Lookahead: Experience and similar expectations will highlight Iowa State’s 2020-21 season

The Iowa State wrestling team will look almost the same next season as it did this past winter. So the expectations of a top-10 finish will remain the same, too.

The 2019-20 season was interesting for the Cyclones. The overall excitement of the returning experience and addition of younger talent was spoiled by injuries and inconsistent performances. After an uninspiring loss to Oklahoma State in January, coach Kevin Dresser publicly called his team out for their inability to do the little things.

But after that 5-4 start, Iowa State ultimately won five of its final six duals, including a thriller at home over Northern Iowa, to finish 10-5 overall. The Cyclones followed with a second-place finish at the Big 12 Championships, and nine wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis (which were canceled, of course).

Eight of those qualifiers will be back for 2020-21, which means the overall target — “It’s time for Iowa State to be a top-10 team,” Dresser said back in October — will look similar. But of those eight returning, six are seniors.

Now is the time, in other words, for this particular brand of Cyclone wrestlers to make a move.

Here’s what Iowa State might look like next season:

Key departures

The big loss for Iowa State is Chase Straw. The senior won 68 matches over his career, was a 2019 Big 12 champion and twice qualified for the national tournament. He was a steady middleweight for four years — first under Kevin Jackson, then Dresser.

Straw was one of five seniors on the roster, all of whom are Iowa natives, but he was the only one to get some consistent run this past season. The others: Brady Jennings, Hank Swalla, Joe Teague and Dan Eslick. 

But that’s it. Everyone else is returning.

Top returners

Let’s start with the NCAA qualifiers: Alex Mackall, Todd Small, Ian Parker, Jarrett Degen, David Carr, Sam Colbray, Marcus Coleman and Gannon Gremmel. Of them, Mackall, Small, Parker, Degen, Colbray and Gremmel will all be seniors next season.

Parker and Carr both won Big 12 tournament titles, at 141 and 157 pounds, respectively, and were top-four seeds at the NCAA Championships. Mackall (125) and Gremmel (285) both reached the conference tournament finals.

Elsewhere at the Big 12 Championships: Degen, a 2019 All-American who battled a shoulder injury all year, took third at 149. Colbray and Coleman, who swapped weights midway through the year, also turned in top-five finishes at 174 and 184, respectively, to secure automatic NCAA bids.

Small went 0-2 at 133 pounds at the Big 12 Championships, but received an at-large bid to the national tournament. Joel Shapiro, the lone postseason starter to not reach the big dance, will be back after an up-and-down redshirt freshman campaign at 197.

Odds are good that everybody will remain at the same weight next season, though Carr, just a redshirt freshman this past season, has hinted at possibly moving up to 165 at some point during his college career.

Other wrestlers who got some run in the starting lineup will be back as well to either push for starting spots or provide crucial depth.

Ryan Leisure stepped in at 149 when Degen was hurt and went 4-8. Isaac Judge and Grant Stotts both wrestled in lieu of Carr when he faced a small injury and will be back, too. Francis Duggan split time with Shapiro throughout the year at 197, going 7-10.

There’s also Logan Schumacher and Zane Mulder, who both started some as true freshmen in 2018-19 and redshirted this past season but will push for starting spots at the middle weights. Tate Battani has also wrestled at 165 and 174 the last two years and could be a lineup factor as well.

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New additions

There are some exciting young prospects expected to push for starting roles in Iowa State’s lineup next season.

Some will be names in-state wrestling fans should know. Aden Reeves, a two-time state champ from Albia, will be one of many lightweights pushing Mackall. Julien Broderson, a three-timer from Assumption, went 20-4 with 13 pins at 184 pounds, which included wins over Iowa’s Abe Assad and Missouri’s Canten Marriott, as a redshirt this season.

Others will be names who could become factors in future seasons. Ramazan Attasauov, originally from Russia and a two-time Massachusetts state champ, went 19-7 at 133 this past season. Caleb Long, who won 150 matches and three Nebraska state titles, went 12-8 while redshirting at 165.

Don’t forget Austin Gomez, either. Although he’s not new, he did miss 2019-20 because of a concussion, which opened the door for Small. Gomez is in good position for a medical hardship waiver to recoup the lost year.

The Illinois native expects to return next season and not only be a factor in the starting lineup, but a national contender, too. As a redshirt freshman in 2018-19, he went 24-7 with 11 bonus-point wins and was just one victory shy of becoming an All-American. 

Incoming recruiting class

With the amount of seniors expected to be in next year’s lineup, the expectations of continued growth within the program will be passed along to Iowa State’s incoming recruits, which includes some talented wrestlers from all over the country.

Of the five signees, two are top-60 recruits, according to MatScout’s 2020 Big Board: Zach Redding, a two-time New York state champ and No. 54 overall senior prospect; and Cam Robinson, a two-time Pennsylvania state finalist who’s considered the No. 58 senior prospect. Redding projects at 125/133. Robinson is expected to go 149/157.

The other three are from the Midwest, including two from Iowa: Woodward-Granger’s Cody Fisher, a two-time state champ, four-time finalist and the No. 217 overall 2020 prospect; and Ankeny Centennial’s Ben Monroe, a four-time state medalist and three-time finalist who won 162 matches during his Jaguar career.

The third: Drew Woodley, a two-time Minnesota state finalist who projects at 141/149. Fisher projects at 285 pounds, while Monroe will likely slot in at 149/157. 

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

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