Through five matches Sunday, the ISU wrestling team trailed 19-0 with all five wrestled by either a true or redshirt freshman.

When the day was said and done, No. 22 Iowa State (0-5, 0-2 Big 12) fell to No. 16 Oklahoma (3-0, 2-0) 22-13 at Hilton Coliseum. The dual was the fifth consecutive loss for the Cyclones, but it was yet another opportunity for young wrestlers to gain experience.

“I know that we’ll gain from it and we’ll improve from [experience],” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson. “We plan on using it when we get in to the important part of the year, and that’s February and March.”

The day started with redshirt freshman Ryak Finch’s 10-0 major decision loss to No. 4 Jarrod Patterson in the 125-pound match. The loss was Finch’s first since his freshman year of high school.

The Cyclones would go on to drop the next four matches with four more freshmen — Shayden Terukina (133), Luke Goettl (141), Joey Cozart (149) and Michael Moreno (157) — on the mat.

A turning point for the Cyclones nearly came at 157 pounds as Moreno led Oklahoma’s Matt Lester 5-3 with 1:07 remaining in the match. With a reversal and three-point nearfall though, 14th-ranked Lester took the lead and the match.

After opening the dual with five consecutive losses, the Cyclones won four of the final five matches to close the gap. Those victories came from Iowa State’s more experienced wrestlers.

Team captain Andrew Sorenson said the team is just looking for the inexperienced freshmen to wrestle hard.

“They just need to look at every match and get better every match,” Sorenson said. “All we’re asking them to do right now is go out there and fight for seven minutes and do what they’re trained to do.”

When Sorenson was a redshirt freshman, an injury forced him into Iowa State’s starting lineup at 174 pounds. Sorenson said his mentality then is what the team needs from this season’s freshmen.

“I had to go out and do my job, keep it close and wrestle my match where I could put myself in a position to win,” Sorenson said. “That’s where we’re trying to get these guys — to put themselves in position to win late in the match.”

Right now, Jackson said, it’s all about making the adjustment to collegiate wrestling for the freshmen on the team.

“These freshmen are struggling with Division I mentality,” Jackson said. “They’ll get it, but as a program we’ll struggle until they do get it.”

While Jackson said using the early-season matches as experience does not help stomach the losses, he said it will all eventually pay off.

“We have some guys that are really trying their best, and they’ll figure it out,” Jackson said. “They will improve, they will get better and they will be good when February and March come around.”