In a heartbreaking loss, Iowa State was not able to come away with the victory against the Hawkeyes on Friday. The Cyclones would dig themselves a hole early that would prove to be too much come back from. Iowa State is now 8-7 overall after the loss and 1-2 at Hilton this season.

Beam costs Iowa State

Before competing on the beam, the Cyclones would have a 98.300 to 98.125 lead on the Hawkeyes. All Iowa State needed to do was go out and score decent to maintain its lead, however that is not what happened.

Senior Laura Burns and sophomore Meixi Semple would fall during their routines, causing the Cyclones to score considerably lower on the beam than what it usually does.

Iowa State would finish with a 48.475 on the beam, causing them to lose the lead and a running score of 146.775 to 147.425.

“When there is one fall there is a ton of pressure, when there is two, that pressure is multiplied exponentially,” Head Coach Jay Ronayne said.

However, that pressure was not anything that the Cyclones couldn’t handle as they finished with one of the best scores to date on the floor.

Domination on the floor

Knowing they were behind heading to floor, the Cyclones went out and gave it their all. Iowa State would finish with a score of 49.450 which is a new season high, and one of the best performances since 2006.

Junior Andrea Maldonado would once again prove why she is one of the best in the country on the floor, finishing with yet another score of 9.950. However, it was a group effort as senior Cassandra Diaz, sophomore Ana Palacios, and senior Sydney Converse would all end with a 9.900.

The Cyclones saw what needed to be done and went out and did it. While it’s still a tough loss for everyone, it is a learning experience that the team will use to get better moving forward.

“It is how we finish; There are always mistakes you can learn from,” Converse said. “It is like our coach always says: there is a W and L column, wins and learning. We definitely learned a lot and we are going to take care of our mistakes.”

Iowa has season best performance

Coming into Friday’s meet, Iowa was ranked No. 30 in the nation with an overall record of 1-4 in dual meets. Ronayne and his staff didn’t pay any attention to that record as Iowa always comes prepared when they go up against the Cyclones.

Iowa had a season high on both bars (49.200) and floor (49.300). Along with those, the Hawkeyes would record a new season high overall score, finishing with a 196.425.

“I don’t like losing, I can’t stand it,” Ronayne said. “It is always a close meet when we go up against them.”

For Iowa State, losing the way it did stings for sure, but the Hawks came to Ames ready to win.

Looking forward

Iowa State is set to host Air Force at 6:30 pm on Friday in Hilton Coliseum. This will be the Cyclones final meet before heading to Morgantown, West Virginia, for the Big 12 Championships.