ISU wrestling head coach Bobby Douglas used the word “improvement” a lot after Sunday’s meet against Northern Iowa.

Douglas saw progress but it was the 20th-ranked Panthers that decided the outcome as they defeated the 11th-ranked Cyclones 22-16 in an intrastate dual meet at Hilton Coliseum.

Douglas said Northern Iowa, which brought in six ranked wrestlers in the meet, wrestled a terrific match.

Iowa State slipped to 5-7 overall and Douglas said this season has been frustrating to the wrestlers as well as the coaching staff.

“It’s frustrating for our wrestlers that aren’t used to losing,” Douglas said. “There’s progress being made. We’ll be back.

“We’ve got some guys showing remarkable improvement. Anytime you’re improving, you’ve got to be satisfied with the moment,” he said. “We’ll make more progress within the next three weeks.”

Douglas said there were some disappointing losses in the match-up.

The Cyclones rearranged their lineup changes as senior Aaron Holker, who is ranked No. 2 nationally, was bumped up to 149 pounds from his normal 141 slot. Northern Iowa’s Dylan Long decisioned Holker 5-4 to put UNI up 6-0 after two competitors.

With the match tied 4-4, Holker was called for a stall warning with 35 seconds remaining in the match, eventually leading Long to the win.

The loss by Holker dropped his record to 17-2.

Douglas called the stalling a referee call.

“I could debate that. The referee saw things a little bit different than I saw,” Douglas said. “Every time you lose a match because of stalling, the wrestler has to take responsibility for that. Holker didn’t have enough at the end of the match to win it. He has to work on his conditioning. Long wrestled a great match. I thought it was a great match for the fans.”

Iowa State tied the score at 6-6 when No. 7 Nick Passolano decisioned Drew Kelly 9-2.

But Northern Iowa stole the momentum away from the Cyclones in the next weight class when Heston Johnson pinned Ken Cook in 4:36. Northern Iowa led 22-6 before Iowa State’s Grant Nakamura won major decision over Chris Helegeson 10-2 at 125 pounds.

Zach Roberson, ranked third nationally, enthused the Cyclone crowd when he pinned Pat Garcia in 3:48 in the last match of the day.

Douglas said Roberson looked good in his meet and has made a lot of improvement.

Roberson, a junior, is now 16-2 overall.

“I think I wrestled well. I felt real good,” Roberson said. “We’re definitely improving, but we’ve got a lot more to do. Getting the win against Minnesota helped our confidence a lot. We matched well against them. We didn’t match too well against UNI today. We have some guys hurt. We’re coming along.”

The Cyclones defeated then third-ranked Minnesota on Jan. 18 at the National Duels in Columbus, Ohio — Iowa State’s biggest dual win of the season.

Northern Iowa head coach Brad Penrith said it was a good feeling beating Iowa State.

“I knew that we had a good team. Iowa State obviously has a good team,” said Penrith, whose team is 7-5 overall. “Bobby fooled us with that little 141-pound move, but I kind of thought something like that would happen. I told the guys I’m really happy and proud of them. We want to improve as the season goes on.”

Penrith said that Iowa State has got some tough wrestlers.

“You can see why they beat Minnesota,” Penrith said. “They got some quick, sneaky kids.”