Editor’s note: This is part seven of a 10-part series breaking down the Iowa State wrestling roster weight-by-weight. While athletes switching to different weights is inevitable, for the sake of simplicity and consistency, this series will base the weights off of past weights.

Like 165, the 174-pound weight struggled throughout the season for Iowa State in 2017-18. The 174-pounders are a young group, but they should get a boost with a few athletes coming off of redshirt seasons.

Marcus Coleman

The Ames native spent last season competing in tournament, while he redshirted. Coleman completed his first collegiate season with a 24-2 record.

Coleman’s pair of losses were from Northern Iowa’s Taylor Lujan. At the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open, Lujan handed Coleman his first loss with a final score of 8-0. At the Grandview Open the next weekend, Lujan won via a 20-4 technical fall.

Lujan — the No. 9 174-pounder in FloWrestling’s final 2017-18 rankings — is by far the toughest opponent Coleman faced in his redshirt season.

Outside of Lujan, Coleman did what he’s supposed to. He won 24 matches with 12 of those wins ending with a technical fall or fall.

The 174-pound weight gets a much-needed boost in 2018-19 with Coleman’s presence.

Hank Swalla

Swalla — another Ames native — is one of the few experienced wrestlers at 174 for Iowa State. The redshirt junior went 8-7 (with two of those losses coming from medical forfeits) and 1-3 in dual meets.

Swalla’s lone dual win came against Fresno State’s Dominic Kincaid in sudden victory by a score of 5-3.

While Coleman will likely get the call at 174, Swalla will be in his fourth season at Iowa State and will provide experience with a weight full of freshmen.

Mac Southard

Southard finished his redshirt season with a 9-3 record with two of his losses coming from Northern Illinois’ Brit Wilson.

A pair of notable wins came in the Grand View Open when Southard beat Iowa State’s Tucker Morrison and Iowa State’s DeMichael Franklin.

Coleman should anchor the starting 174-pound job, but Southard should push Swalla for the back up spot and maybe crack a dual meet.

Tucker Morrison

Morrison finished his redshirt season at 7-12. Morrison lost to Southard, Taylan Entriken and DeMichael Franklin last season.

With a handful of options at 174, Morrison can spend another season improving in tournaments.

DeMichael Franklin

Franklin finished exactly .500 with a 7-7 record in his redshirt season. The 174-pounder went 1-2 in tournaments against his teammates.

Similar to Morrison, Franklin can spend another year developing through tournaments.

Zane Mulder

Mulder, a Dallas-Center Grimes graduate, finished 5th twice at the state tournament and 3rd twice at the state tournament.

His first season at Iowa State will likely be spent redshirting.

Tate Battani

A former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse commit, Battani switched to Iowa State in late May. The Ballard graduate finished 3rd at state tournament in his fourth appearance there during his senior season.

Battani is another candidate to redshirt with a full room at 174.