The Cyclone wrestling home opener is set to get underway Sunday with a matchup against Davidson.
Coming off a dominant 43-3 win over Cleveland State in the season opener, the Cyclones have high expectations going into the 2023-24 season.
“It was a good start for us,” Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser said. “We got a lot of dates left on the calendar, but I thought it was a really good start. We preach a lot about scoring points and having a product that people like to watch and the people that watched us this weekend liked what they saw.”
Senior Kysen Terukina wrestled for the first time in nearly a year against Cleveland State and was thrilled to get back onto the mat.
“It felt amazing,” Terukina said. “We wrestle so hard every day so it felt good to show what we’ve been doing in the room and perform.”
Terukina had his first career technical fall during his matchup against Ben Aranda at 125 pounds.
This season, the NCAA wrestling committee added a rule change where takedowns are now worth three points as opposed to two.
“When you love doing takedowns, they add up,” Terukina said. “I love to wrestle on my feet and take people down, three points is what it should be and should have always been.”
Terukina took advantage of the rule change with an impressive 20-5 win by tech fall in his first match after a severe injury last season. Terukina and the entire squad will look to build on their victory when they return home Sunday.
Iowa State welcomes a few familiar faces this weekend in its duel against Davidson.
David Carr just wrestled in his high school gymnasium in Massillon, Ohio, against Cleveland State, however his homecoming continues as he will battle against his older brother’s squad on Sunday.
The Davidson Wildcats are led by Nate Carr Jr. in his second year as the program’s head coach.
This season David Carr will aim to win his second NCAA championship, after finishing in second place last season. However, he’ll have to start the home opener going against his own family.
The Carr connection will not be the only reunion in Ames however, as former two-time All-American Marcus Coleman, who finished his career as a Cyclone last season, returns as an assistant coach for the Wildcats.
“Davidson is young,” Dresser said. “I like the energy that Nate Carr Jr. has and of course Marcus Coleman now. It’s a new program, and I am sure they are sending a message to their guys that this is what it looks like at the next level. That doesn’t take anything away as we need to go out and do what we did last weekend.”
The duel is set to start at 6 p.m. Sunday. It can be watched with Big 12 on ESPN+, or can be listened to on Cyclones.com and the Varsity App.
