"We're close," head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson said. "We lost some close matches throughout the tournament and we also won some close matches. We just need to get better in areas and I need to get better as a coach because that's my responsibility. I need to make sure these guys are ready to go and they know exactly what they need to do out there.
"We had an incredible year," Sanderson continued. "(Iowa State's wrestlers) really had a great tournament and did an outstanding job. We can be proud of what we accomplished. We have some big teams coming in the future and we're going to keep getting better. We knew that a couple years ago, but it's my job to make sure that happens."
Varner, the tournament's top-seed at 184 pounds, pursued Pucillo the entire first period, but could not get in for a takedown and the opening three minutes finished scoreless. The Cyclone deferred to begin the second period, with the sophomore Buckeye taking the down position and eluded the powerful grip of Varner in a quick seven seconds to go up 1-0. Varner evened the score with an escape in the third period and the match was pushed into a 60-second sudden victory.
Both wrestlers were locked at the shoulders, unable to score, forcing the match into a pair of 30-second tiebreakers. Again, both wrestlers exchanged escapes to deadlock the score at 2-2 and move into a second edition of sudden victory.
With neither wrestler able to change the score, riding time became critical and would ultimately determine the 184-pound champ. Pucillo started the first tiebreaker from the down position and Varner was able to accumulate 11 seconds of riding time before Pucillo escaped.
Varner did escape in his turn from the down position, but it was too late. Pucuillo was able to maintain a strong hold and erase ISU's 11 seconds of riding time and get six seconds of his own. Those six seconds landed the Buckeye a top of the podium as the 184-pound national champion and pushed Ohio State up to second place.
"It's a tough way to lose a match that way, but he's doing a great job," Sanderson said. "(Varner) will be back. I think he wrestled well. He was the aggressor the whole match and it came down to six seconds of riding time and that makes it hard. It's one thing to get taken down but this is difficult. He'll bounce back and be fine. He still has two great years of wrestling left."
The sophomore from Bakersfield, Calif., closes out a decorated season with a 29-1 mark. He tallied 11 wins resulting in bonus points with four major decisions and seven falls. In his two-year Iowa State career, he is 59-8 and has been a two-time NCAA finalist and has twice been an All-American.
Iowa State finished the tournament with seven grapplers earning All-American status: Nick Fanthorpe (7th-133), Nick Gallick (5th-141), Cyler Sanderson (7th-157), Jon Reader (7th-165), Jake Varner (2nd-184), David Bertolino (8th-197) and David Zabriskie (6th-HWT). The seven All-Americans are the most ISU finishers in the top eight since1993. It marked the ninth time the feat has been completed by the ISU wrestling program. Six of Iowa State's All-Americans will return in the 2008-09 season.
"We have a lot of positives to build on with seven All-Americans, six of which are back," Sanderson said. "It's obvious that we have some things we need to improve on over the year, but I'm excited about the future."
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