Carver-Hawkeye Arena was not kind to the lowa State wrestling squad. Neither was the lowa crowd of 7,241.

When the Cyclone grapplers ventured to lowa City for the first dual meet between the two squads, they met with disappointment. Iowa trounced their opponent by a team score of 26-13.

Iowa State started off the meet with three early losses. Cody Sanderson at 118 pounds lost in a major decision to his opponent, while 126-pound Dwight Hinson fell in an overtime squeaker to Mike Mena of lowa.

Despite the heartbreak, Hinson said that he will not allow the loss to make him lose sight of his goal: becoming a national champion.

“I really don’t care about lowa or anybody else, just anybody in my way,” he said. “I’m disappointed about the match, the way it worked out, but I felt like I should’ve shot more times, been more on the offensive. It’s just a stepping stone. You’ve gotta learn from your mistakes.”

But that does not mean that all of the Cyclones came back to Ames dissatisfied.

The 134-pound match between Cyclone Frank Kisley and Hawkeye Mark Ironside was not quite so close. The Hawk pinned Kisley in 5:43, upping the team score to 13-0.

David Maldonado, ISU’s 142-pounder, put some points in lowa State’s column in the next match. He darted past Kasey Gilliss with a third-period escape to win 3-2.

Maldonado said that wrestling Gilliss in previous matches gave him a sense of familiarity with his opponent’s style, helping to push him to victory.

“l was kinda expecting a win, but that was like the fifth time I’ve wrestled him,” Maldonado said. “He won two, and I won two, and they were all in overtime. I knew I could beat him.”

The 150-pound match pitted national champion against national champion. Iowa’s Lincoln Mcllravy, ranked first in the nation, took on ISU’s Chris Bono at No. 2.

McIlravy dominated the match after a late first-period takedown, especially after Bono was warned for stalling in the second period. Bono ended up giving up a point to Mcllravy for the same offense in the last period, and the Hawkeye won, 8-2.

lowa’s winning ways continued at 158 pounds. Iowa State’s Matt Patitz went up against Joe Williams. Williams scored takedown after takedown throughout the first two periods until he exposed Patitz’s back to the mat. Patitz put up a good fight for nearly a minute, but he ended up falling at 5:51 to his opponent.

Things started looking up for the Cyclones in the next two matches. At 167, Brad Horton of ISU and Mike Uker went head to head. Horton’s aggressive attacks piled on points, and he defeated Uker by a score of 14-9. The Hawkeyes were still ahead, 22-6.

At 177 pounds, Cyclone Barry Weldon clashed with Tony Ersland of lowa. Ersland was warned early on for stalling, and he ended up giving up two points to Weldon for that offense. Weldon also kept the Hawkeye on his toes, dominating throughout for a major decision, 15-4.

“I felt really good, and I was really relaxed,” Weldon said. “I’m just focused on wrestling. I wasn’t tired; I had lots left when it was over.”

Weldon also said that since moving up from 167 pounds, he has felt “much more comfortable” because he hates cutting weight.

Iowa scored its last team points at 190 pounds. Matt Mulvihill met up with lowa’s Lee Fullhart. Despite a powerful reversal in the first period, Mulvihill could not score beyond escape points, and he fell in a major decision 18-7.

Iowa State ended the dual on a positive note, though, when heavyweight Trent Hynek of ISU dominated lowa’s Wes Hand. Though the first two periods were slow as far as points go, Hynek came on strong in the third with a takedown and a three-point near fall.

He grabbed the 9-4 victory, but it wasn’t enough to elevate the team score over lowa’s. The Cyclones lost, 26-13.

Many wrestlers felt the pressure from the loud home crowd that numbered over 7,000 strong. Weldon said that lowa City is a difficult place to go into, but that you have to overcome the noise in order to focus on your match.

“It’s the hardest place to wrestle ever,” Weldon said. “There are so many people, and they’re so vocal. I was able to get by all that, drain all the emotion out of it. I have to.”

Maldonado agreed. “For me, it didn’t have very much effect,” he said.

“I couldn’t hear them. I could hear them right up to when we shook hands. Then, all I could see and hear was Coach [Bobby Douglas] and Tommy [Ortiz, assistant coach].”

Though lowa and lowa State bash heads twice each season, once on each home turf, this particular dual was early in the year. Maldonado said that it was his first meet in Carver-Hawkeye, and that the timing of the competition was perfect.

“It was a good experience right before break,” he said. “It was good to see where we’re at.”