In my four years of covering the ISU wrestling team, I’ve seen it at its best, as well as its worst.

When I started covering the Cyclones as a freshman, they placed third at nationals with two individual champions and a potential third champion — top-ranked 141-pounder Nick Gallick — out due to injury.

Two years later, a laden malaise coated the team as it placed 35th at nationals, failing to bring home an All-American for the first time in 50 years.

But after an 11th-place finish with three All-Americans — two of whom will be returning next year — at this year’s NCAA Championships, I can tell you one thing: ISU wrestling is coming back.

“It sets us up to be in a position that we can definitely move forward from,” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson, who will be entering his fifth season as coach this fall. “I’m not sure what it sets us up for, except that we have to be better every single match.”

I’m not saying Iowa State — which only loses two seniors from this season — is a lock to be in full-out contention for the team title next season, but it is not going to be dropping past 20th at NCAAs with the group it has.

Success typically takes time. If there’s anything I’ve learned about the team this season, it’s that time is already ticking for its return to prominence in the collegiate wrestling world.

“We’re going to be tough,” said redshirt sophomore Michael Moreno, who placed sixth at 165 pounds this past season. “Hopefully this lights a fire under some of the guys that aren’t [competing at the NCAAs] or maybe didn’t get on the podium this year and achieve what they wanted to achieve.”

Even though he wasn’t happy about his sixth-place finish, Moreno caught fire to attain All-America status by pinning two of his opponents and beating the No. 12 seed by technical fall en route to his spot on the podium.

For someone who won four matches the year before, that’s pretty dang impressive.

As one of three unseeded wrestlers to place sixth or higher throughout the entire tournament, Moreno cleared a path for his teammates to follow. And as they say, it only takes one to incite change.

However, Iowa State has two.

With everything surrounding the recent death of his father, Kyven Gadson was battling more than just his opponents when he took the mat last weekend.

Akin to Moreno, Gadson went 4-0 on March 22, 2013 to earn All-American status as both became the first wrestlers in school history with fathers who also did so in ISU singlets.

But Gadson’s sixth-place finish at 197 pounds didn’t sit well with him.

“I don’t like losing,” Gadson said. “That last match — those last two matches, you could say — I just didn’t wrestle the way I was capable of wrestling. That’s something that will sit with me all summer and be a driving force for me to come back next year and get on top of that podium.”

From what I’ve seen, Gadson is the one most capable of winning an NCAA title.

As Jackson said two years ago, Gadson is one of the most athletic wrestlers he’s ever coached. His attacks are quick and consistent, he’s got good awareness on the mat and he’s only going to get better.

Tanner Weatherman fell one match shy of becoming an All-American at 174 pounds and Boaz Beard has been solid at 184, so look for Iowa State’s heavier weights to continue their role as the rock of the lineup.

Again, I’m not saying the team will be aggressively on the hunt for a national title next year.

But will it be sinking to the 30s in the team standings at nationals? Absolutely not.

ISU wrestling is on the upswing, so don’t be surprised to see another top-15 finish with a couple more All-Americans — maybe a champion or two — next season.

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Jake Calhoun is a senior in journalism from Urbandale, Iowa.