The Iowa-Florida connection was in full force during the March 23 weekend as Chris Bono, Iowa’s 150-pounder, crushed his opponent to boost the Cyclones to a second place finish at the NCAA Wrestling Championship in Minneapolis.

Bono became the first wrestler hailing form the sunshine state to earn this championship status, while also going down in the record books as the first Cyclone in seven years to pin down the title.

Bono topped a 37-4 season with the 6-3 victory over Ohio State’s Charlie Becks in the finals, walking away with the trophy and his second straight All-American status.

“Nothing needs to be said [about Bono],” said ISU Head Wrestling Coach Bobby Douglas. “The results speak for themselves.”

The overall team results spoke volumes about the five Cyclones who earned a spot in the competition and pushed the ISU team score to a 78.5 total and a second-place finish, behind Iowa’s 112.5.

Jason Nurre at 118 pounds, 126-pounder Dwight Hinson, Derek Mountsier at 142, Bono at 150 and 167-pounder Barry Weldon all came home with finishes of fifth place or better and All-American honors under their belt, an accomplishments that fulfilled the goals of the season.

“Our goals was to bring home five All-American,” Douglas said. “I thought that was unrealistic, but it happened. The guys wrestled better than they have all year long.”

Nurre, for instance, worked his way through four matches, two of which were against top 12 seeded opponents, to the championship round.

Despite the showing, he fell to fourth-seeded Sheldon Thomas of Clarion, 6-4, ending up in second place and an All-American.

Nurre had a tremendous season,” Douglas said. “He had a great tournament; he got caught in a bad position. In hindsight, he probably should have gone on his feet. I feel bad. he did everything a champion does to win.”

As the next weight, Hinson edged past his opponents to make it to the final round, where he clashed against Penn State’s Sanshiro Abe, the No. 1 seeded wrestler.

Hinson, seeded third, stayed in the match, but Abe’s escape in the third round pushed him to a 6-5 victory. Still, Hinson nabbed the second-place finish (up from third last year) and walked away an All-American.

It was a “great match,” Douglas said. “He got taken down early and had to fight his way through the whole match. They maybe someday will meet in international action, and they can settle it that way. He keeps improving every year. He’s keeps improving every year. He’s only got one more step to go” to be a national champion.

These two down to-the-wire matches were slight disappointments to Douglas, who felt that ISU deserved more championships.

“It should feel like a million dollars,” he said. “But two guys got beet in the finals and it puts a damper on things.”

The other two Cyclones also made impressive showings. Mountsier, an All-American from 1994, dominated his opponents in the first two rounds and even scored a pin against Dusty Morris of Nebraska. He fell against fifth-seeded Jason Davids of Minnesota in the quarterfinals but went on to win three more matches to capture fourth place honors.

“Derek ran into two opponents that had a style that was difficult,” Douglas said. He’s a two-time All-American. I’m really proud of the way he performed. He didn’t leave anything on the mat.”

Weldon wrestled ever more matches than Mountsier, getting down and dirty on the mat a total of nine times. In all, Weldon nabbed seven victories and fifth place honors with a victory over 10-seeded Joel Morisette of Michigan State.

“Barry had a great year and national tournament,” Douglas said. “He’s an All-American that finished higher than he was seeded. He earned his medal with tremendous heart.”

All five Cyclones could win the lion’s courage award for this weekend’s performance. Douglas is completely satisfied with a second-place finish, even when intrastate rival Iowa was the only team above ISU.

“We can’t compare to Iowa,” he said. “We’re still in the building process. We’re going to work hard at it. It begins with recruiting. When I leave here, I’ll be on the recruiting trail harder than ever.”

Helping Douglas were three assistant coaches whose dedication propelled the Cyclones to the tournament in the first state. Thom Ortiz, Dan St. John and Perry Miller worked all year to help the wrestlers improve themselves.

“There’s only one better place and that’s No. 1,” Douglas said. “It’s a credit to the kids, and I have to give credit to the assistant coaches.”