I am not sure what to expect with Moreno bumping up a weight. I will definitely say that it will probably be a struggle and Oklahoma State will return NCAA runner up Josh Kindig at the weight so his conference alone should have some decent competition.
157 – Dan Woiwor – Woiwor is my pick to take the Cyclone’s 157 spot in the lineup for the now graduated John Nicholson. Minnesota native Woiwor came to ISU the 105th ranked recruit and went 10-5 in his redshirt season splitting time between 157 and 165. NCAA champion Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State is expected to bump up to the 165 weight class so that should open up the Big 12’s 157 race and Woiwor has enough talent to make a statement early on in his career.
165 – Mike Moreno – While Iowa State has some young promising lightweights, the strength of their team lies in there upperweights, starting with two time NCAA All American Mike Moreno. It started his sophomore season in which he was coming off a 4-13 freshman campaign and most fans outside of Ames expected little for the Urbandale, IA native. Moreno exploded to a 31-10 sophomore break out finishing 6th in Des Monies at the NCAA championships. While Moreno didn’t improve upon his win total this year (31-9) he still had a fantastic season in which he improved upon his previous finish by placing 5th at NCAAs.
While the conference champion and NCAA runner up Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma State is graduating, it is expected that 157 NCAA champion Alex Dieringer is expected to move into Moreno’s weight class. Dieringer certainly has the frame to move up a weight class so he could immediately challenge Moreno for confernce favorite. Ignoring wrestlers that are moving up a weight class and any freshman contenders, Moreno is the second best returning All American at this weight. When you do factor in Dieringer it is very reasonable to assume that Moreno will probably be a preseason top three.
174 – Tanner Weatherman – Weatherman is coming into an interesting situation at 174 for the Cyclones. Fresh off a nationals finish in which he finished one win shy of All American status, he watched the two best wrestlers in his conference duke it out for a national title. The beauty of the situation is that both NCAA and Big 12 champion Chris Perry and NCAA and Big 12 runner up Andrew Howe are both graduating leaving Weatherman to be the favorite to win a conference title and he will have a chance to reach All American status as a junior.
Weatherman has never been able to defeat either of Logan Storley (Minnesota) or Mike Evans (Iowa) so fans would have to be dreaming to think Weatherman will have a shot at the title next season. Weatherman should be a preseason top eight selection and the Belle of the Ball in the Big 12. Weatherman has a chance to join Hall, Moreno, and Gadson in All American status as Kevin Jackson continues to try and build Iowa State back into a national contender.
184 – Lelund Weatherspoon – Weatherspoon spent a majority of the first part of the season battling it out with Weatherman for the 174 spot. He took over the full time duties of 184 at the Oklahoma State dual where he fell to Nolan Boyd. A month and a half later Weatherspoon came out, and was able to win his first Big 12 conference title by scoring wins over both Boyd and Chaid of Oklahoma to earn the only automatic bid for the conference. At the NCAA tournament he went 1-2 to cap off his season.
With an entire off season to add muscle and fully committing to the 184 pound weight class Weatherspoon can tighten his grip as the best wrestler in the confernce and if he perhaps with being at a more natural weight, he will be able to hang with other wrestlers around the country as well.
197 – Kyven Gadson – Gadson was coming off an emotional sophomore season in which he finished 6th at the NCAA tournament where he had lost his father just a short time leading up to the post season. In his junior season he entered as a preseason top five and ended the season ranked the #1 197 in the nation. Much to the dismay of ISU fans, Gadson got the #5 seed at nationals which meant a quarterfinals match up with Scott Schiller of Minnesota. Schiller had taken both of the first two meetings from Gadson and with the season drawing to a close Gadson got his revenge over Schiller and suddenly his quarterfinals matchup didn’t appear as scary as before. Unfortunately Schiller won that match 6-4 and Gadson would be forced to earn his way back to the podium. He put together three straight victories, including two pins, to reach the consolation finals to face Schiller for the fifth time this season. Schiller took that match as well, but Gadson left Oklahoma with his highest finish yet, a 4th place All America honor.
So coming into the next season Gadson should still be considered one of the favorites for the 197 title. This years NCAA champion J’den Cox of Missouri had one of his only two losses to Gadson. Gadson should return as the Big 12 favorite and if he can figure out how to beat Schiller like he did before tournament action began he will be the favorite for the NCAA crown too.
HWT – Quean Smith – Heavyweight has been a pretty big hole in ISU’s lineup, but Smith appears to be an interesting prospect. Smith finished the season 9-15 with his best wins of the season being a 13-2 major decision and 9-6 decision over Oklahmoa’s NCAA qualifier Ross Larson (Iowa native). The Big 12 has returning All American Austin Mardsen for Oklahoma State so he will have to make a name for himself in nonconference action if he wants a shot at his first NCAA appearance.
If you are interested Wrestle Stat is doing some pretty great work and you can follow this link to check out ISU scholarship situation for the next year as well.