Iowa State Set For Midlands Championships

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State wrestling team (1-4, 1-3 Big 12) is set to take on the field at the 54th Midlands Championships. The Cyclones will be in good company in Evanston as 15 of the nation's top-25 programs will be in attendance.

True freshmen Ian Parker and Kanen Storr will join the team at Welsh Ryan Arena while wrestling unattached. The duo from Michigan had a successful start to the season, combining for a 34-9 overall record with each finishing in the top-four in all of their 2016 competitions.

ISU is returning to the mat after a two-week hiatus. Last time out, the Cyclones fell in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Dual, 26-9. In the dual, senior Earl Hall, redshirt sophomore Marcus Harrington and redshirt senior Quean Smith all came away victorious.

Where: Evanston, Ill., Welsh-Ryan Arena
When: Thursday-Friday, Dec. 29-30, All Day
Live Stats: Live results and match-by-match updates will be available at trackwrestling.com?
TV: Thursday and Friday's action from every mat can be viewed on BTN2Go. Wednesday night's finals will be broadcast live beginning at 8 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
Live Updates: Follow @CycloneWR on Twitter for live scoring, match-by-match results and Periscope content

Iowa State at Midlands History
-In its history, seven Iowa State squads have brought home team titles at the Midlands Championships, with the last one coming in 2006.
-Since 1965, Cyclone wrestlers have combined for 66 individual titles and seven Outstanding Wrestler honors at the tournament.
-Jon Reader was the most recent champion for the Cardinal & Gold in 2011.
-Dan Gable and Ben Peterson each won six titles in their careers while wrestling at the Midlands Championships.

Cyclone Notebook
-Iowa State is off until Thursday, Dec. 29 when the Cyclones head to Evanston, Illinois for the 2016 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, a two-day tournament held annually in Northwestern's Welsh Ryan Arena.
-The Cyclones are coming off a 26-9 loss to No. 3 Iowa in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series on Dec. 10 in Iowa City.
-Iowa State got decisions from Quean Smith (285), Earl Hall (133) and Marcus Harrington (197) in Iowa City, tying for their most match wins in a Cy-Hawk dual since 2010.
-Colston DiBlasi was another bright spot for the Cyclones in the Iowa dual. DiBlasi, a redshirt freshman, took the mat for his 157-pound bout against No. 4 Michael Kemerer. DiBlasi was in control for much of the match, picking up a pair of reversals and racking up riding time while Kemerer got hit for stalling. In the end, a four-point nearfall was too much to overcome, as DiBlasi fell, 8-7.
-Iowa State finished sixth at last year's Midlands Championships, with four podium finishes, including runner-up honors for now-graduated Tanner Weatherman. Earl Hall and Lelund Weatherspoon each took seventh, while Gabe Moreno brought home eighth-place honors.
-Experience at the two-day Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational should have the Cyclone prepped for Midlands. ISU took 12th place as a team in Las Vegas with 49 team points behind top-8 finishes from Markus Simmons (eighth), Chase Straw (eighth), Lelund Weatherspoon (fourth) and Quean Smith (eighth).
-For Simmons, Straw and Smith, it was their first time on the podium in Vegas. For Weatherspoon, it was the second time the 2016 All-American has earned at top-8 finish, and the best of his career. He finished fifth in 2014.
-DiBlasi picked up two more falls out in Las Vegas to bring his season total to a team-best, eight. In his last eight wins, he's pinned his opponent six times.
-Five Cyclones are ranked in this week's national polls. Markus Simmons (16,14, 14) Earl Hall (11, 15, 10), Chase Straw (UR, 19, UR) Lelund Weatherspoon (12, 12, 9) and Patrick Downey (9, 8, 7) all begin the weekend slotted in the top-20 in FloWrestling, TheOpenMat and Intermat rankings.
-Kanen Storr has put up four top-three finishes in open tournaments and has compiled a 19-3 record with 13 bonus-point decisions. Ian Parker has garnered four top-four finishes and has pieced together a 15-6 mark to begin the year.
-Hall and Weatherspoon are both knocking on the door of 100 career wins. Hall has tallied 90 career wins, and Weatherspoon has compiled 82 career victories.
-Hall (7), Weatherspoon (6) and Downey (5) are all coming off of All-America finishes in 2015-16. The Cyclones are one of just eight squads in the country to return three or more 2016 All-Americans.
-Iowa State head coach Kevin Jackson is in his eighth year leading the Cyclones.

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Players Mentioned

Colston DiBlasi

Earl Hall

Marcus Harrington

Gabe Moreno

Ian Parker

Markus Simmons

Quean Smith

Kanen Storr

Chase Straw

Tanner Weatherman

Lelund Weatherspoon

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Iowa State University Athletics