The Cyclones enjoyed success during the Virginia Duals and a comeback win over West Virginia. This weekend proved the Cyclones still have a lot of kinks to work out.

After a loss to Oklahoma on Friday, the Cyclones fell 31-3 to the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Ian Parker

Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser plugged redshirt freshman Ian Parker into the 141-pound spot after news broke that Kanen Storr planned on transferring.

Parker, a 133-pounder for most of this season, thrived this weekend at 141-pounds. On Friday, the Saint Johns, Michigan native picked up a quality win over Oklahoma’s Mike Longo in Parker’s 141 debut.

On Sunday, Parker faced a tougher task in No. 5 Dean Heil — a two-time NCAA Champion. Heil wrestled Missouri’s Jaydin Eierman on Saturday, the No. 3 141-pounder according to Intermat.

Eierman dominated Heil, finishing the match in the second period with a pin.

Heil’s struggles continued on Sunday. After two periods, Parker clung to a 1-0 lead. To start the third period, Parker started on top, but Heil escaped in six seconds.

The score was tied at 1-1, and Heil controlled 1:01 of riding time, which would tack on another point for Heil if he could manage to keep it at or above a minute.

With under a minute left in the match, Parker struck for a takedown, shifting the score to 3-1 in Parker’s favor. On top of the takedown, Parker rode long enough to negate Heil’s riding time.

As the clock struck zero in the third period, Parker emerged victorious, resulting in a 2-0 weekend for the redshirt freshman.

Cyclone wrestling followers went crazy on Twitter, including the athlete Parker replaced — Kanen Storr.

When Cyclone fans heard that Storr was granted his transfer release, many fans were concerned. Storr’s departure left a hole in Iowa State’s lineup because Cyclone fans expected Storr to be part of the foundation for Iowa State in the next four years.

With Parker’s results from this weekend, the Storr departure might not be as detrimental as many fans originally thought.

Close Matches

After a quick glance at the final score of Oklahoma State and Iowa State’s dual, most people would assume the Cowboys dominated. Oklahoma State dominated in terms of wins and losses, but in the matches, the Cyclones held their own.

Oklahoma State won nine of 10 matches. One of those Cowboy wins ended with a fall over Iowa State’s Brady Jennings and another ended with a 15-0 technical fall over walk-on Sinjin Briggs.

Dissecting Oklahoma State’s seven other wins, shows that the Cowboys won by narrow margins.

Two points separated Oklahoma State’s 149, 157 and 174 wins. The Cowboys only won by a three-point margin at 184 and 197, and at 133 and 285, the Cyclones lost by only four points.

If Iowa State can muster a couple extra points at those weights, the Cyclones can snag a couple wins against a ranked team like Oklahoma State.

165-pounds

Iowa State needs someone to step up at 165-pounds. Redshirt sophomore Brady Jennings received tough competition in his first dual action of the year. Jennings found himself on his back against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, surrendering 12 team points.

One of Iowa State’s other options, redshirt junior Logan Breitenbach, finished 0-8 in duals last season and sports a 2-5 record in duals this season.

A third option, redshirt junior Skyler St. John, currently sits at 0-3 in duals.

A major problem clearly lies in the 165-pound spot for Iowa State. With only five duals remaining on the schedule, the Cyclones need someone to get hot at 165.