Iowa State wrestler Alfonso Cruz and a friend were charged with two counts each of third degree sexual abuse over Thanksgiving break.

Ames police responded to a complaint of sexual assault at a west Ames residence at about 5 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 22.

Cruz, 27, and Phillip Castro, 21, were arrested about 10 a.m. the same morning. Castro, who is not an ISU student, is from Tucson, Ariz. Cruz, 214 S. Hyland, No. 1, is also from Tucson. Both men were being held at the Story County Jail on $25,000 bond. The name of the alleged victim was not released. Both Cruz and Castro reportedly knew her.

Wrestling coach Bobby Douglass has suspended Cruz from the team.

“I will wait to take further action until I have investigated this incident more thoroughly,” Douglass said in a prepared statement.

Cruz, an NCAA Tournament qualifier a year ago with a 31-11 record, looked to be one of ISU’s top returners this season as a 118/126-pound senior. Cruz was a junior college national champion in 1992 at Colby Community College in Colby, Kan. He is a junior transfer majoring in history and Spanish. According to the 1995-96 ISU wrestling media guide, Cruz is married and has two children.

Cruz’s arrest comes while ISU athletic officials are under pressure to standardize discipline policies. Murray Blackwelder, ISU’s interim vice president for external affairs, asked the athletic council earlier this month to recommend a uniform policy to university president Martin Jischke.

Cruz is the second ISU athlete to be charged with sexual abuse this year. Basketball player Kenny Pratt, a junior guard/forward from Chicago, was accused last month of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old female student in a Willow Hall room. He was dismissed from the team by Coach Tim Floyd, but was reinstated when Story County District Attorney Mary Richards decided not to press the case forward.

Pratt started in ISU’s 70-45 season-opening win over Central Connecticut State last Friday. He scored five points and grabbed nine rebounds, playing 19 minutes.