Top-ranked Oklahoma State dominates Cyclone wrestlers in Ames

AMES — Ugly history couldn't be avoided when the Iowa State wrestling team hosted No. 1 Oklahoma State.

A win at 197 pounds from sophomore Marcus Harrington saved the Cyclones from their first shutout since 1951 — at Oklahoma A&M — and first home shutout ever, but the damage had already been done.

Oklahoma State's 34-3 win against Iowa State on Sunday afternoon in front of 2,776 fans was decisive and sobering. The 31-point margin was the worst home loss for the Cyclones (1-9, 1-5) ever and the worst loss overall since a 38-3 throttling at Oklahoma State last year.

'You're looking at a shutout, I know that would be history making in itself,' Iowa State Coach Kevin Jackson said. 'I know that score is history making in itself anyway, but you don't want to get shut out even if it is the No. 1 team in the country.

'They sat a couple guys and still ripped us.'

In the second-to-last match of the afternoon, Harrington (4-6) broke a four-match losing streak against Oklahoma State's Derek White when he won a 3-2 decision.

Harrington jumped out to a 2-0 lead before two escapes by White tied it in the second period. The Waterloo native notched an escape with 1:38 left to seal the win.

'It's been needed for a while, so I'm just excited to get back on that track of winning matches,' Harrington said. 'I haven't been in a trench like that in awhile.'

'I know that can help his confidence so hopefully he can build from there,' Jackson said. 'We haven't had great performances at that weight, but he can build off of that. Better (team) effort, but obviously disappointing result.'

Four of the first five matches were decided by three points, and were all tipped in favor of Oklahoma State (10-0, 4-0).

No. 3 Kaid Brock, No. 2 Anthony Collica and Davey Dolan scored decisions at 133, 149 and 157 pounds, respectively. No. 1 Dean Heil edged John Meeks at 141 pounds, 8-5. No. 12 Nick Piccininni beat Kyle Larson, 8-2, at 125.

Oklahoma State got pins from No. 6 Chandler Rogers at 165 (against Logan Breitenbach in 1:51) and No. 6 Austin Schafer (against Quean Smith in 3:50).

'In every weight class we came and battled,' 149-pounder Gabe Moreno said. 'We're not where we need to be yet, and we'll get there. We'll see them again at Big 12s, but they're the No. 1-ranked team in the country for a reason.

'I think we can look at those matches, go back to the drawing board and just realize team-wise we got it handed to us, but individually a lot of those matches were two- or three-point matches. So we can make a couple adjustments.'

Iowa State finishes its dual-meet season at Pittsburgh and West Virginia before hosting Minnesota, looking to avoid its most dual losses in a season since going 4-13 in 2011-12.

'(Oklahoma State is) a pretty strong team, pretty tough team from top to bottom,' Jackson said. 'I just thought we were going to be able to get a couple more matches in there.'

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com