AMES — Up next for the Cyclones: A road trip to Hampton, Va. to compete in the Virginia Duals – a dual-style multi-day tournament.
The Cyclones last competed at the Virginia Duals in 2015 where they won the event and defeated then head coach Kevin Dresser and Virginia Tech.
How it’s set up
Iowa State was placed in the James River Pool where they will face off against Virginia at 8 a.m. CT and then later compete against No. 10 Arizona State at noon CT.
After the teams finish competing in their pool, they have three different brackets they can possibly place in: gold, silver and bronze.
Where the Cyclones place will determine when they will wrestle again:
Silver/Bronze: Friday at 2 p.m. CT
Gold Bracket: Saturday at 1 p.m. CT
The match-ups
Walking into this weekend, redshirt freshmen Kanen Storr (141), redshirt freshmen Jarrett Degen (149) and redshirt freshmen Ian Parker (133) all made the polls in TrackWrestling and FloWrestling.
Storr: 11, 16, 16
Degen: 22
Parker: 22
Virginia
Virginia has not put much out since the brackets were announced but overall, the Cavaliers are 2-3 on the season.
Their 157-pounder, Jake Keating, is ranked at No. 10 nationally in wins by fall according to the team’s Twitter page. So there’s a hint at some good competition for redshirt sophomore Chase Straw.
From the looks of Virginia’s season so far, Iowa State should be able to pull a win if they perform like they did against Oregon State.
No. 10 Arizona State
Arizona State is one of the toughest competitors Iowa State has faced so far.
Arizona State has Zahid Valencia at 174, who is currently ranked No. 1 after defeating Penn States Mark Hall at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Iowa State has started redshirt junior Danny Bush the last two duals at 174 and he had a successful pin against Oregon State. If Bush starts like I predict he will, he has his work cut out for him and has no time for stalling like did against UNC, which led to his loss.
Arizona State has seven wrestlers who all received rankings, two of which are in the top five at 174 and Tanner Hall at heavyweight.
Freshmen walk-on Sinjin Briggs will be facing No. 17 Ryan Millhof or Josh Kramer in his debut against ASU.
Final Thoughts
Iowa State is very much capable of winning against Virginia
Can Iowa State beat Arizona State? Yes. If they’ve worked through some mental battles throughout the week, which would allow them to hit the mat refreshed and ready to take the risky shots and gain bonus points.
There’s a small, but viable chance.
