Its finally February and we’re entering the home stretch of the regular season for the wrestling team. Only five dual meets remain. Five chances for the Cyclone wrestlers to get the wins they need to put themselves in the best spot possible for the postseason. The first of those five opportunities hit today as the wrestlers take on what should be an overmatched Sooners team in Norman.

Note that this dual will not be on FloWrestling. It will be available live on Fox Sports North or Fox Sports Go.

Where: Norman, Oklahoma

When: 2:00PM CST, Feb 9th

TV/Stream: Fox Sports North / Fox Sports Go

*Rankings from 1/24/20 Coaches Panel

Key Matchups

133

The first of a possible four top 20 matchups of the dual, this match is likely for the #3 seed at the Big 12 tournament, and with that a more winnable semifinal match against #11 Cam Sykora of NDSU instead of returning All American #7 Montorie Bridges on Wyoming in order to reach the finals. Getting a win here and improving his case for that #3 seed increases the number of team points Small is likely to earn at Big 12s so has a direct impact on Iowa State’s ability to knock off Oklahoma State for the conference title. This match doesn’t have a whole lot of direct impacts on either wrestler - both of them are definitely going to Minneapolis and will be seeded somewhere in the teens. So this is all about getting a win to help set Iowa State up for a team trophy at the conference tournament in Tulsa.

141

Easily the marque matchup of the dual. These guys have wrestled three times, with Demas owning a 2-1 edge over Parker. That includes a 19-4 tech fall when they met earlier this season in Vegas. Demas is a Greco guy and tends to score a lot of points off of body locks and throws. Which makes him a dangerous opponent who can quickly rack up big points. However, it also means that there is an established gameplan for beating him - win the tie ups, keep position, and beat him with a TD or two in a low scoring match. This match is for the #1 seed at the Big 12 tournament and a win would also be a nice boost for Parker’s seed in Minneapolis.

174

Unless Kent of Missouri rockets up the rankings when they are updated on Thursday, Montanono will be Colbray’s last chance of the regular season to pick up a top twenty win at 174. And he needs one if he’s going to have any type of argument for a decent seed at either Big 12s or NCAAs. I’m less down on Colbray than a lot of people are - all of his losses are to guys with wins over top ten opponents and even his “bad” loss to Martino of Fresno State last weekend looks less bad than it did at the time as Martino went out and beat #10 Hastings of Wyoming two days later. But he needs a quality win to solidify his ranking and ensure he doesn’t put himself on the outside looking in for a trip to Minneapolis. Lining up against Montanono today gives him a chance to get that win.

Prediction

The Sooners have a few hammers in their lineup but also some big holes at other weights. Assuming that we don’t see Carr at 157, I see Oklahoma outright favored at 157 and 197 with tossups at 133, 141, and 174. I also think Iowa State has some opportunities for bonus at at least three weights. So I think this one ends up with ISU winning 6 or 7 matches and coming away with a 21-12 type win over the Sooners.

Next Up

The Cyclones will be back home in Hilton next weekend for a pair of duals. They’ll take on West Virginia at 7:00PM on Saturday, February 15th and then have a quick turnaround to make weight again for a dual against UNI at 2:00PM on Sunday, February 16th.