Pursel trailed 4-3 before escaping and scoring a takedown with 27 seconds left.

Wrestling in his first true match since July 2007, Ward broke a 1-1 tie with a driving double-leg takedown on the edge of the mat.

Iowa State will host the Harold Nichols Open tournament at the Lied Recreation Athletics Center on Saturday. The meet will feature more than 250 wrestlers, mostly from lower-division schools, but Iowa, Northern Iowa and Nebraska will be represented.