No. 11 Cyclones Set To Host First Semester Finale

AMES, Iowa – The No. 11 Iowa State wrestling team (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) will host Chattanooga (3-4, 1-0 SoCon) in its first semester finale on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum.

MATCH INFO
When: Saturday, Dec. 14 – 7 p.m.
Where: Ames, Iowa / Hilton Coliseum
Watch: Cyclones.tv / FloWrestling
Live Stats: Live stats are available through Trackwrestling

CYCLONE HEADLINES
-No. 11 Iowa State closes out the calendar year with a matchup with Chattanooga in Hilton Coliseum.
-The Cyclones will also be sending over 20 wrestlers to the UNI Open on Saturday morning.
-The Cyclones are ranked No. 11 in the NWCA National Coaches Poll this week. ISU is also ranked No. 13, 11 and 15 in the FloWrestling, Intermat and TrackWrestling team rankings.
-Alex Mackall (14, 15, 13), Todd Small (21, 15, 10), Ian Parker (5, 5, 8), Jarrett Degen (11, 10, 9), David Carr (3, 3, 3), Chase Straw (NR, NR, 32) Marcus Coleman (16, NR, 14) Sam Colbray (11, 11, 12), Joel Shapiro (NR, NR, 27) and Gannon Gremmel (12, 13, 12) all are ranked in the FloWrestling, Intermat and Trackwrestling polls this week.
-Iowa State's 10 individually ranked wrestlers are the most of any Big 12 team.
-ISU is coming off of a sixth-place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the second-best finish at the event in program history. In total, six Iowa State wrestlers reached the podium in Vegas.
-Alex Mackall (5th), Todd Small (4th), Ian Parker (4th), Jarrett Degen (6th), David Carr (3rd) and Gannon Gremmel (4th) made up the podium Cyclones at the CKLV.
-The attendance for the Iowa State-Iowa Dual (11,238) was the most in the last 20 years and the 10th-largest in Hilton Coliseum history.
-David Carr defeated then-ranked No. 2 Kaleb Young by 6-1 decision in the Iowa dual. Carr was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for his win over the Hawkeye.

WHAT TO MAKE OF THE MOCS
-Chattanooga first-year head coach Kyle Ruschell brings a young team into Hilton Coliseum. The Mocs' projected lineup features eight sophomores, one junior and a senior.
-The Mocs are 3-4 on the year and opened up SoCon action with a 47-0 victory over Davidson. In their last time out, they defeated Ohio 19-15. In two of its four losses, Chattanooga has lost by six or fewer points.
-Ruschell's team features four wrestlers who are ranked nationally by either FloWrestling or Trackwrestling. Fabian Gutierrez (125) is ranked No. 30 by Track, Tanner Smith (149) is ranked No. 21 and No. 27 by Flo and Track, Matthew Waddell (184) is ranked No. 20 and No. 17 by Flo and Track and Rodney Jones (197) is ranked No. 28 by Track.
-Iowa State is 4-0 all-time against Chattanooga in duals. Their last meeting came in Ames in Feb. of 2009 where the Cyclones defeated the Mocs by a score of 37-6.

WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS
-Iowa State finished sixth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with 82 team points. It was Iowa State's second-best finish at the event since beginning to compete at it in 2013. The Cyclones finished fourth in 2014. In total, six Cyclones finished on the podium at the CKLV. Alex Mackall (5th), Todd Small (4th), Ian Parker (4th), Jarrett Degen (6th), David Carr (3rd) and Gannon Gremmel (4th) made up the podium Cyclones at the CKLV.
-Degen was 3-0 and had reached the semifinals before having to medically forfeit out of the tournament. He will be a match-time decision for the contest against Chattanooga.
-Small went 6-2 at the tournament with a win over No. 20 Tim Rooney. He was a battler on the backside of the bracket with five of his wins coming in the consolation rounds. After his showing in Vegas, Small vaulted into the national rankings and is proving himself as a serviceable backup in Austin Gomez's absence.
-At 141 pounds, Parker battled to a fourth-place finish with two wins over top-20 opponents. That included a win over No. 4 Chad Red of Nebraska, who beat Parker at the NCAA Championships last season.
-Carr's only defeat of the tournament came at the hands of No. 1 ranked Ryan Deakin of Northwestern. Carr battled back and defeated No. 7 Kendall Coleman of Purdue in the third-place match by 4-0 decision.
-Gremmel racked up three wins over top-20 foes in Vegas. He compiled a 5-2 record with wins over the No. 12, 13 and 19 ranked wrestlers nationally.

SPLIT DECISIONS
-Iowa State has opened the season with a 1-1 record in duals. They began the season with a 24-15 victory over Bucknell, but fell to No. 2 Iowa in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Dual, 29-6.
-Iowa State wrestlers are a combined 8-12 in duals on the year with six of those wins coming against Bucknell. Carr and Parker picked up the two wins for ISU in the Iowa dual.
-Against Bucknell, three of Iowa State's six wins were by bonus-point variety. Degen (major decision), Carr (technical fall) and Coleman (fall) all scored bonus for ISU against the Bison.
-Parker defeated Iowa's Carter Happel in sudden victory in the Cy-Hawk dual. Carr made a statement against then ranked No. 2 Kaleb Young, defeating the Hawkeye by 6-1 decision. He was named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for his efforts.

OPENING THE SEASON
-Iowa State has competed in the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open, the Grand View Open and the Lindenwood Open to begin the season. This weekend, Iowa State will be sending over 20 wrestlers to compete at the UNI Open.
-In total, Cyclone wrestlers have combined for 31 top-six finishes in those three tournaments and have claimed nine individual titles.
-Julian Broderson has made the finals in all three events this season and won the Grand View Open. He holds an 11-2 record on the year with nine wins by fall.

START YOUR ENGINES
-David Carr posted a third-place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at 157 pounds. He went 6-1, with his only loss coming in the semifinals to Northwestern's No. 1 Ryan Deakin. Carr picked up wins over No. 19 Justin Thomas of Oklahoma and No. 7 Kendall Coleman of Purdue.
-Carr made his first big collegiate statement with a 6-1 victory over Iowa's Kaleb Young in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Dual. He was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for his win over the Hawkeye.
-Carr opened the season with an 18-3 technical fall over Jaden Fisher of Bucknell. Carr racked up five takedowns and worked hard on top, picking up six back points and nearly five minutes of riding time.
-Carr made Iowa State history before ever taking the mat for the Cyclones. He won the 74 kg gold medal at the Junior World Championships to become Iowa State's first-ever Junior World Champion. He is the second Cyclone to medal at the Junior World Championships, joining Zach Thompson (Silver, 1998 - 90 kg).
-While wrestling unattached last season, Carr went 23-1 and finished the season on a 23-match winning streak, after dropping his first collegiate match. 14 of his 23 wins came by bonus-point variety with eight major decision, three tech falls and three major decisions.

SMALL TALK
-Todd Small has picked up the work load at 133 pounds in the absence of Austin Gomez. Small has wrestled to a 9-4 mark and most recently finished fourth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational where he was unseeded.
-In Vegas, Small went 6-2 at the tournament with a win over No. 20 Tim Rooney. He was a battler on the backside of the bracket with five of his wins coming in the consolation rounds. After his showing in Vegas, Small vaulted into the national rankings this week, checking into the top-20 in the Flo, Intermat and Trackwrestling rankings.
-Small began the season with a 3-0 performance at the Cyclone Open to claim the 133-pound title.

RUN IT BACK
-Iowa State was one of nine schools to qualify nine or more wrestlers for the 2019 NCAA Championships. This season, eight of those nine return which is the most returning 2019 NCAA qualifiers of any team in the nation. Mackall, Gomez, Parker, Degen, Straw, Coleman, Colbray and Gremmel make up Iowa State's eight returners.
-Coach Dresser's team, which has been considered youthful during his first two seasons, now begins to mature. Iowa State returns 88% of its dual wins, 90% of its dual points scored and 90% of its total team wins from the 2018-19 squad.

BIG 12'S BEST
-Iowa State finished runner-up at the 2019 Big 12 Championship with 114.5 team points, the most scored by a second-place team in Big 12 Championship history. Iowa State currently holds the No. 1 spot in FloWrestling's Big 12 Rankings.

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Players Mentioned

David Carr

Sam Colbray

Marcus Coleman

Jarrett Degen

Joel Devine

Austin Gomez

Gannon Gremmel

Alex Mackall

Ian Parker

Todd Small

Chase Straw

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics