Iowa State wrestling’s 197-pound wrestler Marcus Harrington trailed Northern Iowa’s Jacob Holschlag 5-4 with time winding down in the third period at Hilton Coliseum.

Harrington got to Holschlag’s legs but couldn’t finish the takedown. He stood straight, not moving after not securing the needed takedown. He gave up with 10 seconds left as Holschlag scampered away.

Harrington lost. And it didn’t end there.

Effort-wise, Harrington didn’t leave it all on the mat, but he did leave one thing.

He took off his headgear and threw it down on the mat. Coach Kevin Jackson had to go pick it up.

“You know when you leave your headgear on the mat, I think it speaks for itself,” Jackson said. “I don’t know what he was thinking or why he did it, but I think leaving your headgear on the mat speaks for itself.”

Iowa State led that meet to that point 9-8 over in-state rival UNI. The Cyclones (1-7, 1-3 Big 12) eventually lost the meet 20-12.

Pat Downey wrestled just before the Harrington match. Downey won 9-5. He was still on the floor watching his teammates compete when Harrington conceded in the match.

“I was pretty disgusted watching that, I’m not going to lie,” the 184-pound Downey said. “I was irritated, annoyed and mad watching how that match ended. I wasn’t happy.”

Iowa State lost three matches by a takedown. And two of them were in sudden victory.

Heavyweight Quean Smith was one. He was after Harrington’s match.

He shot a few times, but he never fully committed. He lost when J.J. Everard countered his attack and took him down.

“You have Marcus Harrington wrestling a freshman, and really believing that Marcus is a lot better than the kid,” Jackson said. “And we just didn’t get it done, we didn’t do enough to win. Then Quean jumped out there, and I was really surprised with Quean’s effort, especially coming off of the North Carolina match. For whatever reason he got a little tight out there and didn’t do a whole lot.”

While a number Cyclones didn’t wrestle with enough urgency or effort, there were a few who did.

There were four sudden-victory matches in the meet. Each team took two.

Lelund Weatherspoon at 174 pounds won his match in sudden victory and John Meeks at 141 pounds won his.

On top of that, both Downey and Colston DiBlasi worked for back points against their opponents. Each one of them was close to a pin in their respective matches.

“[They] really competed with their heart, they competed with their soul — they competed to win,” Jackson said. “We were happy with the way they continued to fight. I think Lelund was down late in the match, DiBlasi was down late in the match, and they were able to pull out those wins. Pat jumped out to an early lead.”

But it wasn’t enough. On top of losing three one-takedown matches, Iowa State gave up bonus points at 149 pounds and 165 pounds. The Cyclones’ effort wasn’t enough to win.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” Jackson said. “It’s frustrating because the guys are better than that — I think. I’ve seen better performances out of those guys.

“Every match feels like a must-win match. But I’ve been feeling like must-win matches my whole life. It’s frustrating for sure. Losing is no fun. And we’ve lost our share.”

Downey is one guy who hasn’t lost his fair share. He hasn’t lost at all this year.

“It’s possible to [instill my mindset in my teammates] if guys chose to feed off of you,” Downey said. “You can’t make someone else happy though. You can’t make someone else love the sport.”