The name of the tournament may have been the Las Vegas Invitational, but for Iowa State wrestlers, there was no gambling involved. The Cyclones came away the unequivocal winners.

Fifth-ranked ISU pounced on its opponents, leaving a gap of 21 points between itself and second-place Illinois, ranked seventh in the nation.

In addition to winning the tournament for the second year in a row, ISU also boasted three individual titles.

All-Americans Dwight Hinson, Chris Bono and Barry Weldon topped their individual weight classes.

Hinson, ranked fourth at 134 pounds, repeated as the 126-pound champion by knocking off No. 12 Shawn Ford of Arizona State and then edging by top-ranked Eric Jetton of Wisconsin in a 5-3 decision.

Hinson said that he was glad he got a chance to wrestle Jetton, but it’s not because he was ranked No. 1. “That’s all fine and dandy,” Hinson said, “but he was a tough competitor, and I’m glad I got to wrestle him before we go to Iowa.”

Hinson said that one of Jetton’s coaches is from Iowa, and because of that, Jetton wrestles very much like the man Hinson will likely wrestle in Iowa City: Mike Mena.

“[Jetton’s] a little like him,” Hinson said. “He wrestles a lot on the defensive.”

Even though Hinson is ranked at 134 pounds, he is back down to 126, as he was last year, and plans to stay at the lower weight class for the rest of the season. He said he had no problems getting back down to 126.

Hinson also earned the very first Big 12 Wrestler of the Week award for his efforts in Las Vegas. “That goes in the record books or something,” he joked.

He currently owns a perfect 12-0 record this season, which, in addition to his big win in Las Vegas, gives him confidence to battle Iowa this weekend.

“Always, when you go into Carver Arena, it’s intimidating,” Hinson said. “You’re in their backyard. You’ve just got to wrestle hard.”

His teammate Bono is also undefeated so far this year. Bono, No. 2 at 150 pounds, put the polish on his untarnished record with a first-place finish at last weekend’s tournament.

Weldon improved on last year’s eighth-place finish with a win at 177 pounds.

He is ranked second at 167 pounds.

Several other Cyclones placed in the tournament, piling on the points for ISU as a team. Cody Sanderson, ISU’s 118-pounder, captured third place; David Maldonado at 142 and Matt Mulvihill at 190 both took fourth in their respective weight classes. To round out ISU’s winners, heavyweight Trent Hynek walked away with seventh place.