“Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.”

That was Jay Schindler and the Cyclone swimming team’s motto in their come-from-behind upset victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Schindler, who paced the Cyclones with an unexpected victory in the 200 breaststroke, told that to Coach Trip Hedrick after Iowa State escaped with a 123-120 victory over the 16th-rated team in the nation.

ISU, currently ranked 24th, found itself down by a large margin early in the meet as it struggled throughout the first half of the match-up.

At that point, the team held a meeting and refocused its efforts. To say the least, it worked.

“The switch got turned on in the second half. It was one of the more unbelievable finishes I’ve ever been a part of,” Hedrick said.

In the final event, the relay team of Martin Andersson, Joakim Dahl, Bob Bredice and Mitch McGinty took home a first place.

The crew of Peder Skoog, Joe Fisher, Jeff Gahan and Bob Breshears took third place to cap off the ISU turnaround.

“We were excited to win,” Schindler said. “It was a huge turnaround. We knew we could do it going into it. We were pretty confident.”

“It was the first time our backs have been against the wall all year,” Schindler said. He said it is nice to know the team “can just turn it on when we want to.”

Hedrick said of the first half of the contest, “I think it was pretty apparent we weren’t race-ready. We were not our typical selves. We looked like we hadn’t raced in a while.”

Hedrick said the comeback will be a good learning experience for his squad, and more importantly will show the team what it did wrong in the early stages of the contest.

Schindler said the victory was sweet because he had not beaten the perennial conference powerhouse since his freshman year.

He said he was surprised to win the 200 race because it was his first first-place finish in the event. Teammate Mark Ritcey took second in the event.

Schindler also teamed up with Johan Andersson, McGinty and Bredice to capture the 400 medley relay.

ISU took first and second place in the 200 butterfly led by Lovre Francevic and McGinty. Skoog also captured the 200 backstroke crown.

The Cyclone men are 5-0 in dual meets this season and host Wisconsin-Green Bay and North Dakota this weekend.