ISU wrestling coach Bobby Douglas is seeing his wrestlers make progress that could make them a very dangerous opponent in the future.

The Cyclones, ranked No. 15 in the latest rankings released by InterMat, upset national wrestling powerhouse Minnesota in the first round of competition at the National Duals Saturday. Iowa State dropped a close decision to No. 12 Oklahoma and suffered a 23-16 defeat at the hands of No. 4 Cornell Saturday.

“We wrestled perhaps as well as we could possibly wrestle,” Douglas said. “There are positive things happening. There were mistakes, but we’ve overcome a lot of mistakes.”

Zach Roberson picked up three wins Saturday, defeating Minnesota’s Ryan Lewis 8-6, Oklahoma’s Witt Durden 6-1 and Cornell’s Alejandro Alvarez 12-4.

Douglas called him Iowa State’s most valuable wrestler.

“He had the best performance of our people,” Douglas said. “There were some great performances, but he shined the brightest.”

Roberson said the decisions over Lewis and Durden were two of the best wins of his career.

“Those two were two of the toughest guys in my weight,” Roberson said. “Beating both of them was definitely a milestone.”

The Cyclones started off strong against the third-ranked Golden Gophers, with Grant Nakamura, Roberson and Aaron Holker picking up wins. Minnesota responded with two major decisions at 149 and 157 pounds, but Iowa State’s Nick Passolano pinned Jacob Volkmann in 2:14 to end the Minnesota rally. Ken Cook and 184-pounder Austen Palmer also secured wins for Iowa State.

“That match against Minnesota was amazing,” Holker said. “Everyone wrestled one of their best matches in that dual meet. It was cool to see us come out on top of them.”

Roberson said it was twice as sweet because it was an upset.

“They were heavily favored and we came out and got the win,” Roberson said. “It was definitely the highlight of the season so far, for a dual.”

In the quarterfinals, Oklahoma’s Teyon Ware handed Holker his first loss of the season to help lead the Sooners to a 19-15 win. Holker, a senior co-captain, was 17-0 and ranked No. 1 at 141 pounds before the loss.

Roberson, Passolano, Nate Gallick (149) and Nathan Meyer (157) recorded wins, as did heavyweight Scott Coleman, who was wrestling his first match as a Cyclone.

Iowa State started strong against fourth-ranked Cornell in consolation action, looking for its second upset of the day, but came up short at the end.

Nakamura, Roberson and Holker got wins to begin the match, but Cornell won every match from 149 pounds to the 197-pound weight class, including four major decisions. Coleman picked up his second win of the day at heavyweight.

The loss didn’t impact Douglas’ optimism for the future. He said the progress he saw Saturday gives him hope.

“We had some mistakes that cost us, but that’s to be expected,” Douglas said. “When you’re young and trying real hard, you’re going to make mistakes. From a coach’s point of view, you see progress. I’d like to see a lot more of it, and real soon, but you have to be realistic too. I realize it takes time.”

Iowa State will battle UNI at Hilton Coliseum Sunday.