Iowa State wrestling dominated Utah Valley on Sunday, pushing its record to 9-2 and 6-1 in Big 12 duals.

The Cyclones knocked off the Wolverines 53-0 after defeating South Dakota State 47-0 on Friday.

“It’s nice,” said Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser on the two shutouts. “I wish we could’ve gotten a few more matchups today to test us. We need to get tested. It’s been a great stretch from Jan. 1 to Feb. 3.

“I don’t know how many matches we’ve wrestled, but we’ve sure have wrestled a lot. So now we get [to actually] train. When you get a chance to dominate — we wouldn’t have been able to dominate like this last year, obviously.”

While the lopsided wins are impressive, it’s important to note that South Dakota State is having a down year, and Utah Valley sat a handful of its wrestlers and forfeited two matches.

Nonetheless, the two wins emphasized Iowa State’s talent this year. The Cyclones’ two losses came at the hands of top-five foes Iowa and Oklahoma State.

Taking a look at Iowa State’s recent history, it puts the wins in better perspective. Two years ago, the Cyclones went 1-12 under Kevin Jackson, including an 0-5 record inside Hilton Coliseum.

Last season, Iowa State made small steps in year one under Kevin Dresser. The Cyclones bumped their record to 8-10 and 3-5 at home.

“Definitely just the attitude from last year that we weren’t supposed to be very good, and then a lot of people didn’t think we were going to be that good this year,” said 157-pounder Chase Straw on the improvement. “Just having that chip on our shoulder and going out and winning in Hilton — trying to score every point.

“Nothing comes easy here.”

Now, Iowa State’s rolling — especially at home — as evidenced by this weekend. After the 47-0 win over South Dakota State, the Cyclones one upped themselves with a 53-0 win.

Each win Iowa State picked up came via the bonus-point variety: four pins, a technical fall and three major decision — along with two forfeits.

In the 10 bonus-point wins, Iowa State racked up 27 takedowns, while Utah Valley failed to secure a single takedown.

This season, Iowa State’s seen more bright spots than last year, but it’ll be all for nothing if the season closes in a similar fashion.

Last year, the Cyclones hit somewhat of a groove after losing the first four duals, but Iowa State closed the season with just one NCAA qualifier in 149-pounder Jarrett Degen, with a handful of athletes missing the cut at the Big 12 Tournament.

On Sunday, at least one Cyclone had his mind on March.

“I see an opening; I took it,” said heavyweight Gannon Gremmel on his win. “I don’t want him to get that deep in next time because next time he’s coming for my head. He’s going to go to bed thinking about that. I’ll see him on Saturday at the Big 12s.”