After a shaky season at the kicker position, a big question still weighs on Cyclones’ minds — who will kick next season?

The Cyclones muddled through the first half of last season looking for anyone to fill the void left by an injured Tony Yelk until freshman walk-on Bret Culbertson stepped in and carried the kicking game through the end of the season.

One year later, Culbertson is still on the top of the depth chart, but now that Yelk is healthy, he has competition.

“It helps both of us improve,” Culbertson said.

“We’re both out there and we’re competing for a spot, just trying to be the better man. But we don’t lose respect for each other in any sense, either.”

Iowa State has eight kickers, including punters, on its spring roster, bringing a healthy competition to the position.

“It’s nice, first of all, to have guys to work with,” said ISU coach Dan McCarney.

“I’ve been through some springs where you lose a senior kicker or a couple guys, and you’re really thin.

“There are a couple capable guys out there right now who are kicking.”

Culbertson made his first appearance on the field at Colorado and went on to make 8 of his 10 field goal tries.

He also made all 16 extra point kicks, another thing the Cyclones had struggled with before the freshman took over.

“He’s our No. 1 guy,” McCarney said.

“He’s not hitting all of them, but he’s hitting most of them and he’s kicking with confidence.”

Culbertson missed one kick in the Cyclones’ win over Kansas State, and pushed a potential game-winning kick to the right against Missouri.

“What’s the kid missed? Two kicks?” said ISU assistant coach Terry Allen. “But the one that lurks in everyone’s mind is the one he missed down in the south end zone.

“The irony of that while situation, he had the exact kick from the exact same hash from the exact same yard line in the bowl game and made it. Will he ever forget that kick? Probably not. But we’re hoping he can overcome it.”

Even though he may never forget the kick, Culbertson said he is ready to move past it.

“It was just a bad kick, I guess,” Culbertson said. “I know I can go out there and make it 9 out of 10 times. You just have to cool your jets and get out there again and do your job.”

Also back in the mix is Yelk, who was granted a medical redshirt because of a hip injury that cost him all of last season.

Yelk has hit 11 of 25 field goals on his career as a place kicker, and also has a 42.3-yard average as a punter.

“Tony has had a really good spring up until last week and then he struggled a little bit,” Allen said. “Knocking some of the rust off, I suppose you could say.

“He has without a doubt the strongest leg on the team. He’s pushing and competing with [Troy] Blankenship as far as punting and with Culbertson kicking. It just adds competition to every phase.”

Also listed on the spring roster are kickers Josh Griebahn, Brian Jansen, Scott Krava, Corey Paetznick and Tyler Pontier.

Jansen and Krava are the only other kickers who have seen game-time experience. Jansen connected on 3 of 9 field goal tries, missing 3 of 4 kicks in a seven-point loss at Iowa. Krava misfired on his only two field goal attempts.

Yelk’s return has also started a battle with Blankenship for the starting punter.

“It changes everything from last season,” Blankenship said. “This will only make us better.”

Blankenship averaged 38.4 yards per punt last season as a junior.

Yelk owns two of the top seven single-season punting averages in ISU history. His 42.8-yard-per-kick average in 2001 is second on the school’s charts.