Cael Sanderson, Cody Sanderson and the rest of the coaching staff have hours of tape and dozens of matches to pick apart from last weekend.

But one match they will undoubtedly rewind and rewatch again and again – the first loss of their brother Cyler Sanderson’s collegiate career.

Nebraska-Omaha’s Todd Meneely, a former University of Iowa starter, beat Sanderson, 9-7, in the semifinal round of Saturday’s Harold Nichols Open in Fort Dodge, ending the possibility of another undefeated collegiate career from the last of the brothers.

In just the second day of competition, Cyler showed the mortality that his brother and current head coach never did as a wrestler.

Cael, Iowa State’s coach, said it wasn’t a big deal.

“[Cyler] learned some valuable lessons,” he said. “He got out to a pretty comfortable lead, he got a little comfortable, and went out of where he is the best against a good wrestler. That’s why we [came] here . all this is preparation.”

Meneely’s efforts and a comeback win by Iowa’s Joe Slaton broke up what was otherwise a dominating Cyclone effort. Iowa State sent nine to the finals of the tournament, crowning five champions in its second meet of the season.

Friday night, Division III Buena Vista posed little challenge, as the Cyclones won their first dual, 46-0. Mitch Mueller (141), Trent Paulson (157), Travis Paulson (165), Jake Varner (184) and Kurt Backes (197) were undefeated on the weekend.

“We are very pleased with the effort we gave, and the outcome, and the performance,” said Cael, in his first season as head coach.

The match of the weekend looked to be a mismatch in the beginning. Cyler scored two early takedowns against Meneely, a brawny former four-time Nebraska high school state champion, but quickly found trouble.

Meneely threw Cyler to his back and received a two-point near-fall. He scored another takedown in the first period, then another in the second to build a 9-6 lead.

After starting down and escaping in the final period, Sanderson took repeated shots but couldn’t score.

“There were six minutes there of education for him,” said Cody, an assistant head coach. “He learned a lot just from that match. That guy exploited his weaknesses. He was able to get him in some bad positions, and Cyler made some mistakes, some kind of freshman mistakes.”

Matches in the tournament were set up with three two-minute periods and no riding time. Meneely tried to overpower, to trip and to throw Sanderson.

“You know, we hate those kind of matches, but sometimes those kind are the most beneficial,” Cody said.

ISU sophomore Nick Gallick (125) also must learn from a loss. After opening the season with a 12-10 victory over second-ranked Jestin Hulegaard (D-III), Gallick ended the weekend by blowing a five-point lead.

U of I wrestler Joe Slaton rallied from a 5-0 deficit, scoring a takedown with five seconds left to score an 8-6 victory in the finals.

Cody Sanderson, who split coaching duties with Cael throughout the tournament, said he was pleased with most of what he saw, especially the freshmen, who applied what they learned in practice this weekend.

“I thought the majority of our matches the guys did a great job,” he said. “There were a couple of matches that were disappointing . and of course there were some technical mistakes, but those are the easiest things to fix.”