Staying on the road following a 45-0 whomping of Utah Valley on Thursday night, the Cyclones will be taking part today in a pretty unique event. Arizona State is hosting ISU, Harvard, and Campbell in a daylong multi-dual series at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Where: Chase Field, Phoenix Arizona

When: 12PM (Campbell), 2PM (Harvard), 8PM (Arizona State)

Stream: There is no TV or stream for this event

Campbell and Harvard did not list projected lineups in their releases. Harvard has had no duals yet this season and Campbell only had some tune ups in early November. So I was unable to put together lineups for them. However, I did check out rankings and results to still identify what I believe to be the most important matches for each dual

Key Matches Against Campbell

133

This is a good sounding match for Small. Campbell’s Noah Gosner is ranked 12th at 133 by Intermat, just ahead of him in the rankings. And more importantly, Gosner is exactly the type of wrestler that Small might see a few rounds deep in to the consolations at NCAAs in March. Getting a win over Gosner would let us start considering whether Small has a shot at reaching the blood round in Minneapolis. While a loss would indicate that Small is probably ranked in the right spot right now.

141

Parker doesn’t have as much to prove as Small does, he has enough wins over his career that his top ten ranking is pretty solid and can absorb a loss. That means the importance of this match is all about seeding. Campbell’s Josh Heil is ranked 9th by Intermat and also has the results to back that up. Both of these guys are likely to be in consideration for top 10 seeds in Minneapolis. Getting a win over Heil would give Parker a second win over a top ten wrestler (he already owns a 5-3 decision over #5 ranked Red of Nebraska) and provide his NCAA resume a nice boost.

HWT

This will be the first of three ranked matches Gremmel will have on Saturday. Heino is ranked 15th by Intermat. Getting a win will be key to starting the day off right as the day will get progressively tougher for Gremmel as he goes from #15 to #12 to #7 over the course of the three duals.

Key Matches Against Harvard

HWT

Another match, another ranked opponent for Gremmel. This will be the only match of the dual where two wrestlers will face off - #9 Gremmel will take on #12 Slavikouski. These two have already met once this season at Cliff Keen, with Gremmel coming away with an 8-6 victory over the Crimson wrestler.

Key Matches Against Arizona State

125

This match is a similar situation to what Gremmel has in his match against Campbell - Courtney is a mid teens ranked wrestler just like Heino. And just like Gremmel against Heino this is an opportunity for Mackall to get a ranked win to keep his ranking intact and get a quality W for NCAA seeding purposes.

133

This one should be a good match. Small is ranked #14 by Intermat, Kramer is ranked #14 by Flowrestling. Which means these guys should be pretty evenly matched and I’d call this one of the few toss up matches of the day. The stakes are pretty similar to Small’s match against Campbell - win and you’ll move up a bit in the rankings and picked up a notch in your belt for NCAAs, lose and your ranking probably will stay about the same.

174

Earlier in the season Colbray took on the other Valencia brother and it didn’t go so hot. But Zahid Valencia is on another level and arguably is the best college wrestler on the mats this season. Anthony Valencia is no slouch - he’s a two time NCAA qualifier and has spent most of his career ranked in the top ten - but he isn’t the juggernaut that his brother is. This is a huge match for Colbray because a win would insert him directly in to the All American conversation at 174 in his first weekend down at the weight. I consider this to be the marquee match of the day.

HWT

Another match, yet another ranked wrestler for Gremmel. This time is is #7 ranked returning All American Tanner Hall. As I wrote on Thursday, Gremmel does well against guys that he can bully around and out muscle, but struggles against top ten opponents like Hall, who are often just as strong and athletic as he is. A win over Hall would be a breakthrough for Gremmel and be what he needs to start being a serious candidate for AA honors.

Prediction

The two earlier duals should be solid Cyclone victories. The Harvard dual should be very one sided and while the Campbell dual should have more competitive matches the outcome should be firmly in Iowa State’s favor. Arizona State is going to be a lot tougher. In that one I see Iowa State falling to the Sun Devils on a score of around 14-24.

Next Up

The wrestlers will head to Brookings, SD this coming Friday to dual the SDSU Jackrabbits.