Coach Bobby Douglas said before Sunday’s meet that he wasn’t expecting any surprises from top-ranked Oklahoma State. And the undefeated Cowboys did what they have done all season long by winning all of the eight matches they were favored to win.

Oklahoma State defeated Iowa State 26-9 at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday.

“They’re ranked No. 1 and there is a reason for it,” Douglas said.

The Cowboys continued their unblemished record at 14-0, while the Cyclones fell to 5-8 for the season.

Chris Pendleton started off Oklahoma State’s victory with a 14-5 major decision over redshirt freshman Ken Cook at 174. Then Austen Palmer put the Cyclones on the board with a close 3-2 victory over Chris Reid, scoring the winning point off an escape in the third period.

Sophomore heavyweight Scott Coleman followed up with one of Iowa State’s few positive surprises by cradling Mike Christian for the pin with a minute remaining in the first period.

“I wasn’t really expecting it,” Coleman said. “But once I got the takedown and saw what I was dealing with, I wasn’t that surprised.”

Coleman had just become eligible this semester after transferring from BYU. He received a standing ovation and improved his record to 3-1.

Coleman’s pin gave Iowa State a 9-8 lead. But that was the only time the Cyclones would see a lead.

The Cowboys answered back by going undefeated the rest of the meet, including in all three of the highly anticipated lightweight matches.

Co-captain Zach Roberson came close to scoring points for Iowa State. He led second-ranked Johnny Thompson 4-2 in the third period after taking the Cowboy down with a quick ankle pick. However, Thompson came back with a double-leg takedown at the edge of the mat in the final seconds, bringing the match into overtime.

With 11 seconds remaining in overtime, Thompson took Roberson down again, at the edge of the mat.

“I think I wrestled well for the most part,” said Roberson, whose record dropped to 16-3. “But I kind of relaxed at the end and he took it to overtime.”

Fifth-ranked defending champion Aaron Holker lost the next match to second-ranked Zach Esposito. The score was tied at 2-2 before Esposito reversed Holker onto his back, holding him there until time ran out. Holker’s record dropped to 17-3 and was his second loss to a top-three opponent.

The final highlight for the Cyclone crowd was senior Nate Meyer’s fast-paced match against fourth-ranked Shane Roller. Meyer scored the first points by dropping Roller to the mat with a single-leg takedown. He later scored a reversal to tie the match at 4-4 in the third period but ended up underneath Roller after a late scramble, losing the match 8-5 but receiving applause from the crowd.

Despite the lopsided score, the team as a whole is showing improvement, Douglas said, but there is plenty of room for improvement before the NCAA Championships in March.

“We got taken down too many times,” said Douglas, who watched the Cowboys get six takedowns to Iowa State’s one. “We gave up some real crucial points at the edge of the mat.”