ISU assistant wrestling coach Chris Bono was still enjoying the win against Iowa before Wednesday’s practice. The former Cyclone wrestler jumped around the mat, taunting 174-pounder Nels Matson into a kickboxing match before practice began at 3:30 p.m.

When warmup for practice began, however, the Cyclones settled down and continued to prepare for Friday’s match against No. 9 Minnesota. Junior Nick Passolano, the 165-pound hero during the match against Iowa, said the transition from beating Iowa to preparing for Minnesota has been difficult.

“The win against Iowa is a big step for our program,” he said. “It’s been pretty tough but our coaches and team know what we have to do. We know this week is going to be a big week. We’re putting everything that happened this weekend behind us because we have to prepare for Minnesota.”

The Cyclones enter the meet ranked No. 2 by InterMat, behind Oklahoma State. Lehigh and Iowa, both beaten by the Cyclones, are third and fourth, respectively.

Senior Zach Roberson said Minnesota shouldn’t be taken lightly. He said the Gophers will be a strong opponent even though they have only two wrestlers ranked in the top 10, and only three more in the top 20.

“Year in and year out, [Minnesota is] usually in the top five,” Roberson said. “They’ve been No. 1 a couple of times, too.”

The Cyclones are favored in six of 10 matches, with the best matchup of the night coming at 165 pounds. Passolano, who jumped from eighth to sixth in the rankings after pinning Iowa’s Cole Pape, will face fifth-ranked Jacob Volkmann.

“I think he’s up to the challenge,” Roberson said. “He’s always ready to wrestle.”

Passolano and Volkmann have wrestled each other before and the result was split.

“I lost to him my senior year [of high school],” Passolano said. “Then I pinned him last year at Junior Duals.”

Although he won the last match, Passolano said he isn’t overconfident going into this match.

“[Winning last year] is a good sign, but it’s a new year,” he said. “I have to be prepared. He’s one of the toughest opponents I’ll see all year.”

Passolano said his best asset going into the match is being familiar with Volkmann.

“He’s just really physical,” he said. “He comes at you. He’s tough.”

Passolano said he doesn’t change his own preparation for each match. Although he takes into account what he knows about the wrestler he faces, he goes about his own routine each week.

“I haven’t changed anything,” he said. “I’ve just been practicing my takedowns.”

The 165-pounder added that head coach Bobby Douglas doesn’t change his lessons each week either. He said the team, in turn, wrestles each opponent mostly using their style, not by adapting to their opponent’s.

“We’re not changing the way we practice,” he said. “We’re not changing the way we train. We’re still the same Iowa State Cyclones before and after each dual.”

Junior Trevor Smith will face defending 197-pound NCAA champion Damion Hahn Friday. He said he is the healthiest he has been after battling injuries all year.

“I rolled my ankle earlier this season,” Smith said. “It’s feeling a lot better. I feel like I’ve progressed lately. I feel like I’m starting to get into shape and I’m feeling a lot better about this season.”

Smith lost to Hahn earlier this year, but said he plans to be more competitive now that he is healthy. Smith lost 3-2 Sunday against eighth-ranked Ryan Fulsaas of Iowa after dominating the first period of the match.

The 7-0 Cyclones start the meet in Minneapolis at 7 p.m. Passolano said the team’s success so far can be attributed to hard work and contributions made by the freshmen.

“We have a lot of young kids stepping up and wrestling like seniors,” he said.