Like Crosscyed said, today really sucked for ISU. ISU has no chance of winning the NCAA championship at all, and could end up in 4th or 5th again.
In case you were curious of which Cyclones are left and who they are going to face, check out below:
Session 5:
141: #6 Gallick vs. Krom (Maryland)
165: #8 Reader vs. Rendos (Bucknell)
HWT: #1 Zabriskie vs. #7 Erekson (Iowa)
Gallick performed to expectations. I think he's good enough to be a finalist, so perhaps we will see him in the finals next year.
I will say that Reader has had a nice tournament. He lost in the Semis in TB2 with King getting away right at the end. The past couple of days, I've thought Reader had a great draw, and he certainley wrestled better than his #8 seeding. I'm sure he's bummed about missing out in the finals, but the potential for 3rd is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.
Zabriskie was a little dissapointing but Heavyweight is really stacked in my opinion. Big Z has had his fair share of very close matches going his way, and this last one in the semis just went the other way.
The three guys we have left will get at least 6th place. If they win their first match, they will wrestle for 3rd place in Session 5. If they lose their first match, they will wrestle for 5th during Session 5 as well.
Session 5 begins at 9:30am CST.
Session 6 (Finals):
- 197: #2 Varner (ISU) vs. #1 Brester (Nebraska)
This is huge for Varner. It will be his 3rd straight year in the finals (the previous two were at 184). This is really a coinflip. Varner beat Brester in their dual 3-2. He then lost to Brester 4-3 in the Big 12 Tournament. Should be interesting. It will be a fun rivalry to watch next year during both of these guys' Senior years.
Session 6 action starts at 5:30pm CST.
My thoughts:
I am a little bummed about the team's performance. I mean we have a good team and everything, but of all years, this year would've been awesome to have a stronger showing due to our struggles in the marquee sports. "National Champion" and "Iowa State" do not exaclty go hand-in-hand as teams, so it's a bit frustrating. I just want so bad to be excited about one of our teams.
I hope Varner wins it tomorrow because he carries himself like a champion would. He's worked real hard and after coming so close 2 previous times, I think he gets over the hump this time.
We've got 4 All-Americans this year, which is a down tick from the 6 we had the previous year. Fanthorpe just had a tough year. He was injured for a good chunk of the season, then runs into an unlucky break in the Championship Bracket and an unlucky draw in the Wrestlebacks. Cyler was a similar deal. He had some tough opponents, but I really thought he was good enough to get into at least the 8th spot with the matchups he had. I really look to see a very motivated Fanthorpe and Sanderson as they will want to end their Senior Years on top.
It's going to be between Ohio State and Iowa for the champion. Iowa has more guys left but only 1 in the finals, while Ohio State has 3 in the finals. I've got to give the edge to Ohio State. Also, I think Nebraska will likely leapfrog us and get the 3rd spot.
I guess we'll have next year to try to look forward to, as we'll have a team heavy with Juniors and Seniors. Honestly, I will be pretty bummed if we do not win the title next year. We just have too much talent to not be closer.
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