Well, as predicted, the Hawkeyes are going to win their 3rd straight national title. What casual fans don't get about the state of NCAA Wrestling is that it isn't like Football or Basketball. There are sizable dropoffs every one or two spots. Being ranked means that you have a pulse. If you aren't ranked, you are a joke.

Anyhow, here's the quick update on how everyone for ISU fared going into the final session on Saturday:

125: #5 Andrew Long -> In the finals, wrestling McDonough from Iowa

133: #10 Nick Fanthrope -> Eliminated Friday night

141: Dalton Jensen -> Eliminated Friday morning

149: #7 Mitch Mueller -> Eliminated Friday night

157: Andrew Sorensen -> Eliminated Thursday night  (for those curious Cyler Sanderson is guarenteed at least 6th place).

165: #4 Jon Reader -> Eliminated Friday night. This one hurt, considering how well he did last year. in general, anytime you're seeded 4th, you gotta place in the tournament if you want to do some damage.

174: Duke Burk -> Eliminated Friday morning

184: Jerome Ward -> Eliminated Friday morning

197: #1 Jake Varner -> In the Championship against #2 Brester from Nebraska

HWT: #1 David Zabriskie -> In the Championship against #2 Rosholt from Oklahoma State

In the standings, Iowa State is in 3rd place, and will likely finish there. I have to say on a team-level it's disappointing to bring all 10 guys, and only have 3 alive. You have to have guys place in the Top 8 to really make an impact. Iowa is going to have 8 All-Americans, while ISU is going to have 3. Hell, Cornell, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and others will have more All-Americans than ISU.

When comparing to last year, ISU had 4 All-Americans (Gallick (3rd), Reader (4th), Varner (1st), Zabriskie (5th)).  It was a disappointing tournament. I knew we weren't going to catch the Hawks. We just aren't a good tournament team. In some respects the team improved with being more aggressive, and having 3 guys in the Championship is better than last year. But, there is an issue with the middle to lower part of the pack for ISU. It just seems like guys to as expected or worse. In team tournaments, you need to have guys to better than expected, with performing as expected as the worst.

ISU is a good wrestling team. They are just in a different class, and they were never going to be in it this year. I hope Long, Varner, and Zabriskie can pull off the Championships in their weight class. For Long, he has a bright future (he's a redshirt Freshmen). For Varner and Big Z, winning the crown (2nd one in a row for Varner) would be a great way to end their collegiate career.