Iowa State
Iowa State made quite a jump last season, qualifying nine wrestlers to the NCAA tournament, finishing in 16th place with 32 points and 2 All-Americans compared to qualifying one wrestler, finishing in 45th place with 3 points in 2018. For this impressive turnaround, Kevin “Oranges” Dresser received the NWCA’s Coach of the Year award. The Cyclones went 10-4 in duals with losses to Oklahoma State, UNI, Missouri and a nail-biter against Iowa. Iowa State finished 3rd in the Southern Scuffle and 2nd in the Big 12 Championships.
This is a young team with just two projected senior starters. They lose one of their two AAs from last season (Miklus) but everyone else is back and they add David Carr into the lineup. The Cyclones should improve even further this season with a top ten finish within reach.
Schedule edit: Iowa State has a busy schedule. In addition to their eight Big 12 matches, they have duals against Bucknell, Iowa, Chattanooga, Campbell, Harvard, Arizona State and Missouri. The Cyclones will also be at Cliff Keen and the Southern Scuffle.
125
Alex Mackall (Jr) <Walsh Jesuit, OH>
After being recruited over by Rutgers, Mackall transferred to Iowa State and qualified for the NCAAs in his first season as the starter. He went 27-12 and placed 3rd at the Big 12 Championship (5 allocations). He received the 19 seed at the NCAAs and went 2-2. <Bonus: 28.2%, RPI: .597>
133
Austin Gomez (So) <Glenbard North, IL>
Gomez went 24-7 and placed 3rd at the Big 12 Championship behind Daton Fix (OSU) and Montorie Bridges (Wyo). He received the 13 seed for the NCAA Championship and made it to the round of 12. Gomez dropped to wrestlebacks with a 1-0 loss to (4) Phillipi (Pitt) and his tournament ended with a 16-5 loss to DeSanto (Iowa). Gomez did have two wins against eventual AAs during the season with a prior win versus DeSanto and a pin versus RBY. <Bonus: 35.5%, RPI: .664>
Two-time JC champion Todd Small (Jr) had a good redshirt season for ISU going 18-5 but looks like the odd man out in this lineup. His biggest victory came against eventual qualifier Mason Pengilly (Stan).
141
Ian Parker (Jr) <St. Johns, MI>
Parker went 24-9 and placed 4th at the Big 12 Championship (6 allocations). He received the 17 seed and went 1-2 at the NCAA Championship. Parker had a big weekend in late January when he defeated 2-time AA Kaid Brock (OSU) and eventual 4th place finisher Dom Demas (OU). <Bonus: 48.5%, RPI: .630>
149
Jarrett Degan (Jr) <Belgrade, MT>
After collecting all of ISU’s team points from last season in a Round of 12 run, Degan qualified again this season after placing 2nd behind Kaden Gfeller (OSU) at the Big 12 Championship. He had an overall record of 29-8 and received the 8 seed at the NCAA Championship. Degan made it to the podium for the first time winning the 7th place match against Pat Lugo (Iowa). <Bonus: 32.4%, RPI: .676>
157
David Carr (Fr) <Perry, OH>
Carr had a strong redshirt season going 23-1. His only loss was to Peyton Mocco (Mizz). While he didn’t wrestle any NCAA qualifiers, Carr did have solid wins against other redshirts Peyton Robb (Neb) and Brayton Lee (Minny).
165
Chase Straw (Sr) <Independence, IA>
Straw qualified for the NCAAs for the first time and grabbed the Big 12’s only automatic allocation @157 by winning the Big 12 championship. He went 22-12 overall and 1-2 at the NCAA Championship from the 23 seed. <Bonus: 14.7%, RPI: .608> [Just as a side note for a Penn State connection… In Bo Pipher’s run in the Southern Scuffle, in addition to Straw, Bo also defeated two other eventual qualifiers; Reed (Columbia), Carson (Ohio).]
Last season @165, Logan Schumacher (So) started as a true freshman going 18-14 and placing 6th at the Big 12 Championship (5 allocations) and didn’t qualify for the NCAA Championship. Iowa State was a late OSU decision away from qualifying all 10 wrestlers. Because Oklahoma State went with Joe Smith instead of Chandler Rodgers at 165, the Big 12 allocations were reduced from 6 to 5.
174
Marcus Coleman (Fr) <Ames, IA>
Coleman went 28-14 with his biggest victory of the season came against Hayden Hastings (Wyo) in the Big 12 Championships, avenging an earlier loss to Hastings, to win 5th place and the last automatic qualification to the NCAAs. (Coleman almost assuredly would’ve got a wildcard but it was still a big win for him.) Coleman received the 21 seed at the NCAA Championship and went 1-2. <Bonus: 38.1%, RPI: .618>
184
Sam Colbray (Sr) <Hermiston, OR>
Colbray went 28-8 overall and was the Big 12 runner-up behind Drew Foster (UNI). He qualified for the NCAA Championship for the first time securing the 10 seed. Colbray was upset in the quarterfinals by 15 seed Chip Ness (UNC) and lost in the round of 12 to 4 seed Emery Parker (Illini).
197
Joel Shapiro (Fr) <Valley, IA>
Shapiro had a good redshirt season going 25-5. His biggest victory was against former qualifier Fagg-Daves (Rider).
Last season, Willi Miklus transferred from Missouri and capped his great career off with a 4th AA finish (7th @197 in 2018, 6th @184 in 2016, 8th @184 in 2015). He went 27-6 overall, was the Big 12 runner-up and received the 6 seed in the NCAA tournament. Miklus was upset by 11 seed Christian Brunner (Pur) in the 2nd round but he battled through the wrestlebacks to match his seed and finished 6th.
Heavy
Gannon Gremmel (Jr) <Hempstead, IA>
Francis Duggan (Fr) <Iowa City West, IA>
Gremmel qualified for the NCAAs for the first time going 26-15 and placing 5th at the Big 12 Championship (6 allocations). He received the 25 seed at the NCAA Championship and went 1-2 with loses to (8) Demetrius Thomas (Pitt) and (10) Yousiff Hemida (Mary). <Bonus: 14.6%, RPI: .593>
Duggan went 18-9 in his redshirt year and didn’t have any wins against NCAA qualifiers.
New Faces
Iowa State has one, maybe two, top 20 in weight class wrestlers coming in:
Julien Broderson <Davenport Assumption, IA>
Broderson finished his high school career on a 112 win streak. He is a three-time Iowa 2A state champion (@195-2019, @182-2018, @160-2017). Broderson is ranked #14 at 197 by InterMat.
I’ll still list him just in case the rumors aren’t true:
Ryan Anderson <Bethlehem Catholic, PA>
Anderson is a two-time PIAA 3A state champion winning @145 in 2019 and @138 in 2018. He finished 3rd @126 in 2017 behind Spencer Lee and Austin DeSanto. Anderson also won the Walsh Jesuit Ironman and Beast of the East tournaments in 2018. Anderson is ranked #1 at 145 by InterMat.
Iowa State, the incubator of some fairly decent coaches.
Iowa State made quite a jump last season, qualifying nine wrestlers to the NCAA tournament, finishing in 16th place with 32 points and 2 All-Americans compared to qualifying one wrestler, finishing in 45th place with 3 points in 2018. For this impressive turnaround, Kevin “Oranges” Dresser received the NWCA’s Coach of the Year award. The Cyclones went 10-4 in duals with losses to Oklahoma State, UNI, Missouri and a nail-biter against Iowa. Iowa State finished 3rd in the Southern Scuffle and 2nd in the Big 12 Championships.
This is a young team with just two projected senior starters. They lose one of their two AAs from last season (Miklus) but everyone else is back and they add David Carr into the lineup. The Cyclones should improve even further this season with a top ten finish within reach.
Schedule edit: Iowa State has a busy schedule. In addition to their eight Big 12 matches, they have duals against Bucknell, Iowa, Chattanooga, Campbell, Harvard, Arizona State and Missouri. The Cyclones will also be at Cliff Keen and the Southern Scuffle.
125
Alex Mackall (Jr) <Walsh Jesuit, OH>
After being recruited over by Rutgers, Mackall transferred to Iowa State and qualified for the NCAAs in his first season as the starter. He went 27-12 and placed 3rd at the Big 12 Championship (5 allocations). He received the 19 seed at the NCAAs and went 2-2. <Bonus: 28.2%, RPI: .597>
133
Austin Gomez (So) <Glenbard North, IL>
Gomez went 24-7 and placed 3rd at the Big 12 Championship behind Daton Fix (OSU) and Montorie Bridges (Wyo). He received the 13 seed for the NCAA Championship and made it to the round of 12. Gomez dropped to wrestlebacks with a 1-0 loss to (4) Phillipi (Pitt) and his tournament ended with a 16-5 loss to DeSanto (Iowa). Gomez did have two wins against eventual AAs during the season with a prior win versus DeSanto and a pin versus RBY. <Bonus: 35.5%, RPI: .664>
Two-time JC champion Todd Small (Jr) had a good redshirt season for ISU going 18-5 but looks like the odd man out in this lineup. His biggest victory came against eventual qualifier Mason Pengilly (Stan).
141
Ian Parker (Jr) <St. Johns, MI>
Parker went 24-9 and placed 4th at the Big 12 Championship (6 allocations). He received the 17 seed and went 1-2 at the NCAA Championship. Parker had a big weekend in late January when he defeated 2-time AA Kaid Brock (OSU) and eventual 4th place finisher Dom Demas (OU). <Bonus: 48.5%, RPI: .630>
149
Jarrett Degan (Jr) <Belgrade, MT>
After collecting all of ISU’s team points from last season in a Round of 12 run, Degan qualified again this season after placing 2nd behind Kaden Gfeller (OSU) at the Big 12 Championship. He had an overall record of 29-8 and received the 8 seed at the NCAA Championship. Degan made it to the podium for the first time winning the 7th place match against Pat Lugo (Iowa). <Bonus: 32.4%, RPI: .676>
157
David Carr (Fr) <Perry, OH>
Carr had a strong redshirt season going 23-1. His only loss was to Peyton Mocco (Mizz). While he didn’t wrestle any NCAA qualifiers, Carr did have solid wins against other redshirts Peyton Robb (Neb) and Brayton Lee (Minny).
165
Chase Straw (Sr) <Independence, IA>
Straw qualified for the NCAAs for the first time and grabbed the Big 12’s only automatic allocation @157 by winning the Big 12 championship. He went 22-12 overall and 1-2 at the NCAA Championship from the 23 seed. <Bonus: 14.7%, RPI: .608> [Just as a side note for a Penn State connection… In Bo Pipher’s run in the Southern Scuffle, in addition to Straw, Bo also defeated two other eventual qualifiers; Reed (Columbia), Carson (Ohio).]
Last season @165, Logan Schumacher (So) started as a true freshman going 18-14 and placing 6th at the Big 12 Championship (5 allocations) and didn’t qualify for the NCAA Championship. Iowa State was a late OSU decision away from qualifying all 10 wrestlers. Because Oklahoma State went with Joe Smith instead of Chandler Rodgers at 165, the Big 12 allocations were reduced from 6 to 5.
174
Marcus Coleman (Fr) <Ames, IA>
Coleman went 28-14 with his biggest victory of the season came against Hayden Hastings (Wyo) in the Big 12 Championships, avenging an earlier loss to Hastings, to win 5th place and the last automatic qualification to the NCAAs. (Coleman almost assuredly would’ve got a wildcard but it was still a big win for him.) Coleman received the 21 seed at the NCAA Championship and went 1-2. <Bonus: 38.1%, RPI: .618>
184
Sam Colbray (Sr) <Hermiston, OR>
Colbray went 28-8 overall and was the Big 12 runner-up behind Drew Foster (UNI). He qualified for the NCAA Championship for the first time securing the 10 seed. Colbray was upset in the quarterfinals by 15 seed Chip Ness (UNC) and lost in the round of 12 to 4 seed Emery Parker (Illini).
197
Joel Shapiro (Fr) <Valley, IA>
Shapiro had a good redshirt season going 25-5. His biggest victory was against former qualifier Fagg-Daves (Rider).
Last season, Willi Miklus transferred from Missouri and capped his great career off with a 4th AA finish (7th @197 in 2018, 6th @184 in 2016, 8th @184 in 2015). He went 27-6 overall, was the Big 12 runner-up and received the 6 seed in the NCAA tournament. Miklus was upset by 11 seed Christian Brunner (Pur) in the 2nd round but he battled through the wrestlebacks to match his seed and finished 6th.
Heavy
Gannon Gremmel (Jr) <Hempstead, IA>
Francis Duggan (Fr) <Iowa City West, IA>
Gremmel qualified for the NCAAs for the first time going 26-15 and placing 5th at the Big 12 Championship (6 allocations). He received the 25 seed at the NCAA Championship and went 1-2 with loses to (8) Demetrius Thomas (Pitt) and (10) Yousiff Hemida (Mary). <Bonus: 14.6%, RPI: .593>
Duggan went 18-9 in his redshirt year and didn’t have any wins against NCAA qualifiers.
New Faces
Iowa State has one, maybe two, top 20 in weight class wrestlers coming in:
Julien Broderson <Davenport Assumption, IA>
Broderson finished his high school career on a 112 win streak. He is a three-time Iowa 2A state champion (@195-2019, @182-2018, @160-2017). Broderson is ranked #14 at 197 by InterMat.
I’ll still list him just in case the rumors aren’t true:
Ryan Anderson <Bethlehem Catholic, PA>
Anderson is a two-time PIAA 3A state champion winning @145 in 2019 and @138 in 2018. He finished 3rd @126 in 2017 behind Spencer Lee and Austin DeSanto. Anderson also won the Walsh Jesuit Ironman and Beast of the East tournaments in 2018. Anderson is ranked #1 at 145 by InterMat.
Iowa State, the incubator of some fairly decent coaches.
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