The Iowa State wrestling team placed fourth overall at the NWCA National Dual Championship last weekend for its best finish in seven years.

The Cyclones recorded victories over Northwestern and Arizona State to advance to the semifinals before dropping their next two duals to Oklahoma State and Iowa. Iowa State was able to bounce back and defeat Oklahoma in a close 19-17 match to secure a fourth place finish.

No. 4 Iowa State defeated No. 13 Northwestern for the second time this season with a 26-19 opening round victory. Fourth-rated Cody Sanderson got the Cyclones rolling with a pin at the 6:19 mark, and fifth-rated Cole Sanderson notched a 22-7 technical fall to give ISU an 11-7 lead which it would not relinquish.

David Maldonado and Joe Heskett each recorded wins before ISU was forced to forfeit at 174 pounds due to an injury.

Cael Sanderson continued his phenomenal season by registering a first period fall, and fourth-ranked Zach Thompson redeemed an earlier loss to third-ranked Sam Neider with a 4-3 victory.

Arizona State was the next victim for ISU, as the Cyclones defeated the former team of ISU Head Coach Bobby Douglas.

The 12th-rated Sundevils were soundly defeated 25-9 by Iowa State, as ASU could not hold on to an early lead.

Once again the combination of Cody and Cole Sanderson started out the Cyclone scoring, which was followed up by a major decision by Maldonado and a fall by Heskett.

Cael Sanderson, Thompson and Mark Knauer closed out the match with consecutive wins to give the Cyclones their largest margin of victory of the weekend.

In Saturday night’s final dual, top-ranked Oklahoma State won the first five matches en route to a 23-15 win over the Cyclones.

The Cowboys have three top-rated wrestlers and went on to become the eventual champions with a 20-17 win over Minnesota.

Heskett, the fourth-rated wrestler at 165 pounds, was able to keep his perfect season intact by pinning Shawn Smith with less than a minute remaining in a match that he had trailed throughout.

Second-rated Cael Sanderson, Thompson and Knauer each recorded victories once again to close out the match, but it was too little too late for ISU.

In Sunday’s third place contest, the No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Cyclones for the second time this season by a 32-7 count.

Iowa State’s standout freshmen Heskett and Cael Sanderson were able to remain undefeated by claiming the only ISU victories.

Iowa State preserved a fourth place finish by edging No. 6 Oklahoma in a hard-fought 19-17 victory.

Once again the Sanderson brothers made it a clean sweep by winning all three of their matches while Thompson secured the win with a 3-1 overtime victory at 197-pounds.

Maldonado won a 6-2 decision at 157 pounds, and Heskett upset third-rated Rodney Jones 6-3 in the pivotal match of the evening.

Heskett is now 20-0 on the season with half of his wins coming via fall, and he was subsequently named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for the second time this season.

Cael Sanderson continued to impress by winning all five of his matches to go to 22-0 overall.

Both he and Heskett have been selected to compete in the NWCA All-Star meet, a feat never before accomplished by an Iowa State freshman.

After a stellar 4-0 weekend, Thompson improved his record to an impressive 19-3, and Knauer pushed his record to 14-4 overall while wrestling at heavyweight.

Iowa State will resume action Saturday at Hilton Coliseum by taking on No. 6 Oklahoma for the second time this season.