After a hard-fought win against #5 University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls on Friday, the 3rd ranked OSU Cowboys (10-0) travel 92 miles Southwest to Ames to face the short-handed, but still dangerous, 13th ranked Iowa State Cyclones (8-3) on Sunday. The dual will be nationally televised by ESPN (4:00 CST) and at the beginning of the season looked to be a very competitive matchup, but injuries and defections have slowed the Cyclones this year, and if the Cowboys wrestle anywhere near their ability, it should be a fairly easy win.
While Iowa State is on a 5 dual winning streak, they have lost to (16) Stanford (23-21), (2) Iowa (21-15), and (4) Ohio State (29-10) earlier in the year. Their best win was probably over (19) North Carolina (23-14) or (20) West Viginia (24-18). Iowa State is coached by the refreshingly open Kevin Dresser who tells it like it is and is a great quote. In his 8 years at Iowa State he has compiled an 89-31 dual record, is the reigning Big XII tournament champion and finished 4th at NCAA’s last year. OSU is 66-22-3 all time vs. ISU, including last year’s 21-12 win in Stillwater. Iowa State is very young and will likely start only one senior, seven sophomores and two freshmen against the Pokes.
On to the matchups. Rankings by Intermat, records by Wrestlestat, predictions by me.
125: (4) Troy Spratley (13-3) v. (15) Kysen Terukina (12-1) or Ethan Perryman (11-7): Terukina and Spratley have faced off twice before with Spratley coming out on top both times, a 2-1 sudden victory win in March last year, and a 4-2 decision in January. Unfortunately, Terukina’s knee is sprained and he is probably not going to go here and there is a good chance Perryman gets the start. If so, easy Spratley win. PREDICTION: Spratley by major decision. OSU 4-0.
133: Reece Witcraft (8-2) or (19) Cael Hughes (7-1) v. (5) Evan Frost (11-2): Hughes is coming off his first loss on Friday against Julian Farber (UNI) and it’s anyone’s guess who David Taylor sends out against the talented RS Sophomore Frost. Frost finished 6th at NCAA’s as a RS Freshman last year, and his only two losses this year are against (2) Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) 7-3 and (3) Drake Ayala (Iowa) 11-7 at the beginning of the season. His best win was probably 3-1 against (6) Tyler Knox (Stanford) at Cliff Keen where he finished 2nd to Witcraft’s 4th. PREDICTION: Frost by decision. OSU 4-3.
