Last time we saw the Cyclones take field mat was a week ago in a somewhat disappointing 1-2 performance at an Arizona State hosted quad meet in at Chase Field in Phoenix. It wasn’t all bad news though - Colbray and Coleman swapped the 184 and 174 spots and both proved that they should be able to at the very least hold the rankings they had prior to the switch. Elsewhere, Jarrett Degen remains sidelined by the shoulder injury he suffered in December but is expected to return at some point before the postseason.

In other big news this week not directly related to the dual, it was finally confirmed that Autsin Gomez will take a medical redshirt this season. It’s officially the Todd Small show at 133 all year.

Where: Brookings, SD

When: 7:00PM CST, Friday, January 17th

Stream: Flowrestling ($$)

Key Matchups

165

Last season Chase Straw was able to take advantage of a weak field at 157 at the Big 12 Championships to roll through the bracket and claim both a conference title and a trip the the NCAA tournament. This season he once again is looking like he’ll be on the edge of earning an NCAA allocation but unlike last season the Big 12 has a couple top 10 wrestlers and (currently) no one else ranked. So Straw needs to pick up a couple wins over the next month that can push him in to the coaches panel and RPI so that he doesn’t have to steal a spot from Wittlake of Oklahoma State or Forgarty of NDSU in Tulsa. That can start with a win over Cook. Looking at just their records Cook looks like a heavy favorite, but his 10-2 record has come from opponents a lot softer than the ones that have put Straw at 7-6. I think this is a toss up match and one Straw needs to win to put himself on a path to Minneapolis.

184

So far Coleman is 2-2 at his new weight, which doesn’t seem that great at first glance. But one of those loses is to arguably the #1 pound for pound wrestler in the country in Zahid Valencia and the other was an overtime loss to #9 ranked Andrew Morgan of Campbell. He’ll get a chance tonight to make a statement win and pull himself above 0.500 with a match against #14 Carlson. If he loses then it looks like his move to 184 might end up being a wash, with similar results at both weights. But if he can pick up a win then taking ten pounds off of his cut might prove to be exactly what he needed to step up his mat results.

Prediction

This should be an opportunity for the Cyclones to get back in sync after a disappointing outing in Phoenix last weekend. I see Iowa State winning seven, possibly eight, matches and winning the dual along the lines of 23-10.

Next Up

It’ll be a short turnaround for the team as they are back in action in Ames at 2:00PM on Sunday, January 19th. They’ll be hosting the North Dakota State Bison.