The Iowa State men’s swimming and diving team came up just short of a big win Saturday. The Cyclones fell to the undefeated Wisconsin Badgers, 130-111, in Madison.

The meet was close throughout. The Badgers secured victory in the final race when they placed first in the 400-yard freestyle relay. ISU finished second in the event; however, the Cyclones could have won the meet with a first and second place finish in the event, a very tough task to accomplish.

“We felt in order to win the meet we needed to win both relays,” ISU head coach Trip Hedrick said.

As they have in previous meets this year, the Cyclones consistently placed in two of the top three spots. ISU took two of the top three places in nine of 13 events.

Iowa State finished in first place in four events. One of those first place finishes was in the 1000-yard freestyle by senior Evan deSzoeke. He raced to a time of 9:33.06. In that same event, junior Josh Nogar took third.

Sophomore Dylan de Bruin took home first-place honors in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.74 seconds. Placing third was Jeff Gahan, a junior.

De Bruin also won the 100-yard freestyle. He finished with a time of 45.66 seconds. Senior Rob Breshears swam to a third-place finish.

ISU placed first and second in the 500-yard freestyle. Nogar edged deSzoeke with a time of 4:39.39. That time was only a tenth of second faster than deSzoeke’s mark.

The Cyclones got second and third places in the 400-yard medley relay. The second place relay team of senior Brian Rogers, junior Jeremy Wilson, freshman Mike Christianson, and de Bruin finished second while senior Jim Sheehan, junior Henrik Ingesson, sophomore Doug Owen, and freshman Karl Sunrydh placed third.

In the 200-yard freestyle, junior Peder Skoog got second place. Lovrenco Franicevic, a senior, placed third.

Franicevic also swam well in the 200 yard butterfly. He tallied a third place finish.

Rogers and Skoog finished within one second of first place in the 200-yard backstroke. Rogers took second, and Skoog got third.

In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Iowa State’s team of Skoog, Breshears, Gahan and Franicevic placed second.

The ISU diving team got second and third in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions. In the 1-meter competition, sophomore Mike Amberson placed second. Senior Steve Mohabir took third.

In 3-meter diving, Mohabir got second. Junior Jim Zagaria finished in third.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge going into the meet,” Hedrick commented. “Wisconsin has a smaller team, but it’s loaded with talent.”

Even in such a close loss there were positive aspects.

“It’s a good checkpoint for us,” Hedrick said.

“Peder Skoog continues to swim well,” commented Hedrick. “He finished second in the 200 free, but it was a lifetime best performance.

“Dylan de Bruin had a great meet. He won both the 50 and 100 free, both season best times, Hendrick said.

Jim Sheehan swam very well and had a season best time in the backstroke.

Evan deSzoeke had a season best time in the 1000-yard freestyle.

Josh Nogar had another good performance and season best in the 500-yard freestyle.

Brian Rogers had a season best in the 300-yard breast stroke.

However, there is some room for improvement.

“We have places we can improve,” Hedrick said. ” We will continue work on technique and speed.”

Saturday’s meet also marked the return of senior Mitch McGinty. According to Hedrick, McGinty had some good relay performances and swam the 200-yard butterfly.

Next up for the Cyclones is the Minnesota Invitational in Minneapolis on November 19-21. Other teams making up the field for this meet will be Wisconsin, Utah, Air Force, Iowa, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Northern Illinois, Kenyon College, Carleton College, St. Olaf and North Dakota.

The meet is a three-day championship format event.

This meet is designed to prepare teams for conference championships and the NCAA Championship Meet.