The collective breath of those in attendance at Hilton Coliseum on Friday was held as Trent Weatherman lay unconscious on the mat after getting pinned in his match against Oklahoma’s Chase Nelson.

“It looks to me like he was choked unconscious,” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson. “They caught it real late and I’m sure he probably was unconscious during the whole time.”

The defeat came in No. 15 Iowa State’s 33-7 loss to No. 7 Oklahoma (9-1, 1-1 Big 12) at Beauty and the Beast, a wrestling dual meet that took place simultaneously with an ISU gymnastics meet against Missouri.

In the last match of the night at 157 pounds, Weatherman had been fighting a hold and eventually got choked out. Jackson said by the time the team doctors noticed that Weatherman was not responsive, some time had already passed.

“If you get laid on your back it’s a real concern when you lay on your back that long and you don’t move, then you get a bit nervous,” Jackson said.

While he was lying on the mat, the medical officials evaluated Weatherman by asking him what his name was, what day it was and what year it was, all of which Weatherman answered correctly. However, Jackson says he still was not himself.

“He was responsive in that way, but he wasn’t normal and he wasn’t himself, and that’s for sure,” Jackson said.

The team doctors were not made available for comment.

Jerome Ward came out victorious in the 197-pound match despite still harboring an injury to his right knee. The junior defeated Keldrick Hall by a sudden victory decision, 3-1.

“For him to have two consistent wins when he probably didn’t feel his best is one of the few positives,” Jackson said of Ward.

Ward, who wrestled cautiously through almost the entire match to prevent aggravating his injury, was unaware of the time that was remaining heading into the sudden-victory period.

“Actually I thought time would have been up way before then. Eighteen seconds is a long time,” Ward said. “Usually when there is 18 seconds on the clock, there’s a sense of urgency that comes over you, and I got a little fatigued and lost my sense of urgency.”

It was in the overtime period that Ward struck Hall with a takedown with two seconds remaining, being able to do so despite his fatigue.

“I just took my shot and went for it,” Ward said.

As far as his health goes, Ward says he is at about 75-to-80 percent healthy.

“The knee is getting better and my stamina’s improving,” Ward said. “I just have to hit the mat as far as wrestling goes and don’t get in positions like that again.”