The Iowa State wrestling team finished in a tie for fourth at the NCAA championship to close out its surprising season. The Iowa Hawkeyes edged Minnesota to claim the overall title, and Oklahoma State finished in third-place.

The Cyclones were led by standout freshman Cael Sanderson, who claimed the 184-pound title. Cael Sanderson handily defeated Minnesota’s Brandon Eggum 6-1 and was subsequently named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

“My style is just a lot of motion, stepping out so I can grab their feet. Things worked out great for me tonight. I try not to put too much pressure on myself, and I think that has helped,” Cael Sanderson said.

Cael Sanderson is the first freshman to ever garner this honor and finished the season with a perfect 38-0 record. His other four victories were even more impressive as he recorded an 18-6 major decision and pinned his other three opponents.

“I have never seen a freshman like Cael. Speed kills, and Cael is all about speed,” head coach Bobby Douglas said.

Cody Sanderson, the eldest of the Sanderson trio, nearly duplicated his brother’s feat and finished second at 133-pounds. Cody Sanderson battled two-time national champion Eric Guerrero to a 1-1 tie in regulation before bowing out in overtime for a 3-1 loss.

“I could have hand guarded him through the whole overtime. That is what he likes, things pretty and crisp, but I went for an aggressive move to win the match, and I would do it again,” Cody Sanderson said.

Cody Sanderson wrapped up his junior season with a 29-6 record after going 3-1 in his third NCAA championship appearance.

Iowa State’s other superb freshman, Joe Heskett, finished his first campaign wearing the cardinal and gold with a third-place finish. Heskett entered the tournament undefeated but was upset in sudden-death overtime by Arizona State’s Steve Blackford.

However, a determined Heskett wrestled his way back to claim third at 165-pounds, including a 6-3 victory over Blackford. Heskett completed his freshman season with a 38-1 record and showed a lot of heart by bouncing back from his first collegiate loss.

“I wanted to show everyone that I was strong enough to come back all the way to get third place. I wanted to do everything I could to help the team,” Heskett said.

Sophomore Zach Thompson was the fourth Cyclone to capture All-American honors by placing eighth at 197-pounds. Like Heskett, Thompson also suffered a sudden-death overtime defeat.

Thompson vented some frustration by pinning his next opponent in wrestle-backs, but then dropped another overtime match 3-1 to Raphael Davis of Cal-Bakersfield.

In the seventh-place match he lost another close match to Northwestern’s Sam Neider. It was the fourth time this season that they had met with Thompson winning the last two.

Cole Sanderson recorded an opening round technical fall over Arizona State’s Quinn Foster before dropping his second round match at 149-pounds.

In the consolation round, Cole Sanderson was also bitten by the overtime bug when he lost to Minnesota’s Troy Marr in sudden death. That loss ended his season, but he is only a sophomore and will join his two brothers once again next season.

The Cyclones’ only senior, David Maldonado, posted an opening round 3-2 win over Illinios’ Griff Powell but was defeated in second round competition.

After back-to-back wins, the 157-pounder was finally ousted from the tournament with a loss in the consolation bracket.

After a spectacular comeback in the Big 12 championship, Perry Parks proved that his performance was not a fluke. The sophomore 174-pounder used a five-point move in the waning moments of his first round match to post an 11-8 victory.

Parks entered the tournament unseeded but proved that he belonged after knocking off the fourth seed in the second round. He scored a takedown in overtime to upset Northwestern’s Mark Bybee and advance to the quarterfinals.

“I did the things I had to do and fought the whole match,” Parks said.

Parks dropped his next two matches but will definitely have something to build on for next season.

Heavyweight Mark Knauer drew a tough opening round opponent and lost to fourth seeded Matt Orndorff of Oregon State. He was eliminated in Thursday evening’s wrestle-backs but exceeded everyone’s expectations just by qualifying for the NCAA championship.

The Cyclones should definitely be one of the front runners heading into next season. They return five All-Americans, including 1998 heavyweight runner-up Trent Hynek who red-shirted this season. Iowa State will be a very young, yet experienced squad as it only graduates one senior.