The No. 10 Cyclones dominated in their season opener on Sunday and won all but one match against the Vikings in their 43-3 victory. Iowa State cruised past the Vikings due to some solid wins from fresh faces in the lineup and veterans in the program as well.
Here are the three big takeaways from the Cyclones’ first dual meet win of the season:
David Carr returns home & earns UFC Fight Pass Most Outstanding Wrestling
Returning to his high school gymnasium at Perry High School, Carr capped the Cyclones’ season-opening win with a fall in 1:47.
Carr looked impressive in his first match this season as he hopes to build off his finish from last season where he finished second at the NCAA Championships.
In the final bout of the day, Carr pinned Daniel Patten using the ‘Dresser Dump’ move as he hopes to return to the NCAA championship game this season.
All four new guys secure wins
Anthony Echemendia, Evan Frost, Caleb Helgeson and Nando Villaescusa all found themselves in the Iowa State lineup for the first time in their wrestling careers and all secured wins.
All four redshirts had no difficulty against their respective opponents. Helgeson and Villaescusa won by major decision 14-3 and 16-8. Frost also won his match by major decision 17-3. Echemendia was the only one of the four not to win by major decision as he had tech falled his opponent 24-7 in five minutes.
The upset by Villaescusa is something that head coach Kevin Dresser is sure to be content about as Villaescusa defeated No. 24 Ben Smith at 197 lbs. After starting slow he rode out the final two minutes and secured the upset.
The fresh faces of Iowa State proved why they should stay in the lineup consistently as they helped win the takedown battle against Cleveland State.
Full Team domination
The Cyclones won the takedown battle by an overwhelming 47-6. Nine of Iowa State’s victories all earned bonus points in their bouts.
Identical twin Jacob Frost was the lone Clone not to receive a victory on Sunday afternoon. No. 27 Dylan Layton threw two seven-point moves and showed why he’s a ranked opponent at 141 lbs. Frost looked great at the prelims but fell short in a 22-18 battle.
The Cyclones will be back in action at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 . for their home opener at Hilton Coliseum against Davidson.
