The ISU wrestling team paid Big 12 rivals Oklahoma and Oklahoma State a weekend visit and came away with a split, but not without a little controversy.

The No. 2 Cyclones traveled to Stillwater Friday and handed the Cowboys a 22-10 defeat but fell to Oklahoma by an 18-17 score on Saturday. The Cyclones’ record now stands at 16-2.

The loss to the Sooners was a little hard to swallow for the Cyclones as trouble with the time clock marred Cody Sanderson’s 11-4 victory over Witt Durden at 133 in the second-to-last match of the meet.

The Cyclones trailed 15-14 heading into Sanderson’s match, and Sanderson led 10-4 and was going after a major decision when the two wrestlers went off the mat with 28 seconds left. When action resumed, the arena’s clock controller didn’t start the clock. When the problem was straightened out, seven seconds were put on the clock.

“I went over to the scorer’s table, and the clock controller told me she forgot to start the clock but was counting in her head,” Cyclone assistant coach Thom Ortiz said. “There should’ve been 16 seconds on the clock, and they put on seven seconds.”

Sanderson went after Durden and earned a point for stalling but couldn’t get the takedown that would’ve given the Cyclones an extra point for a major decision.

The Sooners won the meet when Michael Lightner won a 3-0 decision over Sonny Marchette at 141.

“Oklahoma wrestled like they came here to win, and that is just what happened,” Cyclone coach Bobby Douglas said.

The Cyclones two No. 1 rated wrestlers continued to roll as Cael Sanderson dominated Tom Grossman by a 19-4 score at 184, and Joe Heskett claimed a 16-4 win at 165.

Sanderson is now 28-0 on the season and 67-0 in his Cyclone career.

Rounding out the Cyclones winners were Zach Thompson at 197 and heavyweight Mark Knauer. Thompson won a 3-1 overtime decision over Orville Palmer, and Knauer won 4-2 over 15th ranked Brent Boeshans.

The 12-point margin of victory over Oklahoma State was the most by which Douglas had ever beaten his alma mater. It was also the only the second time Douglas won at Stillwater during his coaching career.

“This is a great victory for us and a special victory for me. Oklahoma State wrestled a hard match, but I think we wrestled very well, and my hat is off to our team,” Douglas said.

After dropping the first two matches, the Cyclones stormed back by winning the next six matches started off with a 9-4 victory from Cole Sanderson at 157.

Heskett and Perry Parks followed with decision victories before Cael Sanderson whipped Daniel Cormier by a 20-9 score. Thompson and Knauer put the meet out of reach with decision wins.

Thompson upset second-ranked Mark Munoz by a 3-2 score at 197.

The Cyclones lost the 125-pound match, but they closed the meet out with a 8-3 win from Cody Sanderson at 133.

“Oklahoma State is a good team, and we came to wrestle as hard as we could. This is the first time we have wrestled as a team and not just as individuals,” Douglas said.

In the first two matches, the Cyclones lost close decisions to high ranked opponents.

At 141, Sonny Marchette lost 3-2 to fifth-ranked Jamill Kelly, and Billy Maldonado was defeated 7-4 by all-American and third-ranked Reggie Wright at 149.

The Cyclones are back in action as a team on Feb. 11, hosting Missouri. They will have two wrestlers, Cael and Cody Sanderson, completing in the NWCA All-Star meet at East Lansing, Mich. on Feb. 7.