ISU Advances to Semi-Finals

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa ? The sixth-ranked Iowa State wrestling team advanced into the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals semi-finals with a 25-9 victory over third-seeded Hofstra Saturday in the UNI-Dome. Iowa State, seeded sixth in the tournament bracket, took seven weight classes from the Pride. Kurt Backes clinched the ISU victory, winning by fall at 197-pounds. The Cyclones, in the National Duals semifinals for the first time since 2001, will wrestle second-seeded Minnesota Sunday at 11 a.m. Top-seeded Missouri will take on fourth-seeded Oklahoma State in the other semifinal.

Backes, ranked eighth nationally, closed out any chances of Hofstra making a come back by pinning No. 4 Chris Weidman in 36 seconds. It was the second big win of the day for Backes, who scored a 19-2 technical fall victory over his Michigan opponent in Iowa State's 25-15 first-round win over the Wolverines. Backes now boasts a career record 96-26 and improves his season mark to 16-2.

"We are making strides and this is all forward progress," Backes said. "National Duals are just a stepping-stone, but we are focused on the NCAA in March. Right now I have fire in me and I gave it my all today. There is no letting up, I wanted to put the match away."

Nick Fanthorpe opened the win over Hofstra with a 13-9 decision at 125-pounds over fifth-ranked Dave Tomasette. Fanthorpe found himself down 4-1 to begin the second period, but edged back into the bout with three takedowns to take a 9-6 lead going into the final three minutes of the match. The Iowa State redshirt freshman did not let up on offense, tacking on two more takedowns to close out the win. Fanthorpe is now 15-6 overall this season and ranked 15th nationally.

"It took me a little bit to get going, but my matches went really well today," Fanthorpe said. "We're listening to our coaches and it's proving true in our matches. Our conditioning is strong and it is really showing for me. You have to look forward to the next match because they can come fast in a situation like this. This weekend is really good for us because we'll wrestle some tough guys."

In another key match, second-ranked Cyclone Travis Paulson secured a 6-4 win at 165-pounds with a takedown in the final two seconds against Hofstra's fifth-ranked Mike Patrovich. Paulson battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period by taking down Patrovich twice in less than a minute. Tied 4-4 with under 10 seconds to go, the two-time All-American had a single leg of Patrovich's as the Hofstra wrestler was scampering to get out of bounds. Paulson grabbed hold of Patrovich's other leg and was awarded the takedown before Patrovich could escape out of bounds. The ISU senior only needs six wins to join his brother, Trent, on the Iowa State 100 career-match winner's list.

"We are in good shape," head coach Cael Sanderson said. "We're going out there and wrestling for seven minutes. Today we went out to wrestle as a team. We have 10 great guys that are fighters and that hustle. Fanthorpe got us started today with his wins. He has been doing an outstanding job lately. Fanthorpe wrestles every second of a match and it is starting to pay off. Travis (Paulson's) match was huge because he got that takedown with two seconds left. Backes' match was clutch; he put the Hofstra dual away for us."

At 149-pounds, Cyler Sanderson rebounded from an opening-round Michigan-match defeat, with an 8-2 decision of Hofstra's Mike Parziale. Sanderson scored a takedown in each period and escaped early in the third. He added 1:09 worth of riding time to take the match. He is now 18-6.

Grant Turner picked up another huge win for the Cyclones, a 6-4 decision of 13th-ranked Alton Lucas, at 174-pounds. Turner tied the match at 3-3 with an escape to open the second period. Midway through the third, Turner took down Lucas to gain a 5-4 advantage. Lucas was not able to elude Turner's grip, as the ISU senior rode Lucas out for the remainder of the match.

Jake Varner and David Zabriskie also picked up wins for Iowa State. Varner, ranked fifth nationally at 184 pounds, beat sixth-ranked Joe Rovelli with a 7-1 decision, to push his season record to 17-3. Zabriskie, also a double-winner on the day at heavyweight, defeated Matt Pollock 5-1. Zabriskie is now 14-6.

Iowa State had opened the tournament with a 25-15 win over Michigan. The match included Trent Paulson's win at 157 pounds, which made him the 30th Cyclone to win 100-career matches.

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Players Mentioned

Kurt Backes

Nick Fanthorpe

Travis Paulson

Trent Paulson

Cyler Sanderson

Grant Turner

Jake Varner

David Zabriskie

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