The ISU wrestling team gave coach Bobby Douglas his first ever National Duals title with a narrow 17-16 victory over No. 3 Minnesota in the championship match Sunday at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center.

The Cyclones, ranked second, won four duals over two days to claim their first team title since 1988 and raise their season record to 15-1. The Cyclones also defeated Penn State, California State Bakersfield and Oklahoma.

“It feels great to win. If you have been coaching as long as I have and never won it, obviously it’s a big accomplishment and says a heck of a lot about this team. I salute the guys,” said Douglas.

The victory over the Gophers wasn’t decided until the final match. The Cyclones led 17-12 heading into the last match, but backup heavyweight Mark Knauer had to face the Gophers top-ranked Brock Lesnar who’s a known pinner.

Knauer fought off several throw attempts by Lesnar and dropped an 11-2 major decision, but staying off his back gave the Cyclones the championship.

The championship dual was hard-fought and very close as the two teams each won five of the ten matches and five matches were decided by one point.

One match that was supposed to be close but ended up in a rout was at184 pounds where No. 1 ranked Cael Sanderson whipped No. 2 Brandon Eggum, 8-0.

“I was wrestling my last match for Coach Douglas. In the last period, when I needed more points, I looked over at him and I knew how important it was,” Sanderson said. “We came together as a team during this tournament. We took a big step but we’ve got to keep working hard.”

Sanderson received the tournament’s “Outstanding Wrestler” award by thrashing four rated opponents. Sanderson pinned both No. 6 Tom Grossman of Oklahoma and No. 7 Lionel Halsey of Cal-State Bakersfield and rolled to a 21-6 technical fall victory over Penn State’s Jeff Knupp who is rated No. 12.

“I like wrestling in big matches, and I like the pressure to win. The bigger the match, the better I wrestle,” said Sanderson.

Cody Sanderson added a major decision win at 133 and Sonny Marchette pulled out a 6-4 decision at 141. Cole Sanderson and Joe Heskett recorded one-point wins at 157 and 165 respectively.

The Cyclones also lost their share of close ones to the Gophers as Matt Azevedo, Perry Parks and Zach Thompson lost one-point decisions. Parks lost 3-2 at 174, and Thompson was upset in double overtime by Owen Elzen.

Azevedo gave No. 2 ranked Leroy Vega all he could handle but fell 9-8 at 125.

“Matt Azevedo was aggressive and was in a match he was not supposed to be in. He was right with him and going for the win at the end and just made a poor decision,” said Douglas.

The Cyclones earned their shot at the title by winning an 18-15 decision over Big-12 rival Oklahoma in the semifinals. The Cyclones trailed 12-9 with three matches left but a pin from Cael Sanderson and an upset victory from Thompson at 197.

“We wrestled some tough aggressive matches against Oklahoma. Our guys showed some composure and didn’t let the situation at hand rattle them,” said Douglas.

Thompson scored a takedown with five seconds left to upset second-ranked Orville Palmer, 5-3. Another Cyclone upset came at 149 where Maldonado knocked off No. 5 Jared Frayer, 7-3 in overtime.

The Cyclones swept through the first two rounds handing Penn State a 27-9 defeat and rolling past Cal-State Bakersfield, 34-3.