It may have been more than 45 years since the Illinois wrestling team last matched up with Iowa State, but Saturday’s result was reminiscent of the teams’ last meeting.

No. 19 Illinois tried to fight back from an early deficit but couldn’t muster much in a 33-9 defeat at the hands of second-ranked Iowa State. It was the same 24-point margin of victory that the Cyclones enjoyed when the two teams last met in 1964 and was just the eighth dual meet ever between the two squads.

“I just felt like we didn’t have enough fight at a lot of weights,” Illinois head coach Jim Heffernan said. “We could have closed the gap in some matches if we had changed some situations during matches, and we didn’t do it.”

The Illini dug themselves into a quick hole, as Iowa State gained an early 7-0 lead after Andrew Sorensen’s decision against Conrad Polz at 157 pounds and a major decision by No. 4 Jon Reader over Joe Barczak at 165 pounds. However, the Illini seemed to be showing signs of life as No. 14 Jordan Blanton scored a 3-2 decision at 174 pounds. No. 2 John Dergo then pulled the team within one with a 2-1 decision over No. 8 Jerome Ward at 184 pounds.

“I didn’t wrestle as well as I’d like, but it’s just a step forward towards the Big Ten and things like that,” Dergo said.

But any hopes of a comeback were soon crushed, as the Cyclones went on to score bonus points in the next five matches, including two pins and two technical falls. No. 10 Patrick Bond was pinned at 197 pounds by top-ranked Jake Varner, who came in undefeated at 17-0, before Marty Smith, John Deneen and Daryl Thomas were all defeated by top-five opponents. No. 10 Ryan Prater was then pinned at 141 pounds by Dalton Jensen.

One bright spot for the Illini was sophomore Eric Terrazas, who scored a 4-2 decision over Max Mayfield at 149 pounds and improved to a perfect 11-0 on the season. The match was just the second for Terrazas since returning from an injury that kept him out of action for a month and a half. However, Terrazas estimated that he was about “90 to 95 percent” healthy.

“It was difficult the last few weeks trying to get back to where I was before the injury,” Terrazas said. “But it’s not bad to get a mental break and let your whole body heal up for a few weeks. It was definitely a little bittersweet.”

Despite the loss, Dergo was still optimistic that the experience could be helpful to the team.

“I think it will be good for us. It was a long bus ride, a long road trip, and it was a cool atmosphere. It’s fun sometimes when you’ve got all those people cheering against you, and it’s pretty exciting. And that just compares to how it could be at the national tournament,” Dergo said.

Saturday’s dual was the last tune up for the Illini (5-3) before they kick off their Big Ten schedule against Penn State and Michigan State next weekend. With plenty of tough opponents on the slate, Heffernan admitted the Illini still have some work to do.

“I think I would call (this match) a wake-up call that we need to start competing a little harder,” Heffernan said when asked if the team was ready for Big Ten duals. “We don’t have a choice. We have to be ready because it starts Friday.”