The ISU men’s swimming and diving team had a battle on its hands Saturday when the 21st ranked Wisconsin Badgers came to Ames.

The Cyclones came up short but gave the Badgers all they could handle in a 140-103 loss in the season’s first dual meet.

Wisconsin won eight events compared to Iowa State’s five wins. The Badgers also had an 8-5 margin in second-place finishes.

The Cyclones put forth a great effort as ISU Head Swimming Coach Trip Hedrick recognized the team’s efforts.

“I’m extremely pleased at the way we stood up and raced against [Wisconsin],” Hedrick said. “Our goal was to get the meet down to the last relay if that’s what it was going to take. We felt that in order to do that we had to take some wins in some races we weren’t expected to win. I think we took a couple of those, just not enough.”

The Cyclones fell behind early 11-6 after the 400-yard medley relay. ISU’s relay team , consisting of senior Jeremy Wilson, junior Brett Lohmeier, and sophomores Karl Sunrydh and Mike Christianson, used a time of 3:35.68 for a second-place finish.

In the 1000-yard freestyle, senior and team captain Josh Nogar placed second with a time of 9:35.30. Wisconsin took first and third places and extended its lead.

The Cyclones cut into the Badgers’ lead in the 200-yard freestyle. Senior team captain Peder Skoog won the race with a time of 1:40.41.

Iowa State used a record-breaking swim and a sweep of the top two spots in the 50-yard freestyle to take a 38-36 lead. Junior Dylan de Bruin won the event and broke the Beyer Hall Pool record with a time of 20.27 seconds. The previous record was set by Tennessee’s Dave Edgar in the 1971 NCAA Championship meet in Ames.

De Bruin’s time qualifies him for NCAA consideration.

Iowa State extended its lead to 49-44 after the 200-yard individual medley. Junior Liam Short garnered victory in the race with a time of 1:52.54.

Wisconsin regained the lead 59-54 in the one-meter diving competition. The Badgers placed first, second and fourth. The Cyclones’ Dave Likar, sophomore, finished third with a score of 246.77.

The Badgers padded their lead after placing first and second in the 200-yard butterfly. Wilson was the Cyclones’ top finisher in the event. He got third place with a time of 1:54.66.

The Cyclones cut into the lead with first- and third-place finishes in the 100-yard free-style. Winning the event was de Bruin with a mark of 45.33 seconds. Newton placed third.

Iowa State shaved Wisconsin’s lead to 87-82 in the 200-yard backstroke. Skoog broke his own Beyer Hall Pool record with a winning time of 1:48.36 and Short added a third-place finish.

The Cyclones wouldn’t get any closer, but did get a second-place performance from Nogar in the 500-yard freestyle with a time 4:40.15.

Wisconsin again placed first, second and fourth in the three-meter diving competition, and Likar placed third with a score of 262.35.

Iowa State gained second- and third-place finishes in the 400-yard free relay. The relay team of de Bruin, Newton, Short and Skoog swam for a time of 3:03.43 to finish second.

Hedrick saw positives in the defeat.

“We have a lot of team unity and unconditional commitment for each other and from each other. We saw that today,” Hedrick said. “Everybody stood up, even if they were in a position where they weren’t going to score a point. They work extremely hard.”