The Cyclones compete in their last regular season matches of the 2019-2020 season this weekend as they parts of the team heads down to Columbia for a Saturday afternoon tilt with Missouri before heading back up to Ames for a a Sunday evening showdown with NDSU. And Saturday, at least, is gonna get a little weird. As part of a strategy to maximize allocation chances and NCAA seeds it appears that at least half of the normal lineup, if not more, will head to the Gilbert High School Gym for the Last Chance Open instead of making the trip to Missouri. So there’s going to be unfamiliar names and faces out there on the mat just like there was at the Southern Scuffle back in January. It sounds like the normal lineup will be back in place for the NDSU dual on Sunday night but who knows. Things might get weird in Hilton as well.

**Rankings from 2/13/20 Coaches Panel

Missouri Dual

Where: Columbia, Missouri

When: 1:30PM, Saturday, February 22nd

TV/Stream: ESPN3

Key Matches

165

Straw was unranked in the 2nd coaches panel but since then has gone 2-0 with a win over #27 Kiusus of West Virginia. He gets another shot against a fringe qualifier on Saturday against #31 Mocco. A win wouldn’t solidify Straw as a qualifier. But it would give him at least an outside chance at pulling in to the rankings and getting one of the last spots. And perhaps just as importantly, it would give Straw a boost for his at large resume if he falls just short in Tulsa.

197

Shapiro is in a somewhat similar position to Straw as a guy who is currently just on the outside looking for for an allocation. He was ranked #31 in the last coaches panel and has gone 1-1 since, with his loss coming to #2 ranked Adams of West Virginia. If he can grab the moderate upset over #20 Koelling on Saturday that would very likely give him the small boost he needs to move up enough in the rankings to snag an allocation. Or lacking that, like with Straw, it would at least give him a win that would look good on his resume if he ends up in the pool of wrestlers who need an at large bid to Minneapolis.

Prediction

If Iowa State was wrestling a full lineup I think this could be a really solid dual with some possible previews of quarterfinal or blood round matches in Minneapolis. But I don’t think we’re going to get any of those on Saturday. And given that we don’t know for sure exactly how many of ISU’s starters will be out of the lineup it is tough to make much of a prediction beyond this probably being a win for Missouri.

North Dakota State Dual

Where: Hilton Coliseum

When: 2:00PM, Sunday February 16th

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

Key Matches

133

Small has put together a very solid season at 133 but one thing that has eluded him so far is a real marque win that shows he might be able to go deep in to the brackets at NCAAs. Sykora is his last chance to get that kind of win as he heads in to the postseason. A loss wouldn’t be the end of the world - Small’s current ranking seems about right for how he’s wrestling and Sykora will be favored in the match - but showing that he can peak and take out a top ten guy would be great for his own confidence in his ability to take the next step and still be wrestling on Saturday next month in Minneapolis.

Everybody Else

This is a makeup dual taking place on a Sunday night with everyone on the team likely looking ahead to the postseason. Outside of Small, who has already been discussed, and Straw, who has #20 Fogarty across from him, any Cyclone starter who takes the mat will be the favorite in their match. Despite the circumstances of this dual they all need to keep focused and avoid taking a bad loss that would hurt their seeding for Big 12s.

Prediction

If Dresser wrestles the full starting lineup the Cyclones should win 8 or 9 matches and run away with this one. But while I expect the lineup to be more complete than the one we get on Saturday, I don’t expect to see all of the usual suspects take the mat. So I’m going to punt on trying to make a prediction in this one as well since there’s no good way to predict what the actual matchups will be at each weight.

Next Up

The wrestlers will take next weekend off to prep for the Big 12 Tournament on March 7-8 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.