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Iowa State University Athletics
No. 2 Cyclones Twist Into Evanston for the Midlands
12.27.2009 | Wrestling
AMES, Iowa - No. 2-ranked Iowa State is set to take on the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill. Dec. 29-30 in Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern University. The Cyclone squad is coming off a 42-0 rout of intrastate foe Northern Iowa.
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Cyclone Notebook
? Iowa State returns to the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill., after taking team runner-up honors the last two seasons (2007, 08) and winning the team title in 2006.
? The Cyclones are 2-1 in the 2009-10 season with the dual victories coming Nov. 12 in Hilton Coliseum over South Dakota State (43-3) and Dec. 19 at UNI, 42-0.
? ISU is currently ranked 2/2 in the Intermat and W.I.N. Magazine polls, respectively.
? Iowa State is 992-262-20 all-time in duals, dating back to 1916.
? The Cyclones are coming off a third-place showing at last year's NCAA Championships.
? Iowa State returns four grapplers who earned All-America honors in at the 2009 NCAA Championships: Nick Gallick (141), Jon Reader (165), Jake Varner (197) and David Zabriskie (HWT). ISU 133-pounder Nick Fanthorpe was an All-American in 2008.
Iowa State at the Midlands Championships
? Last season, Iowa State advanced five wrestlers to the finals of the Midlands Championships, only to go 0-5 in the round. Three of the finalists (Nick Fanthorpe, Jon Reader and Jake Varner) return for this year's edition of the Midlands.
? Per Midlands tournament rules, a team designates 10 scorers on its roster. The wrestlers do not need to be at 10 different weights.
? ISU last crowned a Midlands individual titlist in 2007 when Varner brought home top-honors at 184 pounds.
? Cyclones Nick Gallick and David Zabriskie were the definition of “wrestleback warriors” at last year's event. Both wrestlers suffered early-round losses but bounced back to place third at 141 pounds and heavyweight, respectively.
? In program history, ISU has secured Midlands team trophies in 1965, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1981 and 2006.
? Iowa State has notched team runners-up accolades 10 times since the Midlands Championships began in 1963.
? The Cyclones took the 2006 team title with 154.5 points and a finals appearance by Fanthorpe at 125 pounds.
Scouting the Midlands Championships
? The 47th Annual Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., is an invitational/open-style tournament that features some of the best and most prestigious wrestling programs in the nation.
? Nine teams ranked in the top-25 by the NWCA/USA Today Division I coaches poll will take part in the event.
? Top-ranked Iowa will be followed into action by No. 2 ISU. Sixth-ranked Central Michigan and seventh-ranked Maryland are also competing.
? Big 12 counterpart Missouri brings its 17th-ranked squad to action, as well.
? Several of the top wrestlers in the nation will be competing in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Top-ranked wrestlers (according to W.I.N. Magazine) include: Michigan State's 133-pounder, Franklin Gomez; Iowa's 149-pounder, Brent Metcalf; Missouri's Max Askren at 184 pounds and the Cyclones' 197-pounder, Jake Varner.
? Other notable competitors include: Central Michigan's Mike Miller (national runner-up for CMU at 184 pounds); Maryland's Hudson Taylor (two-time third-place finisher at 197 pounds at the NCAA Championships); Andrew Howe of Wisconsin (2009 165-pound national runner-up) and postcollegiate grappler Aaron Anspach (HWT) of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. Anspach was a 2007 NCAA finalist.
Cyclones Spotted Heavily in the Midlands Pretournament Rankings
? Eight of the 10 weights being contested at the Midlands Championships have an ISU wrestler receiving a pretournament ranking.
? Returning NCAA champion Jake Varner is the top-ranked competitor in the 197-pound division. Varner was a finalist in the Midlands last season.
? Two-time All-American Jon Reader is ranked second at 165 pounds, behind NCAA finalist Wisconsin's Andrew Howe. Cyclone 133-pound All-American Nick Fanthorpe is also ranked second.
? The seedings may change when the finalizations for the event are determined at the Dec. 28 coaches meeting.
Players Mentioned
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