Cyclones Turn Toward NCAA Wrestling

NCAA_WR_Preview

AMES, Iowa -- The 2018-19 wrestling season culminates with the NCAA Wrestling championships for the No. 15 Iowa State wrestling team (10-4, 6-2 Big 12). Big 12 Coach of the Year and Company will be sending nine wrestlers to the national tournament in Pittsburgh, Pa., this weekend. Wrestling begins Thursday, March 21 at 11 a.m. CT from PPG Paints Arena.

Tournament Schedule (CT)/TV
Session I - Thursday, March 21 - 11 a.m. / ESPNU / WatchESPN
Session II - Thursday, March 21 - 6 p.m. / ESPN / WatchESPN
Session III - Friday, March 22 - 10 a.m. / ESPNU / WatchESPN
Session IV - Friday, March 22 - 7 p.m. / ESPN / Watch ESPN
Session V - Saturday, March 23 - 10 a.m. / ESPNU / WatchESPN
Session VI - Saturday, March 23 - 6 p.m. / ESPN / WatchESPN

First Round Matchups
125: No. 19 Alex Mackall v. No. 14 Sean Fausz (NC State)
133: No. 13 Austin Gomez v. No. 20 Brandon Paetzell (Lehigh)
141: No. 17 Ian Parker v. No. 16 Chad Red (Nebraska)
149: No. 8 Jarrett Degen v. No. 25 Russel Rohlfing (CSU-Bakersfield)
157: No. 23 Chase Straw v. No. 10 Steve Bleise (Minnesota)
174: No. 21 Marcus Coleman v. No. 12 Matt Finesilver (Duke)
184: No. 10 Sam Colbray v. No. 23 Jackson Hemauer (Fresno State)
197: No. 6 Willie Miklus v. No. 27 Josh Roetman (Navy)
285: No. 25 Gannon Gremmel v. No. 8 Demetrius Thomas (Pittsburgh)

Cyclone Notebook
- No. 15 Iowa State has qualified nine wrestlers for the 2019 NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh this weekend.
- The NCAA announced the seeds for the 2019 NCAA Championships last week. Here's how they shook out for the Cyclones: No. 19 Alex Mackall (125), No. 13 Austin Gomez (133), No. 17 Ian Parker (141), No. 8 Jarrett Degen (149), No. 23 Chase Straw (157), No. 21 Marcus Coleman (174), No. 10 Sam Colbray (184), No. 6 Willie Miklus (197) and No. 25 Gannon Gremmel (285).
- Iowa State's nine national qualifiers is the most since the 2010 NCAA Championships. Only eight schools are bringing nine ore more wrestlers to the national tournament (Iowa State, Penn State, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Missouri, NC State, Iowa, Virginia Tech).
- The Cardinal and Gold proved themselves at the 2019 Big 12 Championship. The Cyclones finished runner-up champions in Tulsa behind an individual title performance from 157-pounder Chase Straw.
- Iowa State hadn't had an individual Big 12 finalist since 2016. They had four this year in Jarrett Degen, Chase Straw, Sam Colbray and Willie Miklus. All 10 of Iowa State's competitors finished in the top-6 of their brackets in Tulsa.
- Following the Championship, the Big 12 named Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser the 2019 Big 12 Coach of the Year. He is the fourth Iowa State coach to win Big 12 honors and the sixth conference coach of the year overall in school history.
- The Cyclones appeared in the final NWCA Coaches' Poll for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Iowa State finished the season ranked No. 15.
- The Big 12 announced its Academic All-Big 12 team. Brady Jennings, Alex Mackall and Chase Straw all earned first-team honors while Skyler St. John was named to the second team.
- Iowa State concluded its Big 12 regular season with a 6-2 record (.750). It's the best Big 12 winning percentage by an Iowa State team since the Cyclones went undefeated in conference action during the 2009-10 season. It's also tied for the third best Big 12 winning percentage in school history.
- They Cyclones averaged 3,569 fans per home dual this season, which is fourth best attendance mark in the last 25 seasons.
- Iowa State's 53-point scoring outburst against Utah Valley was tied for the third largest victory in school history and the most points scored in a dual against a Division I opponent since 1998 (New Mexico, 57).
- The back-to-back shutouts over SDSU and UVU marked the first time since the 1972-73 season that ISU notched consecutive shutouts over conference foes.
- Iowa State defeated Oklahoma on Jan. 25 to extend its winning streak at the time to six duals in a row. That string of victories was the longest since ISU won 11 in a row between the 2009-10 and 2010-2011 seasons.
- The attendance for the Oklahoma dual was 3,939, which was the largest crowd for a non-Iowa dual in Hilton Coliseum since Cael Sanderson's senior day in 2002.
- It was dual dominance for Iowa State this season. In 14 duals, ISU outscored its opponents at 404-148. The Cyclones' average margin of victory was an astounding 28.1 in 10 victories on the season.
- Scoring points has been a point of emphasis for the Cyclones in 2018-19. ISU averaged 22 takedowns per dual as a team and 7.8 points per individual dual match (omitting forfeited matches).
- Austin Gomez, Jarrett Degen and Marcus Coleman all finished the season with a team-high 40 takedowns. Gomez led the team in total back points in dual matches (52) and points scored per dual match (11.5).
- All nine of Iowa State's NCAA Qualifiers have 20 or more wins on the year.
- Dresser improved his all-time dual wins to 178 against Oregon State. He currently ranks as the No. 17 winningest active coach in Division I wrestling.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Colbray

Marcus Coleman

Jarrett Degen

Austin Gomez

Gannon Gremmel

Brady Jennings

Alex Mackall

Willie Miklus

Ian Parker

Skyler St. John

Chase Straw

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics