I see much improvement with this ISU squad and in my opinion they field their best team in the Jackson Era. Their strength will come from their homegrown products like Gadson, Moreno, Meeks, and Weatherman.
125 – Kyle Larson – I am going to take the guess that Earl Hall bumps up to 133 in order to make room in the lineup for Larson. Larson posted a 18-8 record at 125 this season and he had a couple losses to Iowa backup Phil Laux and Minnesota starter Sam Brancale. His lone Big 12 match was against Jarrod Paterson of Oklahoma which he lost 5-0. It’s not set in stone that Hall will indeed go up to 133, but I think if Hall decides to stay at 125 Larson will be too out matched at 133 and Iowa State will be faced with the same issue they had this season. Larson at 125 and Hall at 133 gives ISU the strongest dual team, and if Hall puts his work in this offseason it could also be the best lineup for NCAAs too.
133 – Earl Hall – Hall is coming off a fantastic finish to his 2013-14 season by finishing 8th on the podium and earning his first All America honor. It wasn’t an easy path either, after finishing 4th at the Big 12 conference tournament, Hall was at the mercy of the selection committee to give him an at large berth to the NCAA tournament. The committee decided to give him the at large and Hall made the most of it, crushing his way to the quarterfinals where he ran into a familiar foe UNI’s Dylan Peters. Hall came wrestled back and was able to clinch All American status before falling to another Iowa opponent, Cory Clark.Darian Cruz handed Hall his third loss of the tournament in the 7th place match.
Hall will be bumping into a weight class in which is currently experiencing a mass exodus at the top -graduating #1 Tony Ramos, #2 Tyler Graff, #3 Colon, #5 Thorn, and #7 Roth. There will be plenty of room for Hall to reach All America status again, but he will have his work cut out for him if he indeed decides to bump a weight class.
141 – John Meeks – Meeks came into ISU and wrestled for coach Kevin Jackson as a true freshman. Meeks came in the #5 overall recruit and was a fantastic land for coach Jackson and wrestling Meeks as a true freshman wasn’t a bad idea given his obvious ability, but looking back now I am sure some fans wished they had bit the bullet and let their star redshirt. After a 13-13 and no NCAA tournament for Meeks, season Jackson made the right call and redshirted John to get him ready for next season.
Meeks went 11-1 this season wrestling unattached from Iowa State with his only loss coming to former All American Chris Dardanes of Minnesota. While the fact he only has one loss is impressive, his list of victories leaves little to be desired (although he did notch a win over NAIA runner up Gustavo Martinez). It will be interesting to see how Meeks does at 141 next season and he could be one of the strongest Big 12 wrestlers at his weight. Right now Meeks did not wrestle enough matches to forecast any season predictions, but with his talent level it’s not absurd to dream of John making the stand, at least at some point.
149 – Gabe Moreno – Gabe shocked me in his Big 12 and NCAA debuts. Moreno was 15-18 entering post season tournament action, and riding a 10 match losing streak. He shocked West Virginia’s Colin Johnston with a 9-4 victory to earn his ticket to the NCAA tournament. At the tournament he again shocked many by pinning #19 ranked Spisak of Virginia and picked up another victory over Oklahoma opponent Nick Lester 5-4. Lester had previously major decisioned Moreno twice during the season.
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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.