Wrestlers Head To The Windswept Plains For A Pair Of Conference Duals

The wrestlers are riding high on a four dual win streak after a come from behind victory over West Virginia last Sunday. Making it to seven will be tough going though as they take on two traditional powerhouses this weekend. And they’ll be trying to keep the streak alive without the services of one of the bright spots in this year’s lineup since Kanen Storr left the team earlier this week and was granted a release to transfer. We don’t know any details yet about what caused him to leave the team or whether it was his decision vs. Dresser’s. But the result is a hole in the lineup at 141 that will need to be filled by either Marcus Simmons or Ian Parker bumping up a weight for the remainder of the season. The lineup that ISU released for the dual did not say which one will be making the move but Parker has had trouble holding his weight at 133 all season so my expectation is that he’ll be the one to make the jump.

Walter Tychnowicz-USA TODAY Sports

Projected Lineups

Rankings from the 1/18/18 Coaches Panel

Oklahoma

Where: Norman, OK

When: Friday, Jan 26th, 7PM

TV: Fox College Sports & Various Fox Sports Regional Channels (Full List can be found here)

Key Matches

141

Whichever of Parker or Simmons ends up bumping up to 141 will get a great sounding on Friday night in their first match at the new weight. Longo is ranked #26 in the coaches panel and beat the recently departed Kanen Storr 2-1 last fall. A close loss wouldn’t be the end of the world but a win would mean we can probably still count on an NCAA qualifier at this weight. In addition, this is one of only a handful of tossup matches in what should be a close dual. If Simmons or Parker win this match ISU has a good shot at walking out of Norman with their win streak intact, but a loss would likely mean an Oklahoma victory (unless Danny Bush manages another crazy pin).

Photo by Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images

157

Last weekend Straw came through with a win over the #32 ranked wrestler. And on Friday he’ll get to take on another 30s ranked opponent in #33 ranked Justin Thomas. Thomas beat Straw 6-4 earlier this season so this match will be a good gauge of how much Straw has improved since November. If Straw can pick up a win here he likely will show up in the updated coaches panel that comes out next week.

Prediction

Oklahoma has more bonus point opportunities in this one so I think Iowa State needs to win six matches if they’re going to get the victory. I am reasonably confident that Straw is going to come through with a win at 157. But I’m waffling about whether I think Parker can get the win at 141 in the other tossup to give us an 18-15 win, or if he’ll take a loss that leads to a 15-18 result. Since ISU has been over performing lately I’ll go with the optimistic view and say that the Cyclones pick up an 18-15 win in Norman.

Oklahoma State

Where: Stillwater, OK

When: Sunday, January 28th, 2PM

Stream: Flowrestling ($$)

Key Matches

149

One of Degen’s three loses on the season is to his Oklahoma State opponent -Lewallen topped Degen 13-7 last November in the finals of the Lindenwood Open. On Sunday afternoon he’ll get another crack at Boo. If he gets a win Degen will have demonstrated how much he’s improved since the season started is starting to enter “getting a seed at NCAAs” territory. A loss wouldn’t be the end of the world but despite his impressive record Degen lacks any wins over top wrestlers. So a loss would make you start to think that he’ll top out with just one or maybe two wins at NCAAs this year.

184

Though Pestano has put together a 15-7 record so far on the season he wasn't in the first coaches panel that was released a week ago. This was due in large part to his lack of wins over ranked opponents. And with only a few weeks left of the regular season he is running out of time to get a signature win. Moore is a good, but not great, wrestler - the type of guy Pestano is capable of beating if he is wrestling his best. If Pestano wants to have any breathing room for earning a trip to Cleveland he needs to go 2-0 this weekend and pick up a ranked win by beating Moore.

Photo by C.H. Currier/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

Prediction

This one isn’t going to be close. Even if ISU wrestles well I can’t see them wining more than two or three matches on Sunday. I think this is a 6-29 type loss and if ISU comes out flat they could easily end up getting blanked.

Next Up

The wrestlers will be back on the road next weekend for another pair of conference duals, this time against Big XII affiliates NDSU and SDSU.