“Today was a tough day with the way this tournament was set up,” associate head wrestling coach Cody Sanderson said. “Wrestling three back-to-back-to-back matches forced our wrestlers to go hard each time and they responded well. Aron Scott and Chris Pursel did a great job for us at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively. Aron saw his first action of the season and he fought hard.”
ISU took on Clarion in the first of three duals and cruised to a 40-0 victory over the Golden Eagles. All 10 Cyclone grapplers won their bouts. Highlighting the dual were quick fist period pins by Kist, who pinned Andrew Smith in 1:26, and David Bertolino's stick of Dixon Jordan in 1:56 at 197 pounds. Reader, ranked ninth nationally, tallied a 19-7 major decision of David Cox and No. 6 Zabriskie outscored Roman Husam 11-2. Fanthorpe recorded a 24-8 technical fall in 6:50 over Robert LaBrake.
“I was much more comfortable today than I was Friday night,” Kist said. “I’m not nervous anymore. Getting the pin in the opening bout against Clarion was a good way to start the dual. I think it set the tone. It was a lot of fun to get my first varsity pin.“
At 157 pounds, No. 11 Cyler Sanderson took a knee off his cheek as he went in for a single-leg shot on Clarion's Travis Uncapher. Although he finished the match with 9-6 decision, Sanderson’s injury sidelined him for the Binghamton dual and forced Iowa State to forfeit at 157 pounds for the Binghamton match.
Despite Sanderson’s departure from the lineup against the Bearcats, the Cyclones were able to oust Binghamton 30-15. Again providing bonus points for ISU were Kist and Zabriskie with major decisions. Fanthorpe earned his second technical fall of the day and Bertolino got one of his own. Reader picked up his second pin of his redshirt freshman season, a 1:27 stick of Gaetjens Lexiz. Aron Scott sealed a 6-1 decision over Brett Nelson at 174 pounds by registering a takedown with 22 seconds remaining on the clock. Chris Pursel followed with a key 3-2 decision over Anthony Esposito at 184 pounds.
“Getting bonus points during the Binghamton dual was big,” Sanderson said. “We tell our guys not to get hung up on a one or two-point lead. We want them to get points and to take risks.”
The final dual of the day pitted Iowa State against a relentless West Virginia squad, but the Cyclones proved to be too much, winning the first six matches and the dual by a score of 24-9. No. 16 Nick Gallick (141) and No. 14 Mitch Mueller (149) each bounced back from losses in the Binghamton dual, winning via a 4-0 and 7-4 decision, respectively. Sanderson returned to the mat at 157 pounds and won his match, 3-2, over No. 15 Zac Fryling.
“We knew that West Virginia was going to be tough," Sanderson said. "Mueller did a great job coming back and generating offense in the West Virginia match and Cyler had guts going out there the way he did after the injury he suffered in that first match.”
At the end of the day the Cyclones won 12 matches that resulted in bonus points – five major decisions, four technical falls and three pins. Six of the grapplers in action Sunay maintain spotless records (Kist, Fanthorpe, Sanderson, Reader and Zabriskie) and the lineup used in Sunday's matches carry a 71-8 combined career mark. Through five duals, ISU has bested opponents 167-28 and has registered two shutouts.
“It felt good to get those big wins today,” Fanthorpe said. “I have just been listening to the coaches and I go out there and perform. They [the coaches] keep telling us to build on a lead by getting points. My conditioning is really good and it shows in the second and third periods. This weekend was good experience for us because we got to see different guys, teams and competition. We will learn from what we did this weekend and go back to prepare for Minnesota.”
Head coach Cael Sanderson and 184-pounder Jake Varner were absent from Sunday’s event. The two departed for Eugene, Ore., Saturday as Varner will participate at the NWCA All-Star Match Monday night. Varner, a 2007 NCAA runner-up, is slated to go up against Roger Kish of Minnesota.
Iowa State will trek north on Interstate 35 Dec. 2, to take on defending NCAA champion Minnesota at 2 p.m. in Minneapolis. Wrestling action returns to Hilton Coliseum Dec. 9, as the Cyclones play host to intrastate rival Iowa at 2 p.m.
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