AMES - Iowa State's wrestling team flexed its muscle Saturday at its own Harold Nichols Cyclone Open.

The Cyclones claimed seven individual titles and advanced nine wrestlers to the finals.

"It was a good tournament for us," head coach Cael Sanderson said. "Our guys wrestled hard and our young guys really went at it hard too. We saw the things we worked on. The level of competition was up this year and that is due to some very good programs from around the area that were here."

ISU 165-pounder Jon Reader stormed through his bracket as the didn't allow a point while scoring two technical fall victories to reach the finals. Reader defeated the University of Iowa's Jake Kerr by major decision in the championship match, 12-1.

Top-rated Jake Varner and ISU's Mitch Mueller each claimed their third Harold Nichols titles. Other Iowa State champions included heavyweight David Zabriskie, Nick Gallick (141), Nick Fanthorpe (133) and Tyler Clark (125).

Five of the University of Iowa's 11 wrestlers placed at the meet. In addition to Kerr's second-place finish, true freshman Matt McDonough finished third at 133, while freshman Grant Gambrall and redshirt freshman J.J. Krutsinger were fourth. True freshman Mark Ballweg was fifth at 141.

Brad Penrith's University of Northern Iowa squad sent eight wrestlers to the tournament and came home with two place-winners. Sophomore Trevor Kittleson finished third at 149 pounds and freshman David Bonin was fifth at 165.

NORSE DROP TIGHT DUALS - Luther College's wrestling team suffered a pair of one-point losses Saturday at the Lakeland Duals. Luther opened the duals with a 17-15 win over UW-Parkside before falling to St. John's 19-18 and North Central 16-15.