The No. 4 Iowa State wrestling team defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 25-12 Friday night to stay undefeated in the Big 12. Here are the three big takeaways.

Seniors show out on Senior Night

After two periods, senior and No. 27 ranked Jason Kraisser was down 4-0 to his unranked opponent, sophomore Jared Hill. The senior from Ellicott City, Maryland was able to force sudden death and won by decision to give the Cyclones the early 3-0 lead in the meet.

Following Kraisser’s victory, the No. 2 ranked wrestler in the nation in the 165lb weight class, David Carr took the mat against No. 20 ranked Gerrit Nijenhuis of Oklahoma. The Cyclone senior defeated the Sooner sophomore by major decision, 18-6, giving the Cyclones a 7-0 lead on the evening.

Later in the meet, Iowa State’s No. 4 ranked Marcus Coleman faced redshirt senior Keegan Moore. Coleman had the Hilton crowd as loud as they were all night as the senior won by fall in the third period, moving the Cyclone advantage to 13-3 in the meet.

Instead of Junior Yonger Bastida, Senior Joel Devine wrestled for the Cyclones in the 197 lb weight class against unranked Carson Berryhill. Devine did not disappoint as he won by decision 9-3 against Berryhill, further extending the Iowa State lead to 16-3. Cyclone seniors went 5-0 on their night.

One of the most anticipated matches of the night for an Iowa State senior came in the heavyweight class.

Another close one in the Schuyler v. Heindselman saga

Depending on perspective, Schuyler v. Heindselman was the most anticipated match of the night. Last year, Sam Schuyler won both of his matches against Oklahoma’s Josh Heindselman, 5-3. This year, the match was just as closely contested.

The two top-20 heavyweight wrestlers were tied 0-0 with two minutes remaining in their match. Schuyler went up 1-0 after an escape early in the period. Schuyler then secured the riding time point with 50 seconds left in the period, essentially putting him up 2-0 as time dwindled.

A stalemate was called with nine seconds remaining and Heindselman was unable to get anything on Schuyler in the final seconds. The only top-20 matchup of the night ended with a 2-0 Cyclone victory.

No. 10 ranked Schuyler gave the Cyclones a 19-3 lead and secured the fifth victory of the night for senior Cyclone wrestlers.

A tough finish in a close match

In the final match of the evening, No. 6 ranked Paniro Johnson for Iowa State faced unranked John Wiley of Oklahoma in a battle of the freshman to close out senior night. Tied 4-4 with 15 seconds to go in the third period, it looked like the freshmen were headed to sudden death.

Wiley then got a hold of Johnson’s ankle with less than 10 seconds remaining and received two crucial points for a takedown that gave him the 6-4 win over the No. 6 ranked wrestler in the nation in the 149lb class.

Iowa State had already won the meet by the time Johnson and Wiley took the mat. Still, losing to an unranked wrestler can leave a bitter taste in Johnson’s mouth despite the team victory. Look for Johnson to rebound next time he takes the mat.

Iowa State is 4-0 in the Big 12 so far and 11-2 on the season. Next up for the No. 4 ranked Cyclones is a home dual against Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. Sunday in Ames.