The following is a press release courtesy of Iowa State Athletics Communications.
AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State wrestling team kicked off its season with competition at the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open. In total, 18 Cyclone grapplers finished in the top-3 of their brackets, and Alex Mackall, Willie Miklus and Francis Duggan all put out championship performances.
Mackall wrestled in one of the smaller brackets at the Cyclone Open. The 125-pound open bracket featured a round robin format. Mackall defeated Missouri’s Cameron Valdiviez by 8-5 decision and followed that up with a 15-8 victory over Grand View’s Justin Portillo.
Miklus was dominant in his run to the Cyclone Open finals at 197 pounds. Miklus pinned Matthew Wenzel in 0:52 to open the tournament and parlayed that into a fall in 0:54 over Wisconsin’s Brady Wetter. In the finals, he defeated Grand View’s NAIA national champion Evan Hansen by 5-2 decision.
Duggan’s path to the finals was a little bit longer than Miklus’, but just as dominant. Duggan rattled off three first-period falls before reaching the finals where he faced a familiar foe. Boone McDermott got the better of Duggan on a couple occasions in high school, but it was Duggan who would take the Cyclone Open title with an emphatic 6-0 decision over the Iowa Central Triton.
Iowa State sent three others to the finals in the open division. NCAA qualifier Jarrett Degen finished runner-up at 149 pounds, Marcus Coleman took second place in the 174-pound bracket and Sam Colbray fell in the finals at 184 pounds for a second-place finish.
In the freshman/sophomore division, Zane Mulder (165), Logan Schumacher (174), Tyler Buesgens (184) and Hunter DeJong (197) all reached the finals but came up short and brought home second-place honors.
Iowa State opens its dual season next Sunday at noon against SIU-Edwardsville. Doors to Cy Stephens will open at 11 a.m. Season ticket holders, this ticket is NOT included in your season ticket package. Tickets for this event need to be purchased online or at the Iowa State ticket office.
Final Placements: Open
125: Alex Mackall 1st
141: Ian Parker 3rd, Ryan Leisure 5th
149: Jarrett Degen 2nd
157: David Carr 3rd
165: Brady Jennings 3rd
174: Marcus Coleman 2nd
184: Sam Colbray 2nd, Danny Bush 3rd
197: Kaden Sauer 3rd
285: Gannon Gremmel 3rd
Final Placements: Fresh/Soph
125: Corey Cabanban 3rd, Jakob Allison 4th
133: Sinjin Briggs 3rd
149: Noah Nemer 5th
157: Isaac Judge 5th
165: Zane Mulder 2nd, Tate Battani 5th
174: Logan Schumacher 2nd, Mac Southard 3rd, DeMichael Franklin 5th, Taylan Entriken 5th,
184: Tyler Buesgens 2nd, Alec McDowell 5th
197: Hunter DeJong 2nd
285: Francis Duggan 1st
NOTE: Fifth-Sixth place matches were NOT wrestled.
