No. 15 Iowa State Set For Big 12 Championship

Big12_WR_Preview

AMES, Iowa -- The postseason begins this weekend for the No. 15 Iowa State wrestling team (10-4, 6-2 Big 12) in Tulsa, Okla. The Cyclones are set to compete at the Big 12 Championship March 9-10. Wrestling is set to begin from the BOK Center at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning.

At this year's conference championship, a record 53 automatic sports for the NCAA Championships will be on the line. The first three sessions (Saturday and Sunday morning) will be streamed live on FloWrestling. The finals will be broadcast on regional Fox Sports affiliates. Check the listing above.

NOTE: The brackets and preseeds are subject to change at Friday night's coaches meeting and will not be finalized until then.

Schedule
Session I - Saturday, 11 a.m. CT
Session II - Saturday, 4 p.m. CT
Session III - Sunday, Noon CT
Session IV (Finals) - Sunday, 7 p.m. CT

First Round Matchups
125: No. 5 Alex Mackall - Bye
133: No. 2 Austin Gomez - Bye
141: No. 2 Ian Parker - Bye
149: No. 3 Jarrett Degen - Bye
157: No. 3 Chase Straw v. Paden Moore (UNI)
165: NS Logan Schumacher v. TBD
174: No. 4 Marcus Coleman - Bye
184: No. 1 Sam Colbray v. Jake Thompson (Air Force)
197: No. 2 Willie Miklus v. Anthony McLaughlin (Air Force)
285: No. 3 Gannon Gremmel - Bye

Cyclone Notebook
-No. 15 Iowa State turns its focus to the 2019 postseason, starting with the Big 12 Championship in Tulsa, Okla. The conference championship is set for March 9-10 in Tulsa, Okla. 2. The NCAA announced last week the allocation of automatic NCAA Championships bids that the conferences received.
-As a conference, the Big 12 received a record 53 auto bids to the national championships. It was the second most among all the other conferences. (125 - 5, 133 - 5, 141 - 6, 149 - 7, 157 - 1, 165 - 6, 174 - 4, 184 - 5, 197 - 7, 285- 6). 3.
-The Cyclones have a decorated history at the conference meet, which includes 15 conference team titles, but will be looking to improve on a seventh-place finish in 2018. ISU will also be looking to snap a two-year drought in which it has not had an individual Big 12 finalist or a Big 12 champion.
-The Cyclones appeared in the final NWCA Coaches' Poll for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Iowa State finished the season ranked No. 15.
-Last week the NCAA released its final Coaches' Panel Rankings. Eight Cyclones appeared in the second panel: Alex Mackall (22), Austin Gomez (10), Ian Parker (12), Jarrett Degen (11), Marcus Coleman (23), Sam Colbray (15), Willie Miklus (5) and Gannon Gremmel (25).
-The Big 12 announced it's Academic All-Big 12 team. Brady Jennings, Alex Mackall and Chase Straw all earned firstteam honors while Skyler St. John was named to the second team.
-Iowa State concluded its Big 12 regular season with a 6-2 record (.750). It's the best Big 12 winning percentage by an Iowa State team since the Cyclones went undefeated in conference action during the 2009-10 season. It's also tied for the third best Big 12 winning percentage in school history.
-The Cyclones averaged 3,569 fans per home dual this season, which is fourth best attendance mark in the last 25 seasons. In duals wrestled at Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State's average attendance was 3,924.
-Iowa State's 53-point scoring outburst against Utah Valley was tied for the third largest victory in school history and the most points scored in a dual against a Division I opponent since 1998 (New Mexico, 57).
-The back-to-back shutouts over SDSU and UVU marked the first time since the 1972-73 season that ISU notched consecutive shutouts over conference foes.
-Iowa State defeated Oklahoma on Jan. 25 to extend its winning streak at the time to six duals in a row. That string of victories was the longest since ISU won 11 in a row between the 2009-10 and 2010-2011 seasons.
-The attendance for the Oklahoma dual was 3,939, which was the largest crowd for a non-Iowa dual in Hilton Coliseum since Cael Sanderson's senior day in 2002.
-It' was dual dominance for Iowa State this season. In 14 duals, ISU outscored its opponents at 404-148. The Cyclones' average margin of victory was an astounding 28.1 in 10 victories on the season.
-Scoring points has been a point of emphasis for the Cyclones in 2018-19. ISU averaged 22 takedowns per dual as a team and 7.8 points per individual dual match (omitting forfeited matches).
-Austin Gomez, Jarrett Degen and Marcus Coleman all finished the season with a team-high 40 takedowns. Gomez led the team in total back points in dual matches (52) and points scored per dual match (11.5).
-Iowa State has six wrestlers with 20 or more wins on the year and six with 10 or more dual victories on the year.
-ISU posted a third-place finish at the 2019 Southern Scuffle where Iowa State had eight medalists, including a runnerup performance from Austin Gomez.
-Dresser improved his all-time dual wins to 178 against Oregon State. He currently ranks as the No. 17 winningest active coach in Division I wrestling.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Colbray

Marcus Coleman

Jarrett Degen

Austin Gomez

Gannon Gremmel

Brady Jennings

Alex Mackall

Willie Miklus

Ian Parker

Logan Schumacher

Skyler St. John

Chase Straw

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics