No. 6/7 ISU Plays Host to No. 2 Nebraska

02.19.2008 | Men's Wrestling

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa -- No. 6/7 Iowa State (15-4/2-1) will face its final opponent of the 2007-08 dual schedule, No. 2 Nebraska (14-2/3-0), Sunday at 2 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum. Those in attendance wearing a gold colored shirt will be entered into a raffle to win two free tickets to Las Vegas courtesy of Allegiant Air. Fans can catch the dual live Iowa Public Television or as a Clone Zone member on cyclones.com. Live stats will be available on cyclones.com.

Cyclone Notebook
-No. 6/7 Iowa State (15-4/2-1) will face its final opponent of the 2007-08 dual schedule, No. 2 Nebraska (14-2/3-0), Sunday at 2 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum.
-Iowa Public Television will broadcast the Big 12 showdown live. It is the fourth time this season that ISU has been carried on the tube.
-The Cyclones surpassed No. 11/12 Missouri 18-15 over the weekend on a clutch 7-3 decision by heavyweight David Zabriskie. The win pushed Iowa State into second place in the Big 12 standings behind Nebraska.
-Heading into the final conference dual, two of ISU's big men, Jake Varner and Zabriskie, have a perfect 3-0 mark against league opponents.
-ISU wrestling squad has posted a 4-1 mark on its home mat.
-Six Iowa State wrestling seniors will be honored at Sunday's dual. The senior class includes: David Bertolino, Ben Hanisch, Adam Ketcher, Aron Scott, Anthony White and Jerome Whitter.
-Sophomore 133-pounder, Nick Fanthorpe, leads the team in wins (25), dual takedowns (62), dual points scored (64) and points scored in a match (26). His latest win was a 6-2 decision of Missouri's lone All-American, Tyler McCormick. Cyler Sanderson also has 25 wins at 157 pounds.
-Varner, an All-American and the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 184 pounds, remains undefeated at 22-0. His 22 wins are the most by an ISU sophomore wrestler since head coach Cael Sanderson. The 22 straight marks the longest win skein of that magnitude since 2006 NCAA champ Nate Gallick posted a perfect 35-0 mark in his senior season. Varner has avenged three of his seven losses from his rookie season (Roger Kish - Minnesota, Jake Herbert - formerly Northwestern, Raymond Jordan - Missouri). Varner has defeated Kish twice this season and could see Jordan again in three weeks at the Big 12 Championships.

Iowa State vs. Nebraska Series
-The Cyclones lead the all-time series against Nebraska, 77-14-2.
-ISU won seven of 10 matches en route to a 25-12 conference dual victory in last year's meeting. Nick Fanthope closed out the dual at 125 pounds with a 6-3 upset over to-be NCAA champion Paul Donahoe. With the win, the Cyclones snapped a two-dual losing skid to Nebraska.
-Five of NU's wrestlers from last year's contest are slated to take on the Cyclones again. Craig Brester is the only one that was able to pick up a win, a 4-3 decision over ISU's Kurt Backes at 197 pounds.
-NU's last visit to Ames was on Feb. 19, 2006 and the Huskers won 22-21.
-Combined, there will be 17 of the nation's top-wrestlers in action in Sunday's dual. Three weight classes will pit top-10 wrestlers against each other (133, 165, 184).

Scouting the Huskers
-Nebraska concludes it's dual season on the road against Iowa State. The Huskers return to the Midwest after spending last weekend out East, picking up wins at Rider (27-12) and at No. 16 Hofstra (25-10). Nebraska won six bouts against the Broncs on three major decisions, two technical falls and a pin.
-Last year's Big 12 157-pound runner-up, Chris Oliver, dropped two matches on the trip including a 33-17 technical fall by Hofstra's Jonny Bonilla-Bowman. Oliver is the only Husker wrestler that is currently unranked.
-Nebraska has won 12 of its last 13 duals. Both of the Big Red's losses have come away from Lincoln, at Minnesota (25-13) in early-December and to Iowa (24-6) in the championship of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in mid-January.
-Three Husker grapplers have maintained spotless conference records: Jordan Burroughs (149) and Brandon Browne (174) are both 3-0, while Mike Rowe is 2-0.
-For the second time this season, Iowa State's Jon Reader will see a familiar face on the opposite side of the mat. Nebraska's Paul Donahoe and Reader are both natives of Davison, Mich. Donahoe graduated in 2004, when Reader was a freshman. Iowa's Brent Metcalf is also an alum of Davison High School.
-Nine of Nebraska's starters are scattered throughout the polls, six are which are among the top-10 of their respective weight class. 2007 NCAA 125-pound champ, Paul Donahoe leads the way as one of six returning NCAA qualifiers.
-Heading into Sunday's conference closer, Nebraska currently holds the upper-hand with a 3-0 league mark. Iowa State is in second place with a 2-1 record, followed by Oklahoma State at 2-1-1. Missouri (1-2-1) and Oklahoma (0-4) round out the Big 12. OSU and OU are set for Bedlam Thursday night in Norman, Okla.
-It is interesting to note that the Huskers have not wrestled a conference dual on an opponents home mat. The Big Red hosted both Oklahoma and Missouri in NU Coliseum. In a 22-13 win over Oklahoma State, the two teams squared off in the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Okla.