As the ISU wrestling team travels to Michigan this weekend for a pair of duals, it does so with the plan of returning to Ames with a 4-0 record, but the number it really has its eye on is 10-0.

A hot start to the dual season last weekend has the Cyclones at 2-0 after defeating Utah Valley and Boise State. Against Utah Valley, Iowa State won nine of 10 matches and then won eight of 10 against Boise State.

Gabe Moreno, 149, thinks those numbers can improve when Iowa State takes on Central Michigan (1-2, 0-0 MAC) on Nov. 20.

“We need to just keep building on our two previous duals,” Moreno said. “We dominated, but we still haven’t gone 10-0 and I think we have the capability as a team. Each one of our weight classes has good wrestlers, so going 10-0 in one of these duals over the weekend would be nice.”

Kyle Larson, 125, dropped his first match of the season at Utah Valley, while John Meeks, 141, and Luke Goettl, 157, both lost their matches to Boise State. Heading into Thursday’s dual against Central Michigan, ISU coach Kevin Jackson said shoring up some of the lightweights’ loose ends will be key.

“We didn’t have our best performance at 141, we didn’t have our best performance at 125,” Jackson said. “Those guys just have to tighten up this weekend in order for us to move forward as a team.”

Central Michigan is 1-2 on the season, beating Clarion last weekend and suffering losses to No. 6 Northwestern and No. 5 Edinboro. 

Central Michigan is a team that Iowa State is well acquainted with after last season. At the National Coaches Wrestling Association National Duals in Columbus, Ohio, Iowa State lost to Kent State and defeated Hofstra before losing to Central Michigan on the last day.

And that loss might still be in the mind of Iowa State, as seven of the 10 who wrestled in that dual last year are back.

“They [Central Michigan] wrestled us real well last year and found a way to win, so we got a little revenge factor going on there, but we’re just looking for the guys to make gains and to compete at a high level,” Jackson said. “We think were going to have a good chance to beat Central, but it’s a matter of how we’re going to win, how we’re going to compete and are we setting ourselves up to be better then we were last week.”