The ISU wrestling team missed a golden opportunity to improve their national standing this weekend as they fell to No. 5 Oklahoma State 25-16 and No. 7 Oklahoma by the score of 26-16

With highly coveted conference seeding positions at stake, the Cyclones could do no better than four victories in each meet as the two Oklahoma schools showed that they were the stronger dual meet teams.

ISU head coach Bobby Douglas couldn’t hide his distress in how the Cyclones took a step back after having two successful weeks in a row.

“This is very disappointing for us,” he said.

“I thought we were better trained than what we had showed in Oklahoma. We made progress but not enough to contend with the [two] schools.”

Another disappointment was suffered by senior standout and undefeated Joe Heskett.

The top-ranked 165-pounder lost to third-ranked Tyrone Lewis in a close 7-5 overtime decision.

Heskett’s record dropped to 27-1 on the season as his road to the national title encountered a slight detour.

“I don’t think it bothered him enough,” Douglas said. “It bothered me more than it bothered him. I feel as though we got out coached and out wrestled in that match.”

One bright spot for the Cyclones was senior heavyweight Mark Knauer.

He nabbed the Big 12 wrestler of the week honors for his win over top-ranked Leonce Crump of Oklahoma 10-9 after being down 6-2 entering the third period.

Knauer rallied for eight points in the final stanza highlighted with a last-second escape to secure the win.

“Mark’s making great improvement as a wrestler,” Douglas said. “Any coach would be excited about a guy that’s developing his technique, getting a little heavier and coming into his own as an athlete.”

Knauer joined fellow Cyclones Billy Maldonado and Aaron Holker as back-to-back-to-back Big 12 wrestlers of the week award recipients.

Cael Sanderson continued to be his dominating self as he posted two pins to run his career record to 148-0.

The senior will now turn his focus to possibly his toughest match of the season as the ninth-ranked Missouri Tigers come to Ames this Thursday for what should be one of the most exciting dual matches of the season for Iowa State.

While Iowa State’s dual team isn’t as strong as usual, the individual matches should make for intriguing head to head competition.

“The guys are bonded and it bothers them to lose as a team,” Douglas said. “We lead the nation in dual meet victories and pride will be a big factor for us on Thursday.”