"This was a great win for us, especially at this time of the year," ISU head coach Cael Sanderson said. "Our guys are going out there and wrestling hard for seven minutes, just like we want them to. We told them we wanted a lot of offense and they generated the points."
Travis Paulson became the 33rd Cyclone among a distinguished list of ISU wrestlers with 100-career victories with a 16-5 major decision against Eric Decker. Paulson, rated third nationally, began the second period with a reversal and proceeded to take down the Hokie two times. The two-time All-American scored two more takedowns in the final period and closed out the bout with a three-point nearfall. With the win, Paulson has won six matches via major decision and his record stands at 22-4.
"My match felt good," Paulson said. "I wanted to try and push the pace so that I can get in better shape for the Big 12 meet. I went out on the mat confident. It is great to reach the century mark and be mentioned with the guys that are already there. I still think that we are improving every week. This was a good win. We want to carry the momentum from last week into these duals and then to the Big 12 Championship."
"Having Travis reach 100-career wins is great and he is down in the history books of Cyclone wrestling," Sanderson said. "He put an exclamation point on the match with the closing takedown."
After a Hokie forfeit at 125 pounds, Nick Gallick opened the dual at 133-pounds with an 18-2 technical fall over Sheridan Moran. Gallick used five takedowns and two three-point nearfalls en route to victory. Gallick, a redshirt freshman from Tucson, Ariz., unleashed a relentless attack during the third period. He scored three takedowns and registered his second three-point nearfall of the bout in the final period. Gallick is ranked 14th nationally and carries a 24-7 season mark.
Redshirt freshman Cyclone Jake Varner built on a 3-1 third-period lead over Steve Borja, getting a three-point nearfall in the match's final minute and then pinned Borja with 44 seconds left.
"It was exciting," Varner said. "It was a good match for the end of the year to prepare for the Big 12 meet and nationals. Our team looked real good. We went out there and dominated."
The Cyclones will travel to Charlottesville, Va., to face Virginia (7-8) Sunday at 11 a.m. CST. Check out cyclones.com for live weight-by-weight updates.
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