It has been a long and interesting journey to the mat for ISU redshirt junior Matt Gibson.

As a sophomore in high school in Vallejo, Calif., Gibson made the decision to attend a wrestling camp at Iowa State. Just his second year in the sport at the time, it was that experience which pushed Gibson to enjoy wrestling the way he does now.

“That’s what really made me fall in love with wrestling,” Gibson said. “Coming out here to Iowa State and being part of this team keeps me in love with the sport.”

Before Gibson made the jump to Iowa State, he attended Sierra College, a junior college in his home state. As a freshman, Gibson wrestled in the Cyclone Open where he beat ISU heavyweight Eric Thompson en route to placing sixth at heavyweight.

This caught the attention of the coaching staff.

The Cyclones pursued Gibson and added him to their team last season. In his first year at Iowa State, Gibson went 8-5 with wins over multiple ranked opponents.

Gibson also worked hard in the wrestling room. One of his teammates, true freshman Tyler Swope, said it has been nice to have him on the team.

“He’s a great practice partner, a great kid to be around,” Swope said. “He’s helped me out a lot, and he’s just a really good competitor to have in the room with me.”

On his way to being the team’s heavyweight to start the season, Gibson was charged with public intoxication at about 2 a.m. on Oct. 30, according to the Ames Police Department.

The police report said Gibson was asked by bar staff at Sips to leave and was then asked by officers to leave the area but was argumentative. ISU wrestling coach Kevin Jackson was forced to discipline him.

“We’re trying to build something here, so we tried to send a message to him and the rest of our guys, ‘Either you’re going to try your best and do everything right, or we’re going to disciple you accordingly,'” Jackson said.

The disciplinary action included being held out of the first two duals against Army and Boston and wrestling unattached at the Cyclone Open — which he won at heavyweight.

“I made a mistake,” Gibson said. “I’m human.”

On Sunday, Gibson, now ranked as the No. 19 heavyweight by IntermatWrestle.com, will return to the mat. After wrestling in an unaffiliated singlet in recent tournaments, Gibson said he is excited to wear the cardinal and gold again.

“I think it’s going to be a lot more exciting to wrestle for Iowa State,” Gibson said. “I know I was representing Iowa State the past two weeks, but now it’s official.”

When Gibson gets on the mat, he will do so with high expectations. Jackson believes Gibson — who has won two tournaments wrestling unattached without normal training — has high potential this season.

“He’s capable of beating anybody in the country,” Jackson said. “As long as we continue to get him in a little bit better shape and get his offense off a little bit more, I think he can beat anybody.”

As Gibson moves forward with high hopes of his own, Jackson feels he can be as good as he wants. If he reaches that potential, Jackson said Gibson could play a big role on the team.

“It’s just a matter of if he believes in his heart and in his soul that he’s better and he deserves to win,” Jackson said. “If he continues to push as hard as he can in practice and does everything right on and off the mat, he’s going to give us a chance to perform very well at [heavyweight].”