The Cyclone football team was understandably excited when, in 1998, it finally ended a 15-year streak of losses to Iowa.

Quadruple that timespan and you come close to how long it had been since Missouri last beat the Cyclone wrestling team.

Last weekend the ninth-ranked Tigers had reason to celebrate when they defeated the Cyclones 24-11 and broke a 76-year losing streak. But the Missouri team didn’t let the win faze them too much. Missouri coach Brian Smith said the victory was exciting — it improved Missouri’s Big 12 record to 3-1, which is more wins than it previously had combined since the Big 12 began. But Smith said it was just business as usual for his experienced Tigers.

“It wasn’t an arrogance or cockiness,” Smith said about his team’s attitude. “[We] just felt like this was our match to win. A lot of people expected us to jump up and down and be crazy — I just think we did what we were expected to do.”

On the opposite side of the mat, ISU coach Bobby Douglas was also surprised by the win, but said the meet was a good indicator of how far the Cyclones have come and how far they still have to go until nationals.

“Actually, we got a lot of things accomplished — we’re still seeing improvement,” Douglas said. “We’re wrestling better than I had anticipated and Missouri has a very good team.”

The Cyclones started the meet off with their usual dominance. Fourth-ranked Zach Roberson won by technical foul over Chris McCormick, 22-7, at 133 pounds. At 141 pounds, defending national champion Aaron Holker decisioned J.P. Reese, 6-3.

Missouri came back by winning three close decisions, including a 7-5 win by Jeremy Spates over Cyclone Nate Gallick. Gallick led the match into the third period until Spates scored a takedown and earned enough riding time to edge out Gallick.

Ken Cook put the last points on the board for the Cyclones when he decisioned Matt Turner, 9-2 at 174 pounds. From then on out, though, the meet was a bust for the Cyclones.

Missouri All-American Scott Barker gave the lead to the Tigers when he decisioned 10th-ranked Austen Palmer 9-2, and that was the closest of the remaining matches for the Cyclones. The final three matches were dominated by Missouri, who won all three by major decisions and outscored the Cyclones by a combined margin of 39-10.

For Missouri, the big win gave them the momentum to shut out Wyoming 34-0 the following day.

For the Cyclones, the loss dropped them to 0-3 in the Big 12 and 5-8 overall. They will have to wait until this Friday to redeem themselves when they wrestle at Nebraska.

“We can’t keep thinking about losing,” said Roberson, whose overall record improved to 17-3. “We’ve got to move on and take that Missouri dual and learn from it.”