Freshman Kanen Storr evolving into Iowa State wrestling leader

Iowa State redshirt senior Earl Hall faces opponent Trae Blackwell during the Beauty and The Beast event at Hilton Coliseum Jan. 27. Hall went on to defeat Blackwell 4-0, however the Cyclones would fall to the Sooners 30-12.

Ben Visser
February 8, 2017

In a tumultuous time surrounding Iowa State wrestling, a true freshman stands as the steadying rock the program needs.

On Thursday, Iowa State’s 141-pound Kanen Storr announced via Twitter that he would remain a Cyclone. The announcement came just two days after Iowa State coach Kevin Jackson announced he would resign at the end of the season.

“I have a lot of things going on here outside of wrestling,” Storr said. “The church here, Cornerstone, has been a big part of my life, I’m pretty committed to a girl here, my teammates — it’s like I have family out here. I want to stay committed here and I feel no matter who the new coach is as long as I work as hard as I have been, I can have success.”

Storr is a part of Jackson’s prized 2016 recruiting class. Iowa State was Jackson’s first collegiate coaching job, so the recruiting side of it had an inherent learning curve.

Jackson backed up his top-5 2016 class with the No. 2 class in 2017. He and his staff just figured out what they needed to do.

“We got our hands on two classes that will allow us to really showcase what we’re about as far as coaching and teaching technique,” Jackson said. “That’s disappointing to not have that opportunity to not only coach these kids in the collegiate season.

“Most of the kids that we recruit or have recruited have aspirations to be World and Olympic champions and to not spend that next eight years with them in pursuit of that goal is a little disappointing.”

Storr is one of those wrestlers who has Olympic potential, and it was on display last weekend at the Dave Schultz Memorial.

He beat two All-Americans, including NCAA finalist and former Oklahoma State wrestler Josh Kindig at the senior level freestyle tournament.

Both of those wrestlers are in the top-5 in the United States at the 61-kilogram weight class.

“I felt like I competed really well,” Storr said. “Honestly it was probably the best I’ve ever wrestled — that’s the way I felt. I competed good, wrestled tough and I gained a lot of confidence after competing at the Schultz. I beat the NCAA finalist, beat some All-Americans [and] beat some international guys. I’ve never felt better about myself, the way I compete.”

Storr made a splash early in the season wrestling impressive tournaments at Grand View and the Cyclone Open. But as the season has progressed, so has Storr.

At the Midlands Storr took fifth place. He beat ranked opponents Luke Peltcher and Colton McCrystal.

Storr also took No. 5 Anthony Ashnault to the edge, losing 2-1 on a riding time point.

“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.

His teammates are recognizing Storr and his ability too. Senior leader Earl Hall his handing the reigns over to the freshman.

“Kanen wrestles to the best of his ability and he’s been the voice here to be honest with you,” Hall said. “I haven’t been saying much. When you have this young guy in the room being the voice, being the action, being a leader – I love it. It makes me step back like, ‘Hey, this is about to be your team. Somebody has to do it rather than me doing it all of the time.’

“Kanen is going to be great for the program, I’ll tell you that much.”

In the beginning of the season Storr was afraid to lead because he was the new freshman who didn’t have any accolades. But as the season went on, Storr cemented himself as not only one of the best wrestlers at Iowa State, but as the best redshirting freshman in the nation according to the Open Mat.

“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.”

He’s also doing the most he can do to keep the team together.

He’s talking to the guys in the room to make sure they’re staying at Iowa State. And Storr’s talking to incoming class.

“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. I can encourage them, but I can’t make their decision for them.”