As the old saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

That’s what the NIU wrestling team did as it remained in Ames over the weekend to take part in the 15-team Cyclone Open hosted by Thursday’s opponent, Iowa State. Three Huskies reached the title match and two of the matches happened to be rematches from Thursday.

Redshirt freshman Pat McLemore got the chance to avenge his 7-3 loss to Nick Gallick two days earlier and took full advantage, beating the 14th-ranked sophomore, 7-4, to claim the 141-pound title.

Team captain Duke Burk, the only Huskie to win a match Thursday, captured the 174-pound title by beating Lindenwood’s Brian Cauley, 6-4, and improved his overall record to 5-0 this season.

“Obviously, we had a great performance in the finals,” head coach Dave Grant said. “Duke was aggressive throughout the whole tournament. He’s a sophomore and one of our experienced wrestlers after having a great freshmen season.”

In the other rematch of the day, senior and 11th-ranked Pat Castillo took on ISU’s seventh-ranked Nick Fanthorpe in the 133-pound title match and dropped another heartbreaker, this time a 3-2 decision.

“It was another battle,” Grant said. “[Pat] got in on his legs a couple times but just couldn’t finish it. These are things we can look at and definitely improve on.”

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