No. 11 Iowa State Off To Vegas

AMES, Iowa – The No. 11 Iowa State wrestling team (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) is off to Las Vegas to compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Like in years past, the CKLV will feature a loaded field that includes 16 teams ranked in the top-25 nationally and over 100 ranked individual wrestlers.

TOURNAMENT INFO
When: Friday-Saturday, Dec. 6-7
Where: Las Vegas, Nev. / Las Vegas Convention Center
Watch: FloWrestling
Live Stats: Live stats and brackets will be available through FloArena

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday
Session I – 11 a.m. CT
Session II – 8 p.m. CT

Saturday
Session III – 11 a.m. CT
Session IV – 12 p.m. CT (Medal Round: 5^th-8^th)
Session V – 5 p.m. CT (Medal Round: 1^st-4^th)

CYCLONE HEADLINES
-No. 11 Iowa State is off to compete in one of the premier midseason tournaments at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
-There will be over 100 ranked individual wrestlers in the field in Vegas. In total, over 30 teams will compete this weekend, with 16 ranked in the top-25.
-The Cyclones are ranked No. 11 in the NWCA National Coaches Poll this week. ISU is also ranked No. 6, 9 and 9 in the FloWrestling, Intermat and TrackWrestling team rankings.
-Alex Mackall (7, 6, 8), Austin Gomez (5, 6, 6), Ian Parker (13, 13, 13), Jarrett Degen (6, 6, 7), David Carr (2, 3, 2), Chase Straw (NR, NR, 28) Marcus Coleman (NR, NR, 15) Sam Colbray (7, 11, 10), Joel Shapiro (NR, NR, 27) and Gannon Gremmel (14, 16, 17) 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.
-The Cyclones were off over the holiday after suffering a 29-6 loss to No. 1 Iowa in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Dual.
-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.
-Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser enters his third season as Iowa State's head coach. Dresser is the reigning Big 12 Coach of the Year and NWCA National Coach of the Year.
-The Cyclones opened the dual season with a victory over the Bucknell Bison, 24-15. ISU won six out of the 10 bouts and received bonus-point victories from Degen, Carr and Coleman.
-The Cyclone wrestling roster continues to mature. After only returning one NCAA Qualifier for the 2018-19 season, Iowa State will return eight NCAA Qualifiers (Mackall, Gomez, Parker, Degen, Straw, Coleman, Colbray and Gremmel) and one All-American (Degen).
-Iowa State also returns 88% of its dual wins, 90% of its dual points scored and 90% of its total team wins from the 2018-19 squad.
-Beyond that, Iowa State has 66% of its dual starts over the past two seasons on the roster in 2019-20.
-Chase Straw has started in 34 consecutive duals for the Cyclones dating back to the beginning of the 2017-18 season.
-Gomez, Degen and Coleman all finished the season with a team-high 40 takedowns in duals last season. Gomez led the team in total back points in dual matches (52) and points scored per dual match (11.5).
-This fall, 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).
-Dresser made two additions to his coaching staff for the 2019-20 season. Iowa State will retain Miklus as the team's Graduate Assistant and added three-time NCAA Qualifier Joey Palmer (Oregon State) as its Volunteer Assistant Coach.
-Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard announced that Iowa State wrestling season ticket sales have surpassed the 2,000 mark, making it a new school record.
-Dresser improved his all-time dual wins to 179 against Bucknell. He currently ranks as the No. 17 winningest active coach in Division I wrestling.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

David Carr

Sam Colbray

Marcus Coleman

Jarrett Degen

Joel Devine

Austin Gomez

Gannon Gremmel

Alex Mackall

Ian Parker

Chase Straw

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics