ISU wrestling prepares for Oklahoma State

Jeff Stell

A week after suffering a semifinal loss to No. 2 Oklahoma State at the NWCA National Duals, the ISU wrestling team gets another shot at the Cowboys tonight at Hilton Coliseum.The Cowboys defeated the fourth-ranked Cyclones 25-13 last weekend on their way to finishing second at the National Duals. The Cyclones ended up fourth after losing to Iowa for third place.ISU coach Bobby Douglas is using this meet as a measuring stick to evaluate where his squad is at the halfway point of the season and feels the previous meeting with the Cowboys will help his team for the rematch.”Obviously it’s going to be a real challenge and we’re really looking forward to the opportunity,” Douglas said. “We’re preparing for nationals and this will tell us where we stand. We needed film on [Oklahoma State] and we got all the film we needed last weekend.”The Cowboys will be trying to rebound from a 20-12 loss to Minnesota in the championship match at the National Duals.”It was disappointing for us; we knew that final would be a tough match,” Cowboy coach John Smith said. “We know that [ISU] is going to be ready. I’m sure they’re geared up and it’ll be a tough meet to go in and win.”Both coaches feel that at least seven or eight matches can go either way. In last weekend’s showdown, three matches went to double overtime and the Cowboys won two of the three.”The close matches didn’t go in our direction and we need that to change,” Douglas said. “Momentum is key. Whoever starts out strong and gets out in front, it will be hard to catch them.”One indicator of how even the teams are is that there will be 17 ranked individuals competing. The Cyclones feature nine ranked wrestlers, led by top-ranked Joe Heskett and Cael Sanderson at 165 and 184, respectively.At 197, Cyclone Zach Thompson moved up to second in the rankings after a strong showing last weekend. In the loss to the Cowboys, Thompson defeated No. 2 Mark Munoz for the third time in his career, including a victory in the semifinals at the national tournament last season.Cael Sanderson went 5-0 last weekend to move his career record to 105-0 and will face second-ranked Dan Cormier tonight. Sanderson defeated Cormier 14-3 at the National Duals.”My kid has gone out to wrestle [Cael] and just hasn’t gotten the job done,” Smith said. “We’re going to have to do a lot more to make it respectable; that’s what we’re hoping for.”Six other weights will highlight a pair of ranked wrestlers squaring off.”There’s no question there’s going to be some tough matches,” Smith said. “There’s seven or eight real good matchups on paper and the winner of those are going to dictate the score of the match.”One change in the Cyclone lineup will be Benjie Winegardner filling in for Billy Maldonado at 149. Maldonado also missed the National Duals.”We’re just holding [Billy] for a while,” Douglas said. “He’s being evaluated in a couple of areas. It’s a coach’s judgment.”The meeting will be 59th in the rivalry’s history with the Cowboys maintaining a 40-15-3 advantage. Last season the Cyclones whipped the Cowboys 22-10 in Stillwater.”This will be one of the great dual matches of the last century,” Douglas said. “There’s been tremendous dual meets between these two teams in the past and this shouldn’t be different.”