The No. 13 Cyclones will host the No. 1 Hawkeyes on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.
Both teams are entering Sunday’s match-up 2-0.
“It’s why you go to college if you’re a kid in Iowa. To get this opportunity. The guys on this team and the guys on their team that are not from Iowa understand just the bigness of the Iowa-Iowa State duel. So, super exciting week for all of us,” said head coach Kevin Dresser.
The Hawkeyes continue to dominate the series unfortunately with a 16-dual win streak.
But, facing the top-ranked team in the nation is only a good thing for the cardinal and gold. It will give the coaches a chance to see how their guys really respond to some of the toughest competitors in the country early in the season.
It will be a measuring stick match.
“I think that’s the excitement for us right now. It’s nice to have a chance to feel the number one ranked team in the nation, and we just happen to be down the road a couple hours,” Dresser said. “So I know my guys are excited. You know, they’re expecting a brawl and it’s going to be a fight. We know what we’re facing.”
Here are two key things to watch against the black and gold.
Ian Parker is listed as a potential starter for both 141 and 149 pounds
One of the bigger storylines of the season has been Ian Parker bumping up to 149 pounds after being Iowa State’s key guy at 141 pounds.
The move up to 149 pounds put him in direct competition for the starting spot against another key guy for the lineup: Jarrett Degen.
The last thing Iowa State needs, especially against the Hawkeyes, is losing veteran experience in the lineup.
The team has yet to wrestle Parker this season because he had been dinged up. If in his time off the mat he has been able to drop back down to 141 that will be big for Iowa State’s depth.
Degen is in the best physical he has been after battling with shoulder injuries since he was a freshman (he is a redshirt senior currently). Having the opportunity to have both Parker and Degen will be huge for the Cyclones hoping to have a competitive edge against the Hawks.
Iowa’s Spencer Lee is currently out
Spencer Lee, one of Iowa’s most dominant wrestlers, announced back in March after earning his third national championship that he had done it without any ACLs.
You read that correctly.
Lee has yet to wrestle this season which is good news for Kysen Terukina.
“I think everybody that watches can see how talented he is,” said Dresser. “He is just a young kid, you know, that grew up in Hawaii that’s let’s face it, there’s probably not a lot of big stages in Hawaii like the stage he’s getting ready to wrestle on. He has seemed to handle those stages pretty well.”
On paper, the Hawaiian native is favored to win the match over freshman Jesse Ybarra.
Terukina is 5-0 so far this season and had a first-place finish at the Daktronics Open.
Terukina will be wrestling in his first Cy-Hawk dual.
“I’m so excited. I’m just hoping the excitement just fuels me more. Like hearing my home fans. Just taking it all in and channeling it for good wrestling,”
He’s looking forward the most to experiencing the crazy atmosphere that comes with an in-state rival.
“It’s going to be an exciting time and an exciting dual meet. I like to be calm before I wrestle. So, it’s definitely going to be a challenge to stay calm, but I’m confident. It really helps just the confidence in myself, the confidence in our preparation.
Catch all the action on ESPN+.
Potential Line Up:
125 pounds: No. 21 Kysen Terukina vs. Jesse Ybarra
133 pounds: Ramazan Attasauov vs. No. 3 Austin DeSanto
141 pounds: No. 19 Zach Redding/Ian Parker vs. No. 2 Jaydin Eierman
149 pounds: No. 22 Jarrett Degen/Ian Parker vs. Cobe Siebrecht
157 pounds: No. 1 David Carr vs. No. 8 Kaleb Young
165 pounds: Isaac Judge/Austin Kraisser/Grant Stotts vs. No. 1 Alex Marinelli
174 pounds: Joel Devine vs. No. 2 Michael Kemerer/Nelson Brands
184 pounds: No. 14 Marcus Coleman vs. No. 17 Abe Assad/Myles Wilson
197 pounds: No. 24 Yonger Bastida vs. No. 3 Jacob Warner/Zach Glazier
285 pounds: No. 7 Tony Cassioppi (IA) vs. No. 29 Sam Schuyler (ISU)
