Gabe Moreno’s collegiate wrestling career has not been an easy road.

After suffering a major shoulder injury in back-to-back years, Moreno prepared to get back to the mat and battle in his final year at Iowa State in 2016-17.

Moreno’s season was derailed by a different injury all together.

In December, the then 141-pounder suffered a concussion at the 54th Midlands Championship.

Going through concussion protocol kept Moreno out for an entire month, missing three duals.

Then, on Jan. 27, fans saw the return of the two-time NCAA qualifier.

“[I] still got a lot of things to work on, but it was pretty nice to be back in the lineup,” Moreno said.

Moreno wrestled at 149 in both the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State duals.

Moreno’s first match against No. 13 Davion Jeffries of Oklahoma left more to be desired as Jeffries outwrestled Moreno to a 9-1 major decision.

It was Moreno’s second match of the weekend that can be used as motivation heading toward championship season.

Moreno faced off against No. 3 Anthony Collica of Oklahoma State.

Not only was Moreno facing off against a tough opponent, but he was also wrestling the man that he had re-injured his shoulder against the year before.

Moreno went out with determination against Collica and despite not scoring a single point, Moreno kept the No. 3 wrestler at 149 to only three points.

Now that Moreno knows he can keep up with the best, he’ll need to focus on mentally preparing for the challenges ahead.

If Moreno wants to see a third NCAA tournament, he will have to steal an automatic bid in the Big 12 tournament, meaning he will probably need to finish fourth or higher.

“Tournament situations [are] a little bit different [from duals],” coach Kevin Jackson said. “You’re going to get some upsets, you’re going to get some guys that underperform, maybe overperform. I know that’s in the back of [our wrestlers’] mind.”

Moreno has the ability and desire to return to the NCAA tournament.

The only thing holding Moreno back is his shoulder.

“I can feel offensively I’m holding myself back,” Moreno said before the season. “Once I can break through that barrier and go all out and get back to the offensive attacks that I know I’m capable of, then that’s when I’ll really know I’m back.”

Moreno appears to be weary of his bad shoulder during his matches, including his match against Collica.

That protectiveness has affected Moreno’s technique at times, which puts him at a disadvantage against healthy wrestlers.

Regardless, when the other wrestler heard of Moreno and 165-pounder Dane Pestano’s possible return to the lineup leading up to the duals, they were excited.

“Those guys were like our front-runners for the past couple years,” Earl Hall said. “[They were] able to take a step back to actually look at everything, step away from the weight-cut for a little bit and then step back into the grind.”

Moreno’s teammates have confidence that he can do well come March. It’ll be on Moreno to have the same confidence to make it happen.