Who: #11 Iowa State vs Arizona State
Date: Friday, January 14h, 2016
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
InterMat Rankings
#11 Iowa State Cyclones (7-2) vs Arizona State Sun Devils (6-6)
125- Nathan Boston or Kyle Larson vs Ares Carpio
133- #9 Earl Hall vs Cord Coronado
141- Dante Rodriguez or John Meeks vs Robbie Mathers
149- #18 Gabe Moreno vs #15 Matt Kraus
157- Logan Breitenbach vs Oliver Pierce
165- #11 Tanner Weatherman vs Jacen Petersen
174- Lelund Weatherspoon vs Anthony Anderson
184- Dane Pestano vs #9 Blake Stauffer
197- Marcus Harrington vs Josh DaSilveria
285-Quean Smith or Joe Scanlan vs #9 Tanner Hall
Fresh off their 2016 Virginia Duals title, the Iowa State Cyclones will head west to face a rising Arizona State program. The Cyclones defeated the Sun Devils last season in Ames by a score of 27-6 dropping matches at 157 and 184. The Sun Devils have certainly improved from where they a year ago, with one of their lineup additions coming from the #1 ranked recruiting class. That addition is the current top 10 ranked heavyweight Tanner Hall, who was one of 2011’s most touted high school wrestlers.
Returning victors from the 2015 dual are Kyle Larson, Earl Hall, Dante Rodriguez, Gabe Moreno, Tanner Weatherman, and Quean Smith. Most of this group will be favored once again in tonight’s dual, with Moreno being the only wrestler viewed as an underdog by the rankings.
Nathan Boston was noticeably absent from the Iowa State lineup at the Virginia Duals, and he is once again listed on the school’s press release as a probable starter for the dual. Last year his teammate Larson won a narrow 2-1 victory over Ares Carpio.
The Cyclones could certainly use a repeat performance from senior Earl Hall, who was one of two wrestlers to score a bonus point victory for Iowa State in the 2015 dual. He will be matched up against a Cord Coronado, who is 1-6 on the year.
One of the top matchups in this dual will be at 149, where Moreno will once again look to score a big victory over a ranked Sun Devil opponent. Last year Moreno was able to defeated Christian Pagdilao 9-8 in the dual.
Weatherman is coming off a 4-0 performance at the Virginia Duals, and was even named the tournaments most outstanding wrestling. His opponent, Jacen Petersen, was the other wrestler that loss by bonus for Arizona State.
Arizona State returns Oliver Pierce and Blake Stauffer, who each won their matches at 157 and 184 respectively in 2015. Hall will also be a heavy favorite in his matchup against either Smith or Joe Scanlan.
The final interesting item to note in the probable lineups would be that once again NJCAA champion Pat Downey is absent at 184 for the Cyclones. The former Junior World medalist was expected to be back as early as the Virginia Duals, but has yet to appear in an official dual.