Despite a third-place finish in this year’s NCAA Wrestling Championships, coach Kevin Jackson is not satisfied.

With a lot of change coming for the Cyclones in the upcoming offseason,  Jackson will have some gaps to fill to reach his expectations, but should have the resources to do it.

“Obviously we’re not excited about our finish,” Jackson said.

“We have a lot of work to do and a lot of new faces to groom to get to where we want to get to.”

The biggest change for the team will be the loss of the senior class.

The seniors have racked up more than 550 wins in their time with the program.

Nick Fanthorpe (133), Mitch Mueller (149), Joe Curran (184), Duke Burk (174), Jake Varner (197) and David Zabriskie (HWT) will all be graduating.

Five of those six participated in the NCAA tournament, with Fanthorpe and Mueller falling just short of All-American status and Varner and Zabriskie taking home first place in their weight classes.    

“We’re losing these four seniors, but I think we’re going to fill in nicely,” Jackson said after the NCAA tournament.

“I think the kids that we kept gained some valuable experience from this tournament and the year.”

Although he is also a senior, the future for Nick Gallick (141) is unclear.

The two-time All-American and 2008 Big 12 champ underwent season-ending bone spur surgery in January.

The team is attempting to get him a medical redshirt to return next season, which would give some experience to the young team.

Two All-Americans, freshman Andrew Long (125) and junior Jon Reader (165), will be returning as the most decorated wrestlers to next year’s squad.

Long earned his All-American honors at this year’s NCAA tournament, and surprised many in the process by defeating the undefeated Angel Escobedo of Indiana in the process.

Reader grabbed All-American status at the 2008 and 2009 NCAA tournaments, but didn’t have such success at this year’s event.

Reader fell to Old Dominion’s Chris Brown in the first round and didn’t make it far enough through the consolation bracket.

“Some things happened out there that were uncharacteristic so we just need to get him back home and make sure we can get him back on track, get his head on straight and get him ready for his senior year,” Jackson said.

Other starters that will return next are Dalton Jensen (141), Andrew Sorenson Nate Carr, Jr. (157) and Jerome Ward (184).

In November, Jackson and his staff announced their incoming freshman class.

Eight wrestlers from three different states make up the class, bringing 10 individual state titles.

“We’ve got some incoming freshman that we’ll have to decide if they’re ready to win an NCAA championship or not as individuals,” Jackson said.

“If I think they can win an NCAA title and they believe they can win an NCAA title, we’re going to wrestle them.”

The class includes Iowans Mikey England (Centerville), Kyven Gadson (Waterloo), Brandon Jones (West Des Moines), Michael Moreno (Urbandale) and Trevor Voelker (Adel).

Joining them will be Joey Cozart of Brandon, Fla., Ryak Finch of Safford, Ariz., and Luke Goettl of Clarksdale, Ariz.

According to Intermat, Finch is the top-ranked 119-pounder in the country.

Cozart and Moreno are the fourth-ranked wrestlers at 152 and 171 pounds, respectively.

Gadson is pegged at No. 6 among 189-pounders.

While he is unranked nationally, Goettl has won three Arizona state titles at three different weight classes.

Along with success at the high school level, the incoming class also brings a number of Cyclone wrestling family ties.

Mike Moreno, Michael’s father, was an All-American for the Cyclones in 1996.

Gadson’s father, Willie, was a two-time All-American in the 1970s.

Since Jackson has said that most incoming freshman could be redshirted, the remainder of the roster may be looked on to fill the holes left by the departing senior class.

“We’ve got a couple of kids like Boaz Beard and Trent Weatherman that are sitting in the wings waiting to have their chance on the team,” Jackson said.

“We have some other quality kids that we think can come in right away and perform.”

Other wrestlers on the roster that saw dual action this season are Chris Spangler (174), who took over for Burk in a few meets.

Kyle Simonson (197), who replaced Zabriskie against Maryland in the Cliff Keen National Duals.

Trevor Dearden and Dallas Collier filled in for Long at 125 in two separate duals.