Iowa State opens the dual meet season on Friday November 8th, hosting the 12th ranked Stanford Cardinals, in Ames. The dual features 11 ranked wrestlers with 4 ranked matchups.
History: These teams have only competed against each other on one prior occassion. With Iowa State picking up a hard fought 23-18 win. Iowa State leads the series 1-0.
Don’t Miss: The 197 lb bout should be highly competitive. I have been very high on Christian Carroll, since I first heard he was moving to Ames, and Nick Stemmet looked impressive in the first week of wrestling. Don’t be surprised with an upset here.
Keys To Victory: On paper the dual looks to be very competitive, Iowa State is favored in 5 matches, while Stanford is favored in just 2, possibly 3 matches. The big question is if Stanford will wrestle Nico Provo or forfeit the 125 lb bout. Iowa State needs wins at 133, 141, 149, 174, and 184. All bouts they are favored to win. Picking up a swing bout at either 157 or heavyweight is equally important. The opportunity for bonus points does exist at 141 and 165.
So without any further ado let’s take a look at each match and I will do my best to give you a winner and team score.
125 Adrian Meza vs Nico Provo #11 or Forfeit
133 Evan Frost #5 vs Tyler Knox #18
141 Casey Swiderski vs Chayse Lajoie or Jack Consiglio
149 Anthony Ecemendia #7 vs Jaden Abas #11
157 Kane Naaktgeboren vs Grigor Cholakyan
165 MJ Gatin #9 or Connor Euton vs Hunter Garvin #3
174 Aiden Riggins #11 vs Lorenzo Norman #19
184 Evan Bockman #21 vs Luke Duthie
197 Christian Carroll vs Nick Stemmet #13
285 Daniel Herrera vs Jackson Mankowski
Conclusion: This dual is very close on paper, however the biggest factor is if Stanford will forfeit 125. This alone could change the dual outcome. I believe they forfeit and Iowa takes 6 of the 10 bouts and wins the dual 22-13. My confidence isn’t very strong on this one. I do believe the Cyclones will win, however with so many new faces in the lineup on both teams it has become very hard to predict. This one could come down to the wire.