After going 4-1 during a grueling road trip, the Iowa State wrestling team returned home to trounce No. 12 Arizona State 27-7.

“I thought we performed really well today,” head coach Bobby Douglas said. “We were a little tired primarily due to the training we’ve been doing in preparation for the conference tournament, but I think it was still a great performance.”

Cael Sanderson got the sixth-ranked Cyclones off on the right foot by earning a decision over No. 5 Casey Strand, 6-2. Sanderson is ranked second wrestler at the 184-pound weight class and became ISU’s first 30-match winner with yesterday’s victory.

Zach Thompson continued his torrid winning streak with a 4-1 win over Erik Gladish. Thompson is the No. 4 wrestler at 197-pounds and hasn’t lost in 1999. Thompson and the Cyclones are intent on finishing the regular season on a high note.

“Finishing strong is important because it gives you momentum, and it gives you a lot of enthusiasm in the [practice] room,” Douglas said.

After a scoreless first period in the heavyweight match, Mark Knauer took control on a reversal followed by a takedown with a two-point near fall to take a 6-2 lead. Arizona State’s Randy Leydecker scored a reversal to narrow the gap to 6-4, but Knauer was able to escape and take Leydecker down again to secure a 10-4 victory.

With ISU leading 9-0, the Sun Devils needed a win at 125-pounds in order to stay in the dual. Seventh-ranked Matt Azevedo was able to come away with an 8-2 decision over ISU’s Jesse West to make the score 9-3.

In what was anticipated to be the match of the day, ISU’s No. 3 Cody Sanderson held on for a 7-5 win over ASU’s No. 4 Eric Larkin. Wrestling as a freshman, Larkin has been a surprise this season by going 19-2, but Cody was able to use his veteran savvy to deny Larkin of his 20th win.

The Sun Devils’ Mark Perryman was able to record a 16-4 major decision over Benjie Winegarden to make the score 12-7, but that’s as close as Arizona State would get.

After going through a tough stretch in the past few weeks, Cole Sanderson came through in the clutch to pin No. 17 Quinn Foster with 35 seconds remaining in the first period.

After being taken down early in the match, Cole was nearly pinned in a see-saw battle that could have gone either way.

Fortunately for the Cyclones, Cole came out on top and was able to put the match away with a fall.

“Anytime you come within seconds of getting pinned and record a fall, it is a huge confidence booster; it was just a spectacular performance by Cole,” Douglas said.

Cole has faced Foster before at the National Duals, and after this match, he has a great deal of respect for him.

“He is unbelievably fast, but I could feel the balance shifting and if we kept rolling, I knew I could come out on top,” Cole said.

At 157-pounds, ISU’s David Maldonado notched a 4-2 victory over Glen Pero.

Maldonado is 22-6 on the year and is the team’s leader being the only senior in the starting line-up.

With ISU leading 21-7 going into the final two matches, the outcome of the meet was already decided, but the majority of the fans that were on hand stuck around to see No. 1 Joe Heskett battle ASU’s Steve Blackford.

Blackford is ranked 10th and wrestled at West Des Moines Dowling as a prep. Heskett was pushed to the limit by Blackford but managed to hang on for a 3-2 decision to remain undefeated on the season.

In the final match of the evening, Perry Parks put together a late flurry to secure a 7-2 victory over John Groundwater. Parks has been the Cyclones’ starter at 174-pounds lately and came close to pinning his opponent late in the third period.

“Perry is making great progress, and we’re working with him so he can compete at the national level,” Douglas said.

ISU has now won five straight duals to move to 19-5-1 on the season.

“It’s important to wrestle really hard at the end of the season. It will help to give you confidence going into the national tournament,” Cole said.

The Cyclones can secure their first 20-win campaign since 1985 when they host the Northern Iowa Panthers next Sunday at 2 p.m.

“It will be another dog fight like today’s meet. We match up really well, but UNI is well coached so it will be a fight,” Douglas said.