With a 2-0 start to the dual season, Iowa State has gotten off on the right foot.

The Cyclones breezed by Army and Cal Baptist on Saturday, winning by a combined score of 64-9. 

In the duals on Saturday, as well as the Harold Nichols Open on Sunday, Iowa State had a strong showing from a very usual producer, some continued success at some upper weight classes and a couple weight classes that have multiple wrestlers contending for the top spot.

Carr bounces back from near upset

Coming into Saturday’s duals, Iowa State’s David Carr, the defending national champion at 157 and the top-ranked wrestler in the weight class, was coming off of a near upset against Nebraska’s Peyton Robb (now No. 6 in the country), who took Carr to overtime before losing to Carr.

In his two matches on Saturday, Carr didn’t let it be that close.

He first defeated No. 29 Markus Hartman (Army) by tech fall 18-2 (6:02). 

A large part of Carr’s work came in the second period, when he had two four point near-falls, resulting in eight points.

While his second win of the day wasn’t as dominant as the first, it was still dominant nonetheless, as he defeated Cal Baptist’s A.J. Raya by major decision 14-3.

With these wins on Saturday, Carr has extended his winning streak to 39.

Coleman and Devine impress 

Following runner-up finishes at the Daktronics Open, redshirt junior Joel Devine and redshirt senior Marcus Coleman, both had bumps in the Intermat rankings (Coleman at 184, No. 19 to No. 16), (Devine at 174, NR to No. 33) as well as sophomore Zach Redding (at 141, No. 19 now).

While all three went 2-0 on Saturday, Coleman and Devine’s wins were much more lopsided.

Against Army’s Clayton Fielden, Devine jumped ahead early with a first period takedown and never looked back, winning 5-0.

For Coleman, it was an escape in the second period, an advantage in riding time and takedown with 16 seconds that gave him a 4-1 win over Army’s Brad Laughlin (No. 29).

With his win over Laughlin, Coleman has now earned wins against ranked opponents in back-to-back weeks, as he beat Nebraska’s Taylor Venz (then No. 10). 

And they were just getting started.

With a trio of four point nearfalls in the second and third period, Devine defeated Cal Baptist’s Louis Rojas via tech fall 19-1 (6:35).

Coleman then followed in Devine’s footsteps by gaining by a tech fall victory, but he did so in about half the time (3:55). 

Coleman had three four point near-falls in the second period to defeat Cal Baptist’s Caden Gerlach (18-1). 

With Devine and Coleman wrestling well, Iowa State could now have some top-tier depth along with Ian Parker/Jarrett Degen at 149 and Carr at 157. 

Lots of weight classes still in the air

So far in this young season, Iowa State has not been afraid to trot out different wrestlers at different weight classes and see what sticks.

The biggest example of this is at 165.

In the Daktronics Open and the Harold Nichols Open, Iowa State has brought a multitude of wrestlers, junior Austin Kraisser, redshirt sophomore Carter Schmidt, redshirt juniors Logan Schumacher and Isaac Judge.

As for who the main starter is, it appears the Judge and Kraisser are the frontrunners, both of them were the starters on Sunday and placed in the top five at the Harold Nichols Open (third for Kraisser and fifth for Judge).

Iowa State went 1-1 at 165 on Saturday, with Judge falling 11-6 to Army’s Dalton Haskins and Kraisser defeating Cal Baptist’s Josh Grant 2-0 to start the Cal Baptist dual.

With Judge having a win in a dual and finishing the best amongst Cyclone 165 pounders at the Harold Nichols Open, he may be considered the top wrestler at 165, but not by much.

At Heavyweight, Iowa State went 1-1, with redshirt junior Francis Duggan falling to Army’s Ben Sullivan, but senior Sam Schuyler (No. 29) defeating Cal Baptist’s Chris Island via major decision 11-2.

Senior Ethan Andersen also may have thrown his name into the mix with his performance at the Harold Nichols Open.

He easily had the biggest win on Sunday, with a 3-2 upset win over No. 18 Carter Isley (Northern Iowa), before falling in the finals match.

At 125, it’s been a closely contested weight class so far between redshirt sophomore Kysen Terukina and redshirt junior Corey Cabanban.

Neither wrestled at the Harold Nichols Open, but Terukina got the start in the Army dual and Cabanban in the Cal Baptist dual.

Terukina topped Jake Staud via a 12-3 major decision and Cabanban beat Devin Garcia 2-0.

With Terukina having topped Cabanban in both the Grand View Open and Daktronics open, Terukina has the edge at 125, but head coach Kevin Dresser may not be hesistent about both them both out on the circle.

Last but not least, there’s the much talked about starting spot between redshirt seniors Jarrett Degen and Ian Parker. 

Degen has been the starter throughout the year, but it could change as the year goes on.

Degen, whose an NCAA All-American was 1-1 on Saturday, with a loss to Army’s P.J. Ogunsanya 4-3, and beating Cal Baptist’s Chaz Hallmark via 17-4 major decision.

So as this weekend shows, some of the Iowa State lineup is in flux.