No. 4 Iowa State earns another Big 12 dual win
AMES — Jason Kraisser was rolling the dice.
At 157-pounds, the No. 27 ranked Kraisser started the night for No. 4 Iowa State against Big 12 rival No. 29 Oklahoma at Hilton Coliseum.
The senior was in trouble, down 4-0 to Oklahoma’s unranked Jared Hill at the end of the first period. Kraisser suffered a takedown, then lost two back points. He needed a big second and third period to start the dual in favor of Iowa State.
“When everything comes down to the last takedown it’s like rolling the dice,” Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser said.
The lead-off man for Iowa State responded late in his match. He scored a takedown and escape to tie the match at four and send it to sudden victory. Hill challenged Kraisser in the extra period but the Cyclone scored a takedown with 14 seconds remaining in the sudden victory period, allowing the Cyclones to strike first.
The Cyclones went on to win six out of 10 matches Friday and take down the Sooners 25-12 for a 14th consecutive dual win in Big 12 play.
“I give him credit for coming back like he did,” Dresser said. “But we got to get the first period figured out. We need to make some adjustments.”
The Sooners scored no bonus points in the Big 12 matchup while the Cyclones added bonus points three times. Iowa State suffered upset losses at the 285, 141 and 149-pound weight classes.
Iowa State’s No. 2 165-pounder David Carr recorded a takedown with just four seconds remaining in his match with Oklahoma’s No. 20 Gerrit Nijenhuis to earn a tech fall. Carr recorded eight takedowns and finished ahead of Nijenhuis 18-6.
Both Marcus Coleman and Zach Redding earned wins by fall over their opponents. The unranked Redding faced the No. 27 133-pounder Wyatt Henson. Redding secured the pin with 4:11 remaining in the second period.
Coleman secured his pin after 5:50 of wrestling in the third period against Oklahoma’s unranked Keegan Moore.
For a pair of Iowa State freshmen, the NCAA wrestling landscape is catching up, according to the Cyclone head coach.
“This college wrestling is really hard,” Dresser. “Everyone figures you out a little bit. You’re no longer a brand-new guy and everybody’s gunning for you.”
Iowa State true freshman Casey Swiderski and Paniro Johnson suffered upset losses in Friday night’s dual with the Sooners.
At 141 pounds, Swiderski was pitted against No. 27 Mosha Schwartz from Oklahoma. Schwartz entered the dual with an impressive 15-2 record. Still, the Oklahoma junior was ranked eight spots behind the No. 19 ranked Cyclone newcomer.
Schwartz earned an escape and a takedown and finished ahead of Swiderksi for a 3-2 decision.
At 149 pounds, the fellow Iowa State freshman Johnson fell to an unranked Sooner John Wiley.
On Sunday, Iowa State will return to Hilton Coliseum to face another Big 12 conference powerhouse. No. 12 ranked Oklahoma State will face off with the No. 4 ranked Cyclones.
The dual will feature several top-20 matchups while both teams will wrestle on a quick turnaround. Oklahoma State will face Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls on Saturday night just before traveling to Ames to face the Cyclones Sunday at 2 p.m.
For Dresser, the quick turnaround is nice as his young wrestlers gain more experience and confidence quickly.
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