Senior Grant Turner will be back in the starting lineup on Friday against Minnesota, but it isn’t for the reason he wants.

David Bertolino was late for practice this week, which was justification, said ISU wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, to put Turner on the mat against 13th-ranked Gabriel Dretsch.

The revolving door at the 174-pound weight class is open again this season. Based on similar talents, contrasting styles, an injury and no clear superiority by either wrestler, Turner and Bertolino have switched on and off the varsity team, putting added stress on top of the rigors of Division I wrestling and college academics.

Sanderson has said from the beginning of the season that one of the two wrestlers needed to step up, but as of yet, neither has made his decision an easy one.

“Mentally, it’s really tough. It’s tough to focus,” Turner said. “If you don’t know you are going to wrestle, if you don’t know you’re going to be the guy, it’s up until you make weight and then you’re ready to go. And then all of the sudden you don’t wrestle. It wears on your mind a little bit.”

Last year, the competition for the starting job carried into the Big 12 season. Turner beat Bertolino in wrestle-offs, but Bertolino got the starting nod after Turner suffered a concussion in the first dual of the season.

Bertolino kept the spot for the majority of the year, but the job was open all the way into the conference season. Turner got the nod in the dual against then-No. 2 Oklahoma State and said he thought he would wrestle in the Big 12 Tournament. However, Bertolino took the mat in the tournament, though he failed to make it to the NCAAs.

Turner beat Bertolino in wrestle-offs again this year- which put him at 5-0 against the junior in his career – and wrestled in the season-opening dual against Buena Vista. Eight days later, in the semifinals of the Fullerton Open, Bertolino beat Turner for the first time, 8-6, and was named the starter for the next week.

Sanderson maintained the head-to-head matchups have no bearing on the decision.

“That’s not really an issue. We’re looking at outside competitions and effort in the room every day,” he said.

Turner said effort was the reason why Bertolino has wrestled in the past two duals against Arizona State and Iowa. In his last match, Bertolino lost a controversial 6-4 decision to Hawkeye All-American Eric Luedke.

“Coach just said that he wants to have the best guy that’s giving the best effort out there,” said Turner of his conversation with Sanderson when Bertolino was given the starting role. “He wants the best guy that we have at nationals. He said as of right now, Bertolino was trying a lot harder in practice, putting in a lot more time. Maybe it was kind of a challenge to put a spark underneath my ass to get me to go harder.”

Sanderson has said the permanent decision on who starts would need to be made early in the season. Bertolino said while it’s good in practice, the uncertainty of who will start isn’t healthy.

“In match times and tournament times and stuff, it’s kind of distracting, just nerve-racking,” Bertolino said. “I’ve really got to be on my game, I don’t want to have any mess-ups because I know he’s going to be right there, and the coaches are watching.”

Turner spoke for both himself and Bertolino, saying he didn’t want to rotate again this season.