ISU wrestling coach Kevin Jackson started his Monday press conference by expressing his mixed emotions about the Cyclones’ second place finishing at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls this past weekend. The Cyclones fell to top-ranked Iowa for the second time this season, 19–12, to take second at the event.

“[There were a] couple matches that we had trouble finishing in,” Jackson said. “If we can finalize our deep penetration defense, then I believe Andrew Long wins [against Iowa’s Matt McDonough] handily, I also believe Jon Reader wins [against Iowa’s Ryan Morningstar]. We didn’t finish some matches. Jon Reader had the lead, Andrew Long was in that match to win it, so we’re still working our fundamentals and finishing.”

However, Jackson was not reluctant to point out the positive aspects of his team’s rematch against Iowa.

“Our focus was a little bit better for the most part,” Jackson said. “Mitch Mueller took a step up, giving himself a chance to win in that match [against Brent Metcalf].”

Mueller fell to top-ranked Metcalf by a decision of 7–3. Metcalf pinned Mueller with a fall time of 5:50 in what many believed to be the deciding factor of the Hawkeyes’ 18–16 dual victory over the Cyclones back on Dec. 6 during their first encounter of the season.

After recovering from an injury earlier in the season, Nate Carr Jr. returned to the mats with high expectations at 157 pounds. However, the Gray, Ga., native struggled, going 1–2 at the Midlands Championships in late December and losing to Bloomsburg’s Matt Moley by a major decision of 19–6 in the first round of the National Duals. Jackson said that Carr’s struggles compelled him to pull him from the roster to start Andrew Sorenson for the rest of the tournament.

“He gets beat in must-win positions,” Jackson said of Carr. “You can’t get turned in matches, you can’t give up your wrists, you can’t give up back points — not to mention in a dual meet.”

Sorenson, a sophomore from Woden, went 2–1 after taking over for Carr in the National Duals, with his only loss coming to Iowa’s Aaron Janssen by a sudden victory decision of 3–1.

Senior Nick Gallick suffered a deep thigh bruise earlier in the season and has yet to see any action on the mats since re-aggravating his injury during the Dec. 6 dual against Iowa. Sophomore Dalton Jensen has stepped in for the All-American 141-pounder, going 3–3 in his absence. All three of Jensen’s victories were won by fall.

Jackson expressed the possibility of Gallick receiving a medical redshirt for this year; however, it is still too early to tell whether that would be plausible.

“From my understanding, you would be on hold until a decision would be made after the season’s over; so if he’s unable to wrestle and if we hope he gets a medical redshirt, that could be denied and his collegiate career would be over,” Jackson said of Gallick’s situation. “I’m disappointed for him because I really truly believe he could dominate [his] weight class. He was one of our leaders, and he was capable of being a national champion.”

The Cyclones return to the mats against Illinois at 7 p.m. this Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.