Columbia, MO – Out of the six freshmen in Iowa State’s lineup, David Zabriskie was hyped the least, but stepped up the most in the biggest moment for the Cyclones this season.

With the weight of 20 years of Cyclone wrestling on his young shoulders, Zabriskie came through with a 3-2 win over 16th-ranked Jared Rosholt, winning the individual heavywieght title and giving the Cyclones the Big 12 team championship.

“It is important for us to win this tournament and Dave knew it,” coach Cael Sanderson said. “He knew it was important and he went out there and he hustled. He didn’t let it affect him.”

The fact that Zabriskie, a New Jersey native, is even in contention for a Big 12 title is hard to tell by just looking at the heavyweight’s stature. Zabriskie is 5-foot-11-inches and only 235 pounds – an undersized heavyweight to say the least.

But there is no measure for the heart and the never-ending motor that Zabriskie has. Those qualities are exactly what Sanderson wants in the new generation of Cyclone wrestlers.

“He’s got a huge heart,” Sanderson said. “He’s a fighter and a hustler. He’s got everything that we want our wrestlers to be.”

Zabriskie (24-6) came into the tournament with the No. 1 seed, a 4-0 record in conference play, and a 10-match winning streak. The freshman didn’t take long to get his motor going with a pin at the 6:43 mark in the third period over Brad Farmer of Oklahoma.

Zabriskie continued to ride that momentum into his match with Rosholt but didn’t let the pressure of the team title get in the way of wrestling his individual match.

“I tried not to put too much pressure on myself,” Zabriskie said. “I tried to block out the team thing. My main goal was to just go out there, and to win my match. And if I ended up with the win, then my team ended up with the win.”

The team seems to be buying into coach Cael Sanderson’s team philosophy in a sport that is largely individually based. The team is peaking at the right time and that is exactly what Sanderson’s young coaching staff planned on way back in November.

The Cyclones send all 10 of their wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Detroit next week, a huge difference compared to the five the team sent last year.

“I’m feeling great right now,” Zabriskie said. “The coaches do a great job of planning our practices. Everybody’s peaking right now. Everyone’s feeling good.

“I think it’s all part of the coach’s plan. Everything’s just falling into place.”