Nate Gallick finally had his revenge. After being beaten by Pittsburgh’s Ron Tarquinio 6-2 when the two were freshmen, the No. 2 junior defeated the No. 8 Tarquinio 4-2 at 141 pounds on Friday en route to the No. 5 ISU wrestling team’s 31-7 victory over Pittsburgh.

Gallick controlled the pace for most of the match and never let Tarquinio get a good shot on him.

“Anytime you beat someone who has beaten you, you’ve taken a monkey off your back,” head coach Bobby Douglas said. “I think the win will improve him and is a confidence booster.”

Gallick said the win removed a lot of doubts he had about himself and said it was a good way to start the season.

“I can use this as a starting point and just build on it,” Gallick said.

“Before the match, I wasn’t doubting myself, but in the back of my mind I was thinking about [how] he had beaten me before. I didn’t give myself the credit I probably should have and didn’t analyze the improvements I’ve made in the last two or three years.”

Douglas said he was pleased with how his team handled a tough Pittsburgh squad.

“I would have liked to see more intensity, but they were intense,” he said.

“It’s too early to be really intense but I thought they took a lot of shots, which pleases me.”

Senior 197-pounder Trevor Smith paced the Cyclones with a 7-1 victory over Michael Heist in the opening match, jumping to an early 2-0 lead with a takedown in the first period.

Fifth-ranked heavyweight Scott Coleman dominated his match with Pittsburgh freshman Zach Sheaffer. Coleman earned his second win of the season with a 4-2 decision.

After giving up an early takedown to Pittsburgh freshman Dave Morgan, junior 125-pound grappler Grant Nakamura scored a reversal and opened the second period with a three-point near fall on his way to a 12-4 major decision.

Pittsburgh earned its first points of the meet at 133-pounds. Sophomore Drew Headlee beat Iowa State’s Jesse Sundell 9-8 in overtime.

“I thought Jesse Sundell wrestled a terrific match,” Douglas said. “He got caught early and gave up a bunch of back points, but he wrestled a great match.”

Pittsburgh earned its other four team points at 149 pounds. Sophomore Jason Knipp was unable to overpower No. 15 Matt Kocher, a returning NCAA qualifier.

Iowa State’s Trent Paulson continued to build confidence at his new weight of 157 pounds. Bumping up from last year’s 149-pound weight class, Trent earned a technical fall in his first match of the year as he pinned Pittsburgh’s Keith Gavin at the 4:31 mark in the match.

Sharing time with Travis Paulson at 165-pounds, Nick Passolano saw his first action of the season on Friday. Passolano won 5-1.

Down 6-3 early in the second period, sophomore Grant Turner started to mount a comeback at 174 pounds.

Turner earned six unanswered points, including a crucial near fall at the end of the second period en route to pinning Pittsburg’s Zachariah Doll.

Turner said he had some confidence problems halfway through the match.

“He stopped my shots and I was about to give up a takedown and he eased up a little,” he said. “Then I hit an ‘arm drag double’ and I felt him give. I knew I could get him.”

Sophomore Kurt Backes ran away with his match early en route to a 14-10 decision.

The win moves the Cyclones to 2-0 as they hit the road next Saturday for the Utah Valley State Open in Orem, Utah.