Without officially wrestling for Iowa State wrestling, redshirt freshman Kanen Storr is already in the process of leaving his mark as a Cyclone.

During the 2016-17 season, Storr placed third in the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open and fifth at the 54th Midlands Championships.

At Midlands, Storr beat ranked wrestlers Luke Pletcher and Colton McCrystal. Storr also kept up with then-No. 5 wrestler and 2017 All-American Anthony Ashnault, losing 2-1 due to riding time.

But it was his body of work at the Dave Schultz Memorial this season that turned heads.

Making his way to the finals of the senior-level freestyle tournament and qualifying for the senior world team trials, Storr defeated 2014 All-American Joey Lazor and 2014 NCAA finalist Josh Kindig.

After defeating the two then-top-5 wrestlers in the United States at 61 kilograms, Storr was ranked at No. 5 in the nation when new rankings came out after the tournament.

“After every competition this season so far, I feel like I’ve gotten tougher and learned a lot — confidence is at an all-time high right now,” Storr said.

With the new season approaching, Storr is looking to take over the reins as a leader for the wrestling program, which will start a new chapter in 2017.

In January, coach Kevin Jackson announced that he was resigning at season’s end. Jackson ended up stepping down from his duties after ending the dual season at 1-12.

With new coach Kevin Dresser taking over at Iowa State, Storr has shown that he can be a key piece in building up the historic national power.

“I feel like I’m one of the hardest workers in the room,” Storr said. “I have things to back it up now to be more of a leader. I believe I can lead this team to be tougher and have more success on my part. The coaching is going to have a big part of it, but I’m going to do the most I can to lead these guys.”

Storr also proved his leadership ability off the mat by helping to convince recruits from the 2017 class after Jackson announced his resignation.

“I’ve talked to them a lot like, ‘Hey, if you come and work hard, we’re going to be something special like I’ve told everyone else,’” Storr said. “Trying to get them to believe in the program like I did.”