Iowa State is in preparations to open its regular season dual schedule Sunday afternoon against Bucknell. The dual is slated to begin at 1 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum.

Bison wrestler might move up

Zach Hartman fell out of the top-20 InterMat rankings at 157 pounds Monday. The Bucknell sophomore is coming off a 28-9 season as an automatic NCAA qualifier.

There’s reason to believe why he is not ranked at 157.

After receiving the probables for Sunday’s dual Tuesday, Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser said Hartman is listed at 165.

If that holds true, Chase Straw could battle Hartman, but there is still a chance Hartman could wrestle at 157 against David Carr.

Regardless of who is going to face off against Hartman, Dresser is excited for the challenge.

“Maybe he’s grown up into the weight; he’s a very tough kid,” Dresser said. “David is either going to get a tough one this weekend or get a tough one at Iowa. [Chase] is a totally different wrestler — the last year it’s started to click for him. I’m really excited to watch him wrestle.”

Gomez’s return pushed back

A concussion has kept Austin Gomez from getting onto the mat for the first time this season.

It has also messed up his plan to return by the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 7.

Dresser said the concussion Gomez suffered a week ago will push his return back at least a week. Instead of wrestling at Las Vegas, the redshirt sophomore could be back by the dual at home against Chattanooga.

“We’re monitoring it; there’s a lot of season left,” Dresser said. “We’ve got plenty of time to descend. It’s probably going to be pushed back.”

New InterMat rankings

For the third consecutive week, Iowa State had eight wrestlers ranked in the top-20 by InterMat.

This week’s rankings saw small movement from the Cyclones.

Alex Mackall moved into the eighth spot at 125 pounds following his dominant 19-4 tech fall victory in the finals over Northern Iowa’s Jacob Schwarm at the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open.

The other two matchups between Iowa State and the Panthers — Jarrett Degen versus Max Thomsen at 149 and Sam Colbray versus Taylor Lujan at 184 — were factored into the rankings as well.

Degen dropped from third to fourth and Colbray fell from seventh to eighth. Both wrestlers from Northern Iowa — who won the respective championship matches — are one spot ahead of their in-state rivals.

Carr, held out of the Cyclone Open, rose four spots to 11 at 157. Gomez (fifth, 133), Ian Parker (12th, 141) and Gannon Gremmel (16th, heavyweight) stayed in the same spot as last week. Straw (165) dropped one spot to 20th.