STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 2 Oklahoma State, although still trying to clear the preseason rust, won 6-of-10 bouts in beating No. 4 Minnesota, 23-14, on Sunday afternoon inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Cowboys (2-0) took the mat for just the second time this season with the visiting Gophers (3-2) continuing its early-season gauntlet. UM’s five duals have included No. 3 Cornell, the 2011 NCAA champions from Penn State, and Central Michigan.

“After the last three weeks we know where we are and we know what we have to work on,” said UM head coach J Robinson. “The whole object of why we did this, the way we did it, now it will depend on what we do when we go back.

“We have a young team and we want them to find out early what they have to do to win come March. It doesn’t do you any good to find out in January or February because you don’t have time to fix it.”

Oklahoma State’s lack of mat time is due in part to two matches being postponed last month after a plane crash killed the school’s women’s basketball coach, Kurt Budke, assistant, Miranda Serna, and OSU alumni Olin and Paula Branstetter. OSU was scheduled to open the season against Rutgers a day after the crash (Nov. 18) and to face Missouri on Nov. 20. Both duals have been postponed to a later date.

“To me, I do really believe that we have a lot better team than what we performed today,” said OSU head coach John Smith. “It just looked like we didn’t have enough battles leading up to this. This is a team (Minnesota) that’s wrestled No. 1 Penn State and beat them. They also wrestled Cornell, so they’ve been in some pretty tough matches. Iowa State didn’t do much for us to prepare us for the tough match that I knew we were going to have.”

The hosts picked up a pin from 2011 NCAA champion Jordan Oliver in the opener at 133 pounds, and got major decisions at 174 and 285. The Gophers’ four wins included two major decisions and a third-period rally by a rookie at 141.

Oliver (2-0) locked up a cradle for the fall at 2:16 and early it appeared the hosts might jump out to a big early advantage. But Josh Kindig, with three first-period takedowns, faltered midway through the match and UM’s Nick Dardanes (8-1) stormed back with three takedowns and a reversal in the final two minutes to force extra wrestling at 12-12. Dardanes quickly ended the match in sudden victory with a double leg to win, 14-12.

“(Dardanes) personifies what we are trying to do right now,” said Robinson. “He wrestled the way we are trying to wrestle in every match.”

All-American Jamal Parks (7-0) and Albert White (8-0) steadied things with back-to-back wins for OSU. Parks held off talented rookie Dylan Ness, 6-5, at 149, and White edging Alec Ortiz, 5-4, at 157. Ortiz (1-3) filled in for regular starter Jake Deitchler, who did not compete this weekend due to illness.

UM tried to rally with a major decision by Cody Yohn (7-1) over Dallas Bailey at 165 pounds, but OSU again stayed in front with a 13-5 major decision by Chris McNeil (6-1) over Steven Avalos at 174, and a tough 4-3 decision by Chris Perry (6-0) over Kevin Steinhaus at 184 pounds to give the hosts a 19-7 advantage. Perry countered a Steinhaus shot midway through the third, and after a quick reversal, escaped in the final 30 seconds to win by one in the battle of sophomores.

Avalos (0-3) wrestled for an injured Logan Storley.

All-American Sonny Yohn (8-1) gave the Gophers hope with a down-to-the-wire 3-2 win over Cayle Byers at 197 pounds. Byers, ranked second, took a 2-1 lead into the final two minutes and appeared to be in position for a victory, but a late inside trip near the edge of the mat gave Yohn, ranked third, the win. It was Byers’ first loss in nine tries this season.

An anticipated match-up at 285 pounds was anything but. 2010 All-American Alan Gelogaev (6-0) dominated from the opening whistle, tossing third-ranked Tony Nelson to his back during a 9-point barrage in the first period. The fourth-ranked Gelogaev added two more takedowns and won going away, 16-5, to put the Cowboys up 23-10 with one bout remaining.

“This guy is exciting to wrestle,” said Smith. “He’s still a long way away from being the caliber of an NCAA champion. But for his first big match at heavyweight against a top-ranked guy it doesn’t get much better than that. I never know what’s going to happen with that guy. Something is fixing to happen at all times with him.”

“They were a really good team and this was a really good win for us,” said the Russian. “I really think we should be undefeated this year.”

Three-time All-American Zach Sanders (9-0), most likely the new No. 1, had little trouble in beating OSU’s Ladd Rupp, 15-7, in the dual’s final bout at 125 pounds.

 “We’re missing a couple of guys, so I think we showed we are right in the middle of this thing,” said Robinson.

Oklahoma State beat Minnesota for a fourth consecutive time and now leads the overall series, 21-10.

Oklahoma State 23, Minnesota 14

125-Zach Sanders (M) maj dec Ladd Rupp, 15-7

133-Jordan Oliver (O) pin David Thorn, 2:16

141-Nick Dardanes (M) dec Josh Kindig, 14-12 SV

149-Jamal Parks (O) dec Dylan Ness, 6-5

157-Albert White (O) dec Alec Ortiz, 5-4

165-Cody Yohn (M) maj dec Dallas Bailey, 12-1

174-Chris McNeil (O) maj dec Steven Avalos, 13-5

184-Chris Perry (O) dec Kevin Steinhaus, 4-3

197-Sonny Yohn (M) dec Cayle Byers, 3-2

285-Alan Gelogaev (O) maj dec Tony Nelson, 16-5