A whole bunch of wrestlers from the state of Oklahoma went home this weekend with very mixed feelings. After bashing heads with the No. 7 Cyclone squad Friday night, the No. 15 Sooners are headin’ home with their tails between their legs after a 24-15 loss.

The top-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys, on the other hand, are more jubiliant after their 18-15 edge over Iowa State on Sunday, but the victory was not complete. The Cowboys dropped a couple important matches to the hungry ‘Clones.

But first things first. Friday night, Hilton hosted a larger-than-normal home crowd for the dual against Oklahoma. Iowa State’s Eric Keller started things off against OU’s Shane Valdez, ranked fourth in the nation. Keller couldn’t shake off the takedowns, and he fell, 7-3.

Dwight Hinson, ranked fourth at 126 pounds, came back with a domination over No. 8 Dane Valdez. A snappy takedown by Hinson in the first period put him in the lead for the duration of the match, and another takedown at the buzzer cemented the win.

At 134, ISU’s Frank Kisley went up against Bo Eubanks of Oklahoma. After a scoreless first period, Eubanks put up a point in the second for an escape, and after that, he pulled away for the win. The team score sat at 6-3, in favor of Oklahoma.

Then the Cyclones got tough. David Maldonado at 142 pounded OU’s Floyd Lorne with takedown after takedown, starting with a sneaky one in the first period where he pulled Lorne in from out of bounds.

“Our coach always told us never to relax in the match,” Maldonado said, “to pretend that the out-of-bounds isn’t even there.”

Maldonado piled up points for a reversal and a couple of stalling calls against his opponent. The major decision boosted Iowa State to a 7-6 lead.

At 150 pounds, defending national champ Chris Bono of ISU, ranked second in the nation, crushed No. 6 Rodney Jones, starting with a full-body pick-up for a takedown in the first period.

Jones couldn’t even buy a takedown; he scored only escape points and swelled Bono’s lead with a few points for stalling and unsportsmanlike conduct. The Cyclones went up 10-6.

The Cyclone streak continued at 158 pounds when John DeLeon shocked No. 6 Byron Tucker of Oklahoma. DeLeon snatched points everywhere he could, racking up a takedown, two reversals and a near-fall.

DeLeon said that he had wrestled his opponent before, and he was familiar with Tucker’s style. DeLeon went into the battle knowing that he had nothing to lose.

“I knew going in that he had all the pressure on himself because he was ranked,” he said. “By the middle of the second period I knew he was getting tired, and I knew I could score on him.”

At 167 pounds, ISU faded a bit, with Mike Roller’s pin at 1:49 of Cyclone Bart Horton. Oklahoma edged closer, 14-12.

But No. 1 Barry Weldon surged back with a major decision spanking of Oklahoma’s Waymon May. May failed to score a single takedown, but Weldon relentlessly yanked his opponent to the mat, four times in the first period alone.

He said that the difference between him and May was the level of conditioning.

“If nothing else, [this win] is to show my consistency and not to wrestle to the level of your opponent,” Weldon said. “He was still a good guy, a pretty talented guy. He was tired. I was tired. I was hiding it. I’ve been training hard.”

And all of the work has paid off, at least in the minds of those who vote on rankings. For the first time, Weldon is on top of the heap, which doesn’t matter a whole lot to him.

“It puts more pressure on you,” he said. “It’s a compliment, [but] I just don’t put a lot into it. It doesn’t mean anything — final standings are what matters.”

He said he remembered that when he was first ranked, at ninth in the nation last year, all he thought it meant was that the coaches didn’t think he was good enough to be an All-American. “And then I was,” he said. So much for numbers.

The team score got another boost at 190 pounds when Oklahoma forfeited the match to ISU’s Matt Mulvihill. Iowa State went up 24-12.

To end the evening, heavyweight Trent Hynek of Iowa State battled Trey Swan. The lead went back and forth a few times throughout the match, and Swan was up by one point in the final round. Despite a lengthy tangle, Hynek couldn’t get the takedown, and he fell, 6-5.

As a team, Iowa State romped Oklahoma, 24-15.

So Iowa State went into Sunday’s dual against Oklahoma State with an appetite for winning. The Cyclones started off strong at 118 pounds. Cody Sanderson of ISU worked No. 7 Teague Moore hard and avoided a couple of takedowns, but it wasn’t enough to pull out a win. With riding time, Moore won 4-2.

The next match pitted two ranked wrestlers together. The two had also met at National Duals last weekend, boosting Eric Guerrero’s ranking to No. 1 and lowering Hinson to fourth, but on Cyclone home turf, this story had a different ending.

Hinson popped out of the gate with a takedown within the first 15 seconds, and he never looked back. Hinson fought off a late first-round takedown and managed to score one of his own in the second period. Hinson ended victorious, 6-4.

Hinson said that during his match with Guerrero at National Duals, he had a sore knee that gave him some trouble. But Sunday, the knee felt better and Hinson was ready for a rumble.

“That’s what you’ve gotta do, overcome obstacles,” he said. “I got him flustered because he doesn’t experience that too often, and I got control of the match. It’s a payback, a sweet reward.”

The Cyclones slipped a bit at 134, as Frank Kisley fell in a major decision to No. 2 Steve Schmidt of OSU. Oklahoma State went up, 7-3.

Maldonado also hit a wall at 142 pounds against No. 4 Scott Reyna. Maldonado couldn’t score a takedown and fell, 14-8.

At 150 pounds, Chris Bono tried to turn things around for Iowa State. He battled No. 9 Jimmy Arias and piled up points for takedowns and stalls against his opponent. He dominated 11-4, but Oklahoma State was still up on the ‘Clones, 10-6.

DeLeon had a hard time with No. 4 Hardell Moore at 158 pounds. Even though DeLeon worked off almost a minute of riding time, Moore still got the best of him, winning the decision, 4-1.

At 167, ISU’s Ben Perkins gave No. 1 Mark Branch a run for his money in the first period. An early takedown put Perkins up on the top-ranked man, but the second and third periods were all Branch. The decision upped OSU’s team score, 16-6.

First-ranked Barry Weldon gave the Cyclones a boost at 177 pounds with a decisive trouncing of No. 4 Mark Smith. Early in the match, Weldon transformed an almost eminent takedown against him into two points for himself. He held on for the win, 6-3.

Matt Mulvihill took on No. 9 Aaron Strobel at 190 pounds, and the two went back and forth until a late reversal by Strobel evened up the score. The match went into sudden-death overtime, and Strobel snatched a quick takedown for the win. Oklahoma State was still up, 16-12.

But leave it to the heavyweights for ending the meet with a bang. Trent Hynek clashed with the much-taller, much-bigger Denshio Cook of OSU. After repeated stalling calls against Cook, Hynek took advantage of his opponent’s sluggishness and laid him out flat at 4:52.

It wasn’t enough to clench a victory, but one team point was deducted from OSU for poor sportsmanship on Cook’s part, leaving the team score 18-15 in favor of Oklahoma State.

Again, Hynek said that the Cyclones’ superior conditioning assisted in his victory against Cook.

“I knew he was big, so I knew he’d get tired,” Hynek said. “I don’t worry about size. I’ve been working out with heavier partners, so it gives me better strength.”

The next wrestling meet is at Nebraska on Feb. 2.