Wrestlers get fourth at Duals

Jeff Stell

The ISU wrestling team found mixed results at the National Duals over the weekend.The Cyclones, ranked fourth in the nation, placed fourth in the 17-team tournament, finishing the weekend with a 3-2 record. The Cyclones recorded victories over Oklahoma, Montclair State and Michigan, and fell to No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 3 Iowa.The Cyclones defeated Montclair State and Oklahoma to get into Saturday night’s semifinal round where the Cowboys defeated ISU by a 25-13 margin. Sunday morning, the Cyclones pulled out a 22-16 win over the Wolverines before losing in the third place match to the Hawkeyes, 26-21. The loss was the Cyclones’ 27th straight to their intrastate rival.The highlight of the tournament for Iowa State came from Cael Sanderson at 184. Sanderson went 5-0, including a technical fall win in the Montclair State dual which gave Sanderson his 101st consecutive victory and moved him past Dan Gable for the national record.Sanderson’s five wins raised his career record to 105-0. The junior is top-ranked at 184, and he solidified that ranking by cruising to a 14-3 victory over second-ranked Daniel Cormier of Oklahoma State Saturday night.Also completing the weekend with a perfect mark in the tournament were senior Cole Sanderson at 157, junior Joe Heskett at 165 and senior Zach Thompson at 197. Heskett is No. 1 at 165 while Thompson is ranked third at 197.Heskett was never tested, winning a pair of major decisions and a technical fall, while Thompson’s performance was the opposite. Thompson wrestled four matches and won three by one point, including a 2-1 victory over No. 2 Mark Munoz of Oklahoma State.Sanderson won four decisions before not competing in the loss to the Hawkeyes. Sanderson was one of three Cyclones to forfeit in the loss as the Hawkeyes received 18 of their 26 team points from forfeits.Minnesota won the tournament title with a 20-12 victory over the Cowboys. The Golden Gophers got to the finals by beating Big 10 rival Iowa, 20-17 in the semifinals.