Wrestlers hope to defend title

Jeff Stell

The ISU wrestling team will be looking to make a successful title defense at the NWCA National Duals at Penn State.It will be far from easy for the Cyclones, ranked fourth in the nation, as the top three ranked teams will also be competing in the 17-team field.”This is always an important part of the season,” ISU head coach Bobby Douglas said. “We use this as a prelude to the national tournament and it’s always a positive getting the kind of competition we’re going to face this weekend.”Last season, the Cyclones defeated Penn State, Cal State-Bakersfield, Oklahoma and Minnesota on their way to giving Douglas his first ever National Duals triumph.Cael Sanderson tied Dan Gable for 100 consecutive victories in the Cyclones 32-10 victory over Hofstra last weekend. In his first match of the tournament, Sanderson can move past Gable with his 101st victory.Oklahoma State enters the tournament as the No. 1 team in the nation after convincing victories over No. 2 Minnesota and No. 3 Iowa.”There’s no doubt that Oklahoma State is the favorite going into the tournament,” Douglas said. “We’re probably the fourth best team in the field but we wrestle better when we have that competition. “Winning the team title again would be nice but I’d rather win individual matches. We’re looking for individual performances so we can evaluate things and get ready for the next six weeks.”Douglas said he likes how his team is coming along and he feels the tough field can help his team on the improvement process.”There’s been an overall improvement in the team,” Douglas said. The intensity has come up and the technical execution is improving, and those are two things that make a great team in March. If we get 10 percent improvement then we’re going to be a tough team to beat in March.”