The Iowa State men’s swimming team kicked past the St. Olaf Oles this weekend with a 145-84 score.

The Cyclones left Ames with only 13 swimmers and two divers, but left Northfield, Minn., easy victors over the Division III school.

Jeremy Wilson paced the Cyclone men’s swimmers with first-place finishes in the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley.

ISU Coach Trip Hedrick said his athletes had the option of competing in the meet or staying in Ames to continue training.

“It gave some guys a break and [gave] some a chance to compete,” Hedrick said.

The tone of the meet was set from the opening splash as the Cyclones started out with a one-two placing in the 200 medley relay. The team then took the first two spots in the 100 freestyle, with Kris Latham grabbing first and senior co-captain Dan Flannery touching second. From then on, victory at the meet was never in doubt.

ISU also captured the first and second places in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events. Steve Mohabir took home top honors, while Jim Zagaria nabbed two seconds.

Although the meet has never been very competitive for the large-school Cyclones, Hedrick said the meet is beneficial for both teams, which is why the two squads have squared off in dual meets for the last 15 years.

“It gives us a chance to do some different things,” Hedrick said.

He said the St. Olaf swimmers like the competition because it gives them a chance to find out how they stack up to a Division I power. “Both schools use it in a positive way,” he said.

The rout of the Oles could have been worse than the final 61-point deficit. As done in earlier water performances this season, ISU swam exhibition races to keep the score from getting even more out of hand.

The meet served as a tune-up for the Cyclone swimmers, who open the huge Iowa vs. ISU weekend with a dual meet at Beyer Hall. Hedrick said he and his squad feel the pressure and the challenge of opening a cardinal-and-gold weekend.

“It’s a big meet for us. There’s no doubt about that,” Hedrick said. “I’d like to think it’s a great rivalry.”

The last time ISU defeated the Hawkeyes was in December of 1993. Though the Cyclones swam well in 1995, which was the last time the rivals met in Ames, the ISU swimmers fell to the Hawks by four points.

Hedrick said he expects the meet to be a good one. “This is one that is hard not to get fired up for. We’re very hungry to beat Iowa.”

Iowa, with a 4-0 record, has had some impressive early-season victories, including wins over ranked opponents Minnesota, Nebraska and Arizona State.

However, Hedrick feels the two squads should match up well, but he estimated the Hawkeyes at 10-15 point favorites.

But don’t underestimate Hedrick’s “highly competitive” crew, who cherishes the underdog role and the chance to gain respect from the state.

“The emotion and psyche become a big part because we don’t train specifically for this meet,” he said.

Hedrick is looking for an enthusiastic crowd help the team snap the Hawkeye winning streak.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” he said. “We’d like nothing better than a packed house.”

The meet will be especially important for five ISU swimmers who hail from the so-called Hawkeye state. Flannery and fellow senior Tim Hansen, along with junior Joe Fisher and sophomores Jim Sheehan and Bryan O’Neill, will be out to prove that ISU’s tradition in the pool deserves respect.

“It means a lot to me,” Flannery said of the upcoming contest. “The talk has always been, ‘Iowa’s the team.'”

He said he views the match-up as the biggest dual meet of the year, and with narrow losses to the Hawkeyes fresh in his mind, he thinks this is the year. “If the team comes together, we can get it,” he said.

Hansen said he has been a life-long Cyclone fan and is tired of having to defend his loyalty to ISU athletics as a whole. He said a big victory would show high school students that ISU demands state-wide attention.

Hansen said the squad has a great opportunity because the team is in its best shape training-wise.

Flannery said a dual meet win over Iowa was a goal set at the beginning of the season. So far the team has accomplished everything in the fall semester it set out to do, and he said a Friday-night victory would be a great way to wrap up the term.

And for Cyclone fans, a great way to kick off an ISU weekend.