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The second to last weekend of the regular season kicks off tonight as what should be an overmatched West Virginia team that lost 36-6 to UNI last night visits Hilton once all the basketball fans clear out of the arena.
Where: Hilton Coliseum
When: 7:00PM, Saturday February 15th
TV/Stream: Cyclones.TV/ FloWrestling ($$)
Projected Lineups
| Weight | ISU Wrestler | Record | - | West Virginia Wrestler | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | ISU Wrestler | Record | - | West Virginia Wrestler | Record |
| 125 | #11 Alex Mackall | 15-5 | vs | Joey Thomas | 13-13 |
| 133 | #14 Todd Small | 15-7 | vs | Lucas Seibert | 7-16 |
| 141 | #9 Ian Parker | 15-3 | vs | Caleb Rea | 13-12 |
| 149 | #13 Jarrett Degen | 9-2 | vs | Liam Lusher | 1-8 |
| 157 | #3 David Carr | 14-1 | vs | Alex Hornfeck | 13-13 |
| or | Grant Stotts | 15-8 | or | - | - |
| 165 | Chase Straw | 8-11 | vs | #27 Nick Kiussis | 10-9 |
| 174 | #14 Sam Colbray | 11-7 | vs | Scott Joll | 10-15 |
| 184 | #25 Marcus Coleman | 8-8 | vs | Jackson Moomau | 8-14 |
| 197 | #31 Joel Shapiro | 10-11 | vs | #2 Noah Adams | 26-0 |
| HWT | #13 Gannon Gremmel | 17-7 | vs | Brandon Ngati | 15-9 |
*Rankings from 2/13/20 Coaches Panel
Key Matches
165
As I posted on Twitter, this isn’t a great match for Straw. It is lose/lose for him as Kiussis was 27th in the latest coaches panel and 29th in the first RPI, which makes him a textbook case of being a borderline NCAA qualifier. Kiussis won last night and in WVU’s two duals next weekend he will be favored in both matches. With a 4-0 finish he almost surely early the Big 12 an allocation at 165 - a third likely spot after #8 Wittlake and #20 Fogarty. Straw has losses to both of those wrestlers this season and would not be favored against either in Tulsa. Simply put, Straw has a much improved shot at reaching his second NCAA championship if Kiussis earns an allocation. But with a #27 ranking Kiussis can’t afford a loss to an unranked wrestler like Straw if he wants to stay ranked. So if Straw wins he likely knocks Kiussis out of an allocation. But if he loses he moves himself to a 2-5 Big XII record and likely a bottom barrel seed at Big 12s.
Basically, no matter what happens in this match, Straw loses. So I’m of the opinion that the best move is not to play. Strategically the best thing Iowa State could do is keep Straw on the sidelines and put a backup out to take a loss to Kiussis.
HWT
This is only a key match because this dual is pretty bare on key matches. Last season Gremmel went 2-0 against Ngati but won both matches by only two points. It’d be nice for Gremmel to show some growth in this one and win by three or more.
Prediction
Assuming that ISU doesn’t use this dual as an opportunity to give some backups a chance to wrestle in Hilton I don’t think this one will be close. West Virginia will be favored in one match (197) with a tossup at 165. I see ISU taking this one along the lines of 27-7.
Next Up
The Cyclone wrestlers will host Senior Night against Big 12 foe Northern Iowa tomorrow, February 16th at 2:00PM.