The ISU wrestling team will only go as far as the freshmen will take it.

NCAA tournament hopes, success in the Big 12 and the 2006 season rely largely on the six redshirt freshmen starters from the top-ranked recruiting class of 2004.

Nick Fanthorpe (125), Nick Gallick (133), Mitch Mueller (141), Cyler Sanderson (149), Jake Varner (184) and David Zabriskie (HWT) all have four years left in their careers to compete, but are expected to realize their potential quickly this winter.

Even with a team so young, the talent of the incoming class and the returning nucleus of the fourth-ranked Cyclones is good enough to win an NCAA championship, coach Cael Sanderson believes.

Cyler, Cael’s youngest brother, went a step further, guaranteeing a team title.

“We are going to be national champions this year,” he said. “That’s all I’ve got to say. We’re going to win it.”

Cyler’s opinion appears to be the consensus among the Cyclones.

“I believe him. And I think everybody on this team believes in it,” said Fanthorpe, one of three freshmen to beat out returning starters this fall. “People may think we’re not going to since we are a young team. Well, I don’t know what people think; it doesn’t really matter. It just matters that our coaches believe in us [and] what we can do.”

The first-year group is 57-9 so far this season and will get the first major test of their careers at the Iowa dual Sunday in Iowa City.

Cael Sanderson said the group is a solid foundation for the program.

He also said the wrestlers expect to win right away.

“They are only going to get better and better with each match,” Cael said. “And by the time we get to the Big 12 Championships and the national championships, they are going to be a force, they’ll be ready to go. I mean, they’re ready now, but you give them four more months and it’s only going to get better.”

The pressure of being relied on heavily so early isn’t a worry to the group. Gallick, whose brother Nate won an NCAA title as a Cyclone last season, said the pressure is good motivation for the freshmen.

Fanthorpe said he thinks their mindset is right where it should be.

“We have the amount of confidence that we need right now, stepping into the lineup as freshmen,” Fanthorpe said. “You don’t want to be overly confident, but I think we are at the level where we believe we can win, and we believe we have the tools here – the coaches, the workout partners.

“As long as we keep at this pace and keep working hard . we are going to be prepared. We just have to believe we are.”

Even though he’s in a freshman class that features the final Sanderson brother and another Gallick, Jake Varner faces the highest expectations of the entire class.

Ranked fifth in the nation, Varner (9-0) has already shown the physical ability and the talent to be an immediate championship contender. He beat top-ranked Jake Herbert in the 2005 FILA World Team Trials (5-1, 0-1, 2-2; 5-0, 3-3) and has pinned seven of his nine opponents thus far, more pins than any Cyclone had all last season.

“I just go out to wrestle. Whatever happens happens,” Varner said. “I’m going for the NCAA title.”

All six freshmen said they believe they are ready for the rigors of Division I college wrestling. Their coach thinks they will do more than just survive the schedule.

“The college season is different. It’s tough competition week in and week out,” Cael said. “Some people deal with that better than others, but I have a lot of confidence in these guys . They are everything that everyone has said they are.”