Iowa State was the more dominant team in Sunday’s Big 12 opener in Cedar Falls. The Cyclones defeated the Sooners 18-16 in what was a tight matchup, from the opening bout to heavyweight.
The dual came down to a final match between big men Gannon Gremmel and Josh Heindselman.
Lucky for head coach Kevin Dresser, Gremmel thrives off the type of pressure he found himself under vs. the Sooners.
“If you’re talking baseball terms, he’s a pretty good closer,” Dresser said afterwards.
And that he did just that, defeating Heindselman 5-4 to finish the job for ISU.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Iowa State’s first Big 12 win of the season:
A win is a win
The cardinal and gold came out the more physical team.
Freshman Kysen Terukina started the day for the Cyclones at 125 pounds. He defeated Oklahoma’s redshirt senior, the very established Mason Naifeh.
Neifeh is a 2019 national runner-up and NAIA All-American and the Hawaii native, Terukina, secured a late takedown with 15 seconds left to secure his win.
“He’s a hard little dude to score on, isn’t he? For just being a baby. He doesn’t even have any hair on his face but he wrestles hard,” Dresser said regarding his freshman who previously defeated redshirt senior Alex Mackall in wrestle-offs for the starting position.
The dual score was tied 9-9 heading into the 165-pound match, where Isaac Judge stepped up with a dominant win over Jake Stiles (3-1) tabbing over three minutes of riding time.
Redshirt freshman Julien Broderson also notched a good win on the day with a 4-3 victory over No. 9 Anthony Mantanona.
“Quality win for him (Broderson),” Dresser said. “Julien is smart. He makes adjustments well. Ya know, the thing that’s been the most impressive to me is that it was work for him to get to 174. He had to be really disciplined to get down there and it’s really easy to fall of the wagon in terms of diet and discipline wagon when things go wrong but, man, he was steady Eddie. He came in doing what he had to do and was a total professional. The way he manages his life away from the wrestling room is why Julien Broderson is doing what he’s doing right now.”
The key matchup went in the Cyclones favor
Ian Parker and Dom Demas are no strangers to one another. On Sunday, they matched up for the sixth time in their careers with the series leaning 3-2 in Demas’ favor.
Demas and Parker are cut from the same cloth when it comes to talent. They’ve both got accolades to paint them bright spots on their respective lineups.
In this bout, however, Parker evened the series with a 4-3 decision win. It was a late takedown in the third period that had the Michigan native walk out the better guy. Something he’s been working on perfecting in the room.
“I’m pretty happy. That’s something that coach has always been working on with me, to get that go-to takedown when I need it especially on a high-level guy like that,” Iowa State’s 141 pounder said following the dual. “I’m happy to get that takedown and get the ride in. Definitely, something you have to do in March to get to the podium.”
There’s still a sour taste from injuries impacting the starting lineup
There is no doubt that this might be one of the most consistent and hungry freshmen classes, up and down the lineup, that the Cyclones have had. They show up and compete for a full seven minutes. Even when they lose, these young Cyclones fight until the buzzer.
But a match like 149-pounds could have easily gone in Iowa State’s favor had Jarrett Degen been healthy. He is out recovering from a knee injury that he suffered earlier in the season.
Then the second guy in line, freshman Cam Robinson, limped off the mat during the last dual. This brought Ben Monroe in to match up against Oklahoma. Monroe was pinned in one minute.
“I’m about ready to go crazy with all these injuries. Patience and my name don’t work together… It’s driving me crazy that these guys are healing up as slow as they are,” Dresser said. “But it is what it is and we have to do it right. I have to remember that February and March are most important. Would I like to put out a better Gremmel marked his words and followed through product against Oklahoma State, yes, because I think if we have our best product out there that’s one heck of a dual meet. With what we’ve got we’re going to have to pull some rabbits out of our hat if we want to try and beat those guys.”
The Cyclones will host No. 5 Oklahoma State, Lindenwood and Iowa Central on Jan. 31 at Hilton Coliseum.
ISU vs. OU Match-by-Match
125: Kysen Terukina (ISU) dec. Mason Naifeh (OU), 6-4.
133: Anthony Madrigal (OU) dec. Zach Redding (ISU), 3-2 (TB1).
141: Ian Parker (ISU) dec. Dom Demas (OU), 4-3.
149: Mitch Moore (OU) pinned Ben Monroe (ISU), 0:59.
157: David Carr (ISU) dec. Justin Thomas (OU), 4-0.
165: Isaac Judge (ISU) dec. Jake Stiles (OU), 4-1.
174: Julien Broderson (ISU) dec. Anthony Mantanona (OU), 4-3.
184: Darrien Roberts (OU) dec. Tate Battani (ISU), 5-3.
197: Jake Woodley (OU) maj. dec. Yonger Bastida (ISU), 12-0.
285: Gannon Gremmel (ISU) dec. Josh Heindselman (OU), 5-4.
Extra Matches
125: Caleb Fuessley (ISU) Tommy Hoskins (OU)
125: Kyle Golhoffer (UNI) dec. Aden Reeves (ISU), 11-5.
133: Kyle Biscoglia (UNI) dec. Ramazan Attasauov (ISU), 2-1.
133: Jack Skudlarzyk (UNI) maj. dec. Corey Cabanban (ISU), 14-12.
133: Todd Small (ISU) dec. Jack Wagner (UNI), 3-1.
141: Cael Happel (UNI) dec. Charlie Klepps (ISU), 7-2.
141: Drew Woodley (ISU) dec. Garrett Moll (UNI), 10-4.
149: Kaleb Olejniczak (UNI) maj. dec. Andrew Flora (ISU), 10-2.
149: Andrew Flora (ISU) dec. Adam Allard (UNI), 5-0.
157: Colin Realbuto (UNI) dec. Andrew Huddleston (ISU), 12-5.
157: Evan Yant (UNI) dec. Carter Schmidt (ISU), 4-2.
165: Grant Stotts (ISU) maj. dec. Wade Mitchell (UNI), 14-5.
174: Lance Runyon (UNI) pinned Austin Stotts (ISU), 1:28.
174: Mac Southard (ISU) dec. Noah Glaser (UNI), 4-2.
174: Noah Glaser (UNI) dec. Caleb Long (ISU), 6-4.
184: DeMichael Franklin (ISU) dec. Carson Berryhill (OU), 4-3.
184: Nolan Harsh (ISU) dec. Michael Kordek (UNI), 2-0.
197: Tyrell Gordon (UNI) dec. Cody Fisher (ISU), 7-5.
285: Ethan Andersen (ISU) dec. John McConkey (UNI), 6-4 (SV1).
