Every time Kyven Gadson steps out on the mat, he fears the worst.

En route to a 15-2 record and a No. 9 ranking at 197 pounds by Intermat, Gadson has had a fear of re-injuring his shoulder with the possibility of missing the NCAA tournament in March.

“Having three shoulder surgeries and not being able to wrestle that much, it kind of put everything in perspective,” Gadson said. “I’m still trying to get over that fear and whatnot.”

Of the five Big 12 Wrestler of the Week awards that have been awarded this season, Gadson has earned two of them with the most recent one a result of his 3-1 sudden victory decision against then-No. 7 Micah Burak of Penn last Sunday.

The only other wrestler to win the award this season is Oklahoma’s Kendric Maple, who has won it three times.

Gadson has been an integral part of the change in attitude on the team, which has won four of its last five dual meets. That only loss came to Oklahoma in a 19-15 dual on Jan. 5.

“We’re riding when we need to ride, we’re getting away when we need to get away, but the attitude in which we’re competing and the intensity in which we’re competing was the most impressive for me for these guys,” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson. “I think that we’ve been pretty consistent with that since the Iowa match.”

It was in that 32-3 loss to Iowa on Dec. 1 where Gadson tallied the sole victory for the Cyclones (4-3, 0-1 Big 12). In that match, Gadson wrestled with more hesitation in one of his first matches since his senior year of high school.

Having always been considered a leader in the wrestling room, Gadson’s influence was far from latent.

“His attitude to the sport and everything that he feels is real infectious in the room,” said 125-pounder Ryak Finch. “You can just tell, I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone who wants to win like Kyven wants to win right now.”

Each match Gadson has wrestled has helped his confidence and deterred the fears and doubts, even though not completely.

“He’s still feeling it out,” Jackson said. “He knows he’s going to win, he wrestles to win, he’s going to go out there and he’s going to win, but for a wrestler of his caliber, he can dominate.”