After an abnormal regular season, the Iowa State wrestling team made it to the final, most elite competition of the year Thursday.

The Cyclones had their first day of competition at the NCAA Championship on Thursday in St. Louis at the Enterprise Center. 

Iowa State had two athletes fight their way to day two of the NCAA Tournament: sophomore David Carr (157) ranked No. 3 and senior Gannon Gremmel (HWY) ranked No. 6. They will compete in the quarterfinals with a chance to take home a national title. 

The Cyclones were able to tally up 8.5 team points at the conclusion of day one, heading into day two in 19th place as a team. 

In his first NCAA appearance, Carr swept through both of the opponents he faced on day one. With no team points at this point, Carr took down Hartman in a 16-2 major decision, getting himself one step closer and his team some points on the board.  

For his second bout, Carr took on Will Lewan of the University of Michigan. Carr took out Lewan with a 10-2 major decision. 

Gremmel laid into Zach Knighton-Ward from Hofstra University in his first round. Gremmel let up points to Knighton-Ward but got the job done, winning with a 5-2 decision. 

In his last round before the quarterfinals, Gremmel took on Zach Elam of the University of Missouri. It was a stiff matchup for these two; Gremmel did not give any chance to Elam. Gremmel was victorious again after a 3-1 decision. 

No. 7 Ian Parker took on No. 26 Colin Valdiviez of Northwestern. Valdiviez scored immediately with a takedown and a 4-point nearfall. After a ruthless battle by both, Parker lost in a 8-5 decision. 

For an opportunity to earn third place in the NCAA Championships, Parker took on Saul Ervin from Southern Illinois Edwardsville. Parker grabbed a takedown early on in the first period. With another takedown late in the third, Parker was able to secure his win 4-2.

Senior Sam Colbray (184) took on Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen in his first round. Colbray put up a good fight; no points were scored until a penalty call that gave Keckeisen the first points. Colbray found a point but that was all, and Keckeisen won in a 2-1 decision. 

In his consolation round, Colbray took on Christopher Weiler of Wisconsin. Colbray was fierce, finding a way to advance every play. With four takedowns and riding time, Colbray defeated Weiler with a 12-4 major decision.

Marcus Coleman (197) took on Lucas Davison from Northwestern to start out his day. Coleman fell to Davison in an 8-3 decision but turned it around in the consolation bracket. 

Taking on Nick Reenan of North Carolina, Coleman had the power most of the match after racking up over two minutes of riding time. Coleman defeated Reenan with a 6-1 decision.

For his final tournament as a Cyclone, Jarrett Degen (149) took two losses in the first day of the competition.

His first loss was to Griffin Parriott of Purdue with a 10-7 decision. For his last matchup, he took on Cory Crooks of Arizona State. Degen was unable to come out on top; he lost 8-6.

Freshman Zach Redding (133), ranked No. 13, went head to head against Ryan Sullivan of West Virginia for his first round. Redding and Sullivan went back and forth for the lead all three periods. In a tie-breaker period, Redding ran out gas and lost 4-3. 

In his chance of redemption in the consolation bracket, Redding took a loss to Zach Price of South Dakota State. 

Kysen Terukina (125) concluded his first year as a Cyclone with a 6-2 loss in his first round (preliminaries) against Pat McCormick of Virginia. 

The Cyclones will continue their battle in the NCAA Championship at 10 a.m. Friday.