I’m stalling already, to be honest.

Where: Hilton Coliseum, Ames, IA

When: 2:00PM Sunday, Nov 22nd

TV/Stream: Cyclones.TV / Flowrestling ($$)

Projected Lineups

*Rankings from Flowrestling/Trackwrestling

Carr Vs. Young - The Main Event

This is a huge early career match for David Carr. He came to Iowa State to win titles and if he’s going to do that he’s going to have to go through wrestlers like Kaleb Young, who took 5th place at NCAAs last season. This match alone is worth the price of admission for the dual and could be a preview of a matchup we’ll see again during the Friday night session of the NCAA tournament. Carr doesn’t have much to lose here - this early on in his freshman season a loss to a title contender doesn’t mean he can’t grow throughout the next few months and peak for a strong finish in March. But a win would take Carr directly to a top three ranking at the weight and put put him in the conversation for the title. Win or lose, this will be the match of the dual.

Other Key Matches

141

Back in 2017, in a dual against Drexel that kicked off their freshman campaigns, Ian Parker knocked off Austin DeSanto 7-5 in what was the biggest match of both of their careers up to that point. Things have changed a bit since then, DeSanto has transferred to Iowa and Parker has moved up to 141 while DeSanto is splitting time between 133 and this weight. And DeSanto has an AA honor to his name while Parker has struggled when the lights are brightest in the postseason. If you look at the lineup sheet you’d think this match won’t happen and instead Iowa will put 8th ranked Max Murin out on the mat. But personally I think that both DeSanto and Brands will want the opportunity to get a rematch against Parker. I’d call this one a tossup but as long as Parker keeps things close to the vest and avoids giving up backpoints I think he’s got a really good shot to get a statement win and announce himself as someone who should be in the All American conversation at 141.

149

This is the only match of the dual where the ISU wrestler could be considered the favorite by an unbiased observer. Degen and Lugo met twice last season with Degen emerging victorious both times, 7-4 in OT at the dual in Carver and then 11-9 in the 7th place match at NCAAs. But as those scores indicate, Degen is by no means an overwhelming favorite and this is probably more of a toss up than anything else. If history is any indication, look for Degen to win a tight one with a TD in late in the third period.

184

These two met last December with Colbray beating Wilcke 7-6 in an extremely tight match. And as the season went on both of these guys ended up having pretty comparable seasons - Colbray ended up being the 10th seed and NCAAs while Wilcke was 12th and both were eliminated by the same wrestler (4th seeded Parker of Illinois) and fell just shy of All American honors. This year both of them are hoping to make the leap from the Round of Twelve to the All American podium and this match will help set the tone for their respective seasons. I’d call this match another tossup and just like the Degen/Lugo match at 149 this is one that we might end up revisiting on Friday night or Saturday of NCAAs.

Prediction

Even if Iowa State wins all four of the tossups and also gets a win out of Small at 133 I struggle to see how they walk away with a win in this one. Iowa bonus points at 125, 165, 174, 197, and HWT are going to be enough to give them a comfortable lead regardless of what happens elsewhere. I think ISU ends up winning 2 or 3 matches with 9-28 or so being the final score for the dual.

Next Up

The Cyclones will take next weekend off before heading to Vegas for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational tournament on Dec 6th and 7th.