The #11 Cyclones are getting an early start on the final weekend of the regular season today as they head to West Gym to take on #17 UNI in the first of two straight ranked duals to close out the season. Both this dual and the one against #5 Missouri on Sunday will be full of toss ups and matches between potential All Americans so there’s going to be ample opportunity for each wrestler on the team to make some statements as we head in to the postseason.
Where: West Gym, Cedar Falls, IA
When: 7:00PM, Thursday, February 21st
Stream: Flowrestling($$)
Projected Lineups
Lineups
Weight | ISU Wrestler | Record | Seed | # of Allocations at the Weight |
---|---|---|---|---|
Weight | ISU Wrestler | Record | Seed | # of Allocations at the Weight |
125 | #22 Alex Mackall | 21-9 | 5 | 5 |
133 | #10 Austin Gomez | 18-4 | 2 | 5 |
141 | #12 Ian Parker | 21-5 | 2 | 6 |
149 | #11 Jarrett Degen | 23-5 | 3 | 7 |
157 | Chase Straw | 17-10 | 3 | 1 |
165 | Logan Schumacher | 15-11 | US | 5 |
174 | #23 Marcus Coleman | 24-10 | 4 | 4 |
184 | #11 Sam Colbray | 23-5 | 1 | 4 |
197 | #5 Willie Miklus | 19-2 | 2 | 7 |
HWT | #26 Gannon Gremmel | 24-11 | 3 | 6 |
*Rankings from 2/14/19 Coaches Panel
Key Matchups
125
This will be the first of several toss ups in the dual as #24 Mackall takes on #26 Schwarm. Mackall has a better overall record and results but Schwarm is a pinner. He’s taken the mat 18 times this season and recorded seven pins. If this goes the distance I think Mackall should be able to pick up the win. But if he isn’t careful he might end up caught on his back. And while a loss in this toss up would be bad, giving up six points would pretty much seal it for UNI before the meet gets past the first match. So it’ll be vital for Mackall to play it safe and work towards surviving in to the third period.
141
The next tossup carries a little more heft behind it. Instead of two likely low level NCAA qualifiers going at it this match will feature two hammers that both have their eyes on the podium in Pittsburgh. The winner of this match will also have the inside track for the #1 seed at the Big XII Championship in Tulsa in a few weeks.
These two go way back - Alber was Parker’s second ever college match, and first ever Division 1 opponent, back at the Grand View Open in November 2016. That match didn’t go well for Parker. Alber gave him a rude introduction to college wrestling with a 16-0 tech fall. But a year and a half later, at the 2018 Big 12 Championships, Parker almost closed the gap, with Alber escaping with a 3-2 win in the consolation semifinals. Both of these guys have several marque wins and the main difference between their records is that Parker also has a couple of not so marque losses. This is a true toss up and likely to be a low scoring, 3-2 or 4-3 type affair. Hopefully Parker can pull it off to keep Iowa State alive in the dual and also continue down a possible All American path.
HWT
The third toss up the dual is a rubber match. These two wrestled twice last season with Isley winning by fall at the Harold Nichols Open and then Gremmel picking up a 3-2 win at the UNI Open a month later. And there is a good chance that this meet comes down to which one of them is able to win their third matchup. Both of these guys have a whole lot of 3-1, 3-1, 5-1, 4-2 type matches on their records so look for this to be another low scoring affair with the meet possibly coming down to who can score the first takedown and only in the match.
Prediction
I go back and forth on this one. I see the matchups breaking down in to five batches
- Iowa State favorite and bonus potential: 133, 197
- Iowa State slight favorite: 157
- Toss Up: 125, 141, HWT
- UNI slight favorite: 149
- UNI favorite and bonus potential: 165, 174, 184
The path to an Iowa State victory is to get bonus where they can, avoid it where they are overmatched, and win three or four of the matches in between. I think if these teams wrestled ten times UNI would win six of them and Iowa State would win four. But I’m biased, and I like how the team has been wrestling lately. So I’m going to be a homer and pick a 20-19 win for Iowa State.
Poll
Will This dual come down to the last match?
This poll is closed
-
59%
Yes
-
12%
No
-
28%
I struggle with commitment
Next Up
The Cyclones will close out the regular season by hosting Missouri at 5:00PM on Sunday, February 24th. Due to the number of tossups in this dual Coach Dresser has been mounting a campaign to get 10,000 fans in attendance and give the team some Hilton Magic.
The hype surrounding Sunday's @CycloneWR dual vs. Missouri is building and @ISUMattCampbell has noticed
— Iowa State Athletics (@CycloneATH) February 19, 2019
See you on Sunday ️ >> https://t.co/uePXr61jUu pic.twitter.com/lrRbnbafFE