The wrestling woes continued for the Cyclones on Sunday, this time they were on the short end of a 29-13 decision against visiting Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys (8-2-1 , 2-1 in Big 12) came into Hilton Colesium as one of the hottest teams in the country. Despite strong performances from Max Mayfield, Jon Reader and Andrew Sorenson, the Cyclones (6-7, 0-3) were unable to manufacture enough offense to compete with the nation’s sixth-ranked team. 

Chris Perry, nephew of Oklahoma State coach John Smith, started things off on the right foot for the visitors. In the opening dual at 184 pounds, the battle of redshirt freshmen between Perry and Iowa State’s Cole Shafer went the way of the Cowboys with a pin in the second period.

The still rehabilitating Jerome Ward took the mat for the Cyclones against an undefeated Clayton Foster. Ward showed vast improvements and pushed the No. 3 Cowboy until the final whistle. Despite multiple strong shot attempts, Foster defended each try and escaped with a 3-1 win.

“For him not to take those opportunities when they are presented to him by a very tough guy is very disappointing,” Jackson said.

Kyle Simonson collected the only win for the Cyclones at the first meet against Oklahoma State this season. Facing Blake Rosholt — the youngest member of the Rosholt wrestling dynasty at OSU — Simonson was unable to duplicate his performance falling 7-2.

Brandon Jones gave Iowa State a quick six points, recieving a forfeit at 125 pounds. Jordan Oliver proved why he was number one at 133 pounds. The Cowboy sophomore rolled through Iowa State’s Ben Cash with a 21-8 win.

Following an Iowa State forfeit at 141, the visitors held a 22-6 lead. Max Mayfield has been making the most of his opportunities afforded him at 149 pounds. Trailing 3-0 in the second period, Mayfield capitalized on a scramble to get the takedown and in the final round, the native of Davenport picked up one more point to send the match to overtime.

Despite the outstanding performance, Mayfield lost the match in sudden death overtime, 6-4.

“Max gave himself a great chance to win that match. He competed to the best of his ability and unfortunately we got in a position we didn’t continue to wrestle in,” Jackson said of the walk-on. “I thought his head, his focus, and his competition level were very positive for him and positive for us.”

Nate Carr Jr. bumped up to 157 pounds to fill in for the injured Trent Weatherman, but unfortunately for the Cyclones, Oklahoma State’s Neil Erisman came in looking to dominate and clinched a major decision over Carr Jr.

Iowa State concluded the dual with the perennial fan favorites, Andrew Sorenson and Jon Reader. Sorenson brought the crowd and coaches alive in his match against nemesis Dallas Bailey. Bailey edged Sorenson at the National Duals, but Sunday’s match went to Sorenson, 5-3.

For Reader it was the same match, different day. The All-American manhandled Mike Benefiel, amassing over four minutes of riding time and finishing the match with an 11-2 major decision.

“The guys that have been consistent for us continue to be consistent, when you talk about Jon Reader and Andrew Sorenson,” Jackson said.

“So it’s not a guessing game of how we want these guys to wrestle, we have prime examples of how we want them to wrestle and what we want them do.”

The Cyclones will return to action Jan. 30 as they travel to New York to take on Binghamton and the top-ranked team in the nation, Cornell.