Iowa State held off University of Iowa 18-10 in a tense Heart of America conference game Saturday.

The Cyclones secured an early 15-0 lead but after that was under a lot of pressure from Iowa. Seeing one player get two yellow cards, and thus being shorthanded throughout the second half, didn’t help.

“Our defense was very good,” said Iowa State Head Coach Anthony Frein. “After what Iowa Central did to us we want back into the lab and said we can replicate that fitness and defensive pressure part of their game for sure.”

And it worked out. Iowa came back with a try, ISU replied with a penalty goal, and then for the final 20 minutes Iowa State defended their tryline, finally seeing Iowa score late to make it 18-10.

No. 8 Mark Murphy had an immense game for ISU while Wes Cummings continued his strong run of form that started in the CRC 7s last spring. Scrumhalf Griff Huffman played very well against a talented opposite number.

“Iowa put us under a lot of pressure,” said Frein. “But I was very happy with how we defended.”