Iowa State wrestling coach Bobby Douglas is excited about the upcoming season. Five returning All-Americans and a pre-season No.1 rating are two possible reasons why.

The Cyclones, coming off a 20-5-1 dual season mark and a fourth place finish at the national meet, start the season next Friday at Minnesota State. Amateur Wrestling News tabbed the Cyclones the top team in the country in their pre-season poll.

“These guys have been working hard to get to this point, and I want to see the work pays off. I’m excited because I can see that these guys are on the right track and making good progress,” said Douglas. “Everybody is on the same page, and we’re going to have fun and reach high for our goals.”

Although his team is the early favorite to win the national title, Douglas states the Cyclones are more focused on the Big-12 conference schedule and tournament.

“We still feel like a year or two away. Our goals are simple, we want to win the conference tournament and then worry about nationals,” said Douglas. “We’re going to concentrate on the conference and getting our guys up to a skill and conditioning level that will make them fun to watch.”

Leading the list of returning All-Americans is defending 184-pound national champion Cael Sanderson. Sanderson made quite a splash as a freshman winning the title with a 38-0 record and being the first freshman to be named the NCAA Championship’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Despite the domination Sanderson showed as a freshman, Douglas is predicting an even better sophomore year. Sanderson will stay at 184 pounds and is the top-ranked wrestler at that weight class

“The Cael Sanderson we got this year would beat the Cael Sanderson of last year by at least five points. He didn’t get better by just becoming a sophomore, he got better through hard work and his progress is a result of his work ethic,” said Douglas.

Sanderson wants to better the results he put up as a freshman and agrees with his squad’s early ranking.

“This team is looking really good in practice. They know what they’re talking about when they rank us the best team in the country,” said Sanderson. “I’d like to dominate my weight class more and just basically have a good time.”

The Cyclones feature one other top ranked wrestler in Cody Sanderson who finished second at 133 pounds last year and will go at that same weight this season. Ranked second for the Cyclones are 165-pounder Joe Heskett and heavyweight Trent Hynek.

Hynek returns off a redshirt year and a runner-up finish in the 1998 NCAA tournament. Heskett placed third at nationals last year with his only season loss coming in the quarterfinal round.

“They’re definitely a lot more intense in their workouts. They’re working on areas of weakness and doing the right things to get the right results,” said Douglas.

The final returning All-American is Zach Thompson, who placed eighth at 197 pounds last season. Thompson enters the season ranked third, and Douglas has high expectations for the junior.

“Zach trained hard over the summer, and you can just see the improvement by watching him in practice. His intensity level has gone up, and I think he’s going to have an exceptional year,” said Douglas.

The Cyclones are banking on a pair of transfers to make an immediate impact in the lineup. Matt Azevedo, ranked ninth, will wrestle at 125 pounds, while Billy Maldonado, ranked seventh, will hold down the 149-pound slot.

Azevado transferred from Arizona State while Maldonado competed at Georgia State. Both were national qualifiers at their former schools.

“Matt Azevado beat us bad while he was at Arizona State, so we know he’s a very good wrestler, and we’re glad to get him,” said Douglas. “Billy is exciting to watch, and he’s going to go out there with the throttle wide open.”

Cole Sanderson was a national qualifier at 149 pounds last season and is involved in a tight battle at 157 pounds with Todd Buckland who was a junior college national champion.

“157 will be very interesting. Whoever makes that weight has a chance to be an All-American,” said Douglas.

The Cyclones are still up in the air at 174 pounds due to academic problems. Perry Parks or Ben Perkins will be the regular but aren’t eligible until second semester.

“We won’t know anything about who’s going to be at 174 until second semester. It will either be Parks or Perkins,” said Douglas. “We’re not sure who’s going to wrestle there for now but we know it’s not going to be a forfeit.”

Douglas points to defending national champion Iowa as the team to beat but also expects a number of teams to compete for the national title as well as the conference crown.

“I’ve done the math, and mathematically, it looks like Iowa is the team to beat because of their experience. You also can’t look past Illinois and Minnesota, who both have a lot of talent,” said Douglas.

“The conference is going to be real competitive. As far as dual meets go, it’ll be a toss up, and when the conference tournament rolls around, it’ll be who made the most progress.

Pressure and high expectations can be drawbacks to being rated the No. 1 team in the country before the season starts. Douglas welcomes the ranking and feels it’s helping the re-emergence of the program.

“You can’t ever consider being ranked No. 1 a negative. I think they gave us that ranking because of how well we’ve done at the NCAAs and our conditioning,” said Douglas.

“Our tradition is coming alive again, I think. You walk on campus, and everybody wants to know about the wrestling team, and it’s the same way in the community. I guarantee you that if we start getting 5,000 to 6,000 people in the stands, you’re going to see these guys wrestle a lot harder.”