For the first time since 2015, Iowa State Wrestling has an NCAA Finalist! The tournament as a whole hasn’t gone amazing for the Cyclones - they only have two All Americans and everyone else fell before the Blood Round. But Carr, plus some support points from Gremmel and bonus point gathered by Marcus Coleman before he bowed out, have done enough to put Iowa State in 13th place going in to the final day as well as giving Cyclone fans something to watch on Saturday night for the first time in a few years.

Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Mo

When: Medal Matches - 10AM (ESPN2), Finals - 6PM (ESPN)

Brackets & Live Stats: Trackwrestling

Stream: ESPN+

Weight by Weight Preview

157 - David Carr - Finals

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Carr has certainly had the tournament he was hoping to have so far. His Friday wasn’t as dominant as his Thursday - he won a pair of close matches instead of dominating to major decisions. But what matters is getting the win, and get the wins he did. His opponent in the finals will be #4 seeded Jesse Dellavecchia of Rider, who pinned #1 seeded Ryan Deakin in the other semifinal. Both of these guys are undefeated on the year and based on the way they’ve both been wrestling so far I’d probably give Carr a slight edge and he has a very real shot at being Iowa State’s first champion of the 2020s.

HWT - Gannon Gremmel - Medal Rounds

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Gremmel wasn’t able to get an upset last night to make it in to the finals, he fell by fall to #2 Mason Paris of Michigan in his first loss of the tournament. But he’s still got a chance to wrestle back for third and even if he goes 0-2 on Saturday he’ll still take sixth place and wrestle to seed. He’ll start up his morning against Colhton Schultz of Arizona State. Schultz beat Gremmel 3-2 in overtime just over a month ago when Arizona State came to Ames so Gremmel has a shot at revenge there. Depending on how that goes he could see either #5 seeded Tony Cassioppi of Iowa or get a rematch against #14 Trent Hilger of Wisconsin in the 3rd or 5th place match.

Prediction

I’m not sure what to predict for Gremmel - he’s achieved All American status but missed the finals and you never know how guys will respond in that situation, the semifinal slide to 6th isn’t particularly uncommon on Saturday mornings and I wouldn’t fault him for that if it happens. But I think Carr is going to be an NCAA champion on Saturday night.

Next Up

This is it for the 2021 season. The Cyclones will be back in action next winter.