Cyclones, Sanderson Top No. 24 Nebraska, 24-16

Ames, Iowa ----- Three-time NCAA champion Cael Sanderson and seventh-ranked Iowa State proved to be too much for the 24th-ranked Nebraska wrestling team Saturday as the Cyclones prevailed, 24-16, in front of 8,119 fans at the Hilton Coliseum. NU dropped to 8-8 on the season, while ISU upped its overall mark to 16-5.

The Huskers trailed 19-16 heading into the final bout of the night at 197 pounds as the unbeaten Sanderson matched-up against NU's 10th-ranked Justin Ruiz. Sanderson built an 8-4 lead after the first period and went on to score a 24-9 technical fall in 6:27 to seal the dual victory. With the win, Sanderson moved into first place on the Iowa State all-time win charts with a record of 151-0.

In the opening match of the night, junior Pat Miron nearly pulled the upset over 11th-ranked Mark Knauer before falling, 13-11. Miron opened the match by throwing Knauer to his back, nearly scoring the fall. Up 4-1 after giving up the escape, Miron took Knauer to his back again and built a 9-1 lead. ISU's Knauer recovered though with 10 unanswered points en route to the victory.

At 125 pounds, sophomore Jason Powell wrestled a scoreless first period, but scored the fall over former Husker teammate Ty Malia 45 seconds into the second frame to give the Huskers a 6-3 advantage. Powell improved to 21-4 with his team-leading 12th pin of the season.

The Cyclones grabbed wins at 133 and 141 pounds to go up 10-6 prior to redshirt freshman Travis Shufelt putting up a tough fight against fifth-ranked Billy Maldonado. Down 5-4 in the third period, Shufelt nearly scored a defensive fall before eventually giving up the takedown and dropping the match, 10-6.

Top-ranked Bryan Snyder cut the ISU lead to three at 157 pounds with a 14-5 major decision over 17th-ranked Matt Veach. Snyder, a three-time All-American, upped his overall record to 26-0 and has scored bonus points for the Huskers in all but one match this season (10 technical falls, nine pins and six major decisions).

In the next bout, senior three-time All-American Joe Heskett put Iowa State up 19-10 with a pin at 165 pounds over junior Jason High at the 3:50 mark.

Senior Tony Denke chipped back into the Cyclone lead at 174 pounds with a 6-3 win over Nick Passolano. Denke, who wrestled most of the season at 165 pounds, improved to 3-0 at his new weight of 174 and to 15-6 on the year.

At 184 pounds, redshirt freshman Travis Pascoe picked up a 2-1 win over Austen Palmer to put the team score to 19-16, in favor of Iowa State, before the 197-pound match. Pascoe, who is ranked 14th, improved to 18-6 on the season.

Nebraska closes out its dual season next Friday against fourth-ranked Oklahoma State at the Bob Devaney Sports Center starting at 8 p.m. The dual will be televised live on NETV2 with a webcast at net.unl.edu.

Team Score
#7 Iowa State 24, #24 Nebraska 16

Individual Matches
Heavyweight
#11 Mark Knauer (ISU) dec. Pat Miron (NU), 13-11 ISU 3, NU 0
125 pounds
#9 Jason Powell (NU) by fall over #11 Ty Malia (ISU), 3:45 NU 6, ISU 3
133 pounds
#12 Zach Roberson (ISU) dec. Joey Malia (NU), 4-1 NU 6, ISU 6
141 pounds
#4 Aaron Hoelker (ISU) maj. dec. Dusty Spaulding (NU), 17-5 ISU 10, NU 6
149 pounds
#5 Billy Maldonado (ISU) dec. Travis Shufelt (NU), 10-6 ISU 13, NU 6
157 pounds
#1 Bryan Snyder (NU) maj. dec. #17 Matt Veach (ISU), 14-5 ISU 13, NU 10
165 pounds
#1 Joe Heskett (ISU) by fall over Jason High (NU), 3:50 ISU 19, NU 10
174 pounds
Tony Denke (NU) dec. Nick Passolano (ISU), 6-3 ISU 19, NU 13
184 pounds
#14 Travis Pascoe (NU) dec. Austen Palmer (ISU), 2-1 ISU 19, NU 16
197 pounds
#1 Cael Sanderson (ISU) #10 Justin Ruiz (NU), 24-9, 6:27 ISU 24, NU 16