Maybe the simplicity of the sport is back for Jesse Sundell.

After struggling to stay above .500, the 133-pound wrestler has lately found some of the success that once made him almost unbeatable. A four-time Iowa champion, Sundell compiled a 134-1 record just more than 20 miles from Ames at Ogden High School.

Now a redshirt senior, he upset two opponents and placed second at the Midlands Championships over Winter Break – perennially one of the most competitive tournaments of the year.

His recent performance helped brighten his outlook for the rest of the season, his last as a Cyclone.

“You know, you just get in a groove,” Sundell said. “Coming off Midlands, having a big tournament, gets that momentum. Being out there scoring points makes everything more fun.”

Sundell placed third at the Big 12 Tournament and earned an NCAA berth as a junior, winning two matches in the consolation rounds but missing All-American status.

Fellow senior Nate Gallick was a member of Sundell’s recruiting class. He is still figuring out his teammate’s talents.

“Jesse, he is really quiet. He just always seems like he is sizing things up,” Gallick said. “But when it comes to wrestling, he’s unpredictable. He has got some big moves and can wrestle smart when he needs to.

“I think these last few weeks he’s just been relaxing and winning matches that on paper he’s not supposed to win. I think that’s what Jesse is all about.”

Gallick sized up Sundell’s post-season possibilities.

“He’s got a real good chance at being an All-American and maybe a national champ,” he said.

After Midlands, coach Bobby Douglas said Sundell was “the most improved wrestler on the team.” In the tournament, Sundell beat Central Michigan’s second-seeded Jason Borrelli, 7-6, on a reversal and near-fall in the third period. He then avenged an early season loss to Utah Valley State’s Erkin Tadshimotov.

He has since pinned two of his three opponents and improved to 12-8 on the season. Sundell’s career record is 40-32.

“I guess at the beginning of the year, it was kind of up and down. It wasn’t really going my way. I was getting close but wasn’t getting my own breaks,” Sundell said. “I guess last month, I just started working hard on my feet and stuff, trying to move the guy and getting stuff set up because my shots weren’t working well . it just seemed like I was wrestling a different type of style.”

He lost the Midlands title match, 9-7, to Cal-State Bakersfield’s Tommy Vargas. In the first period, he gave up a take-down and then a two-point near-fall after attempting a reversal, putting him in a 5-2 hole. He picked up two points in the second period, but couldn’t finish the comeback.

“Coming back, I took him down, but couldn’t get that last takedown,” Sundell said. “Those two [near-fall] points came back to haunt me.”

He leads the team with six pins.

“I never was really down on myself,” Sundell said. “I knew and the coaches knew my abilities and capabilities. It just started clicking the last few weeks.”

Assistant coach Cael Sanderson was finishing his Cyclone career during Sundell’s redshirt year.

“As a person, Jesse is a class act and a great kid,” Sanderson said. “As a wrestler, he has had a lot of success in the sport . He has some big, fun moves that everyone likes to watch. I don’t know where he pulls them from.”

Sundell was named the Cyclones’ Most Improved Wrestler during the 2004-05 season. He credited his continued growth to continued work with coaches.

“The main thing is head control. Setting my shots up . has been the main thing that has helped my offense, and on defense to block off,” Sundell said. “I worked on keeping my hips on tight and hand control.

“I like to just scramble on bottom, I like to move and scramble and get a reversal out of it.”

After the season is over, Sundell knows what he wants to do. He said that he wants to teach the two subjects that have always come easy to him: wrestling and math.

“Me and coach [Douglas] have been talking a lot. We talked about moving down to Branson; I’ve had some offers to go down there to coach and teach, still keeping involved coaching and teaching. Coach, he is all pumped up about it,” Sundell said.

With months left in his college career, Sundell’s family probably isn’t the only one hoping for a happy ending.

“Sundell, he has a chance to be an All-American,” Douglas said. “I don’t think you can count him out the way he has been wrestling.