2022-23 Cyclone Wrestling Season In Review

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State finished the 2022-23 season in 11th place at the NCAA Championships, the Cyclones' best finish since 2013. ISU scored its highest point total in the tournament since 2010, 47.0 points, led by All-Americans David Carr and Marcus Coleman.

Dresser's Development
Kevin Dresser inherited a team that finished tied for 57th at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Since then, Iowa State has finished T-45th, 16th, T-13th, 17th and 11th at the NCAA Championships. Heading into the 2019-20 season, Coach Dresser's roster included one returning All-American and one returning Big 12 Champ. Over the past three seasons, Iowa State has produced six Big 12 Champs, 13 All-Americans and one National Champion.

Iowa State finished the 2022-23 season in 11th place at the NCAA Championships, the Cyclones' best finish since 2013. ISU scored its highest point total in the tournament since 2010, 47.0 points.

NCAA Team Score Progression

Carr Finishes as NCAA Runner-Up

With a second-place finish at 165 pounds, David Carr became the 12th four-time All-American in program history. Carr fell one win short of his second national title, losing in the championship match to Missouri's Keegan O'Toole.
The Carr-O'Toole rivalry became one of the biggest storylines in college wrestling in 2022-23. Carr defeated O'Toole in the dual and Big 12 Championship before O'Toole flipped the script in the national finals.
Carr's loss in the national finals snapped a 33-match winning streak. His path to the finals included wins over a former national champion, Shane Griffith, and a returning national finalist, Quincy Monday.
Carr finished the season with a 27-1 record and with 12 wins over wrestlers ranked in the top 15 of FloWrestling's final poll.
Carr allowed only five takedowns on the year and secured 93 for himself, his most in a season during his career.

Carr Takedown Differential By Season
Year	For	Against
2020-21	60	1
2021-22	83	5
2022-23	93	5
TOTAL	236	11

Coleman Caps Cyclone Career

Marcus Coleman capped his storied Cyclone career with his second consecutive All-America honor, courtesy of a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Coleman posted 24-5 record in his final season. None of his five losses came to anyone worse than a No. 4 seed at the NCAA Championships.
Coleman was responsible for 184-pound national champion Aaron Brooks' (Penn State) only loss of the season.
The Ames native became the second wrestler in program history to qualify for five NCAA Championships, the other being Jarrett Degen (2019-22).
Coleman finished his career with a 99-42 record, which included 49 wins with bonus points (21 F, 8 TF, 20 MD).

MARCUS COLEMAN!! 👏

He takes out No. 1 Aaron Brooks, 9-7!

🌪🚨🌪 pic.twitter.com/og1iOCHifv
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) December 21, 2022

Everyone Scores at NCAAs
2022-23 marked the fifth consecutive season Iowa State has sent at least eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. The Cyclones were one of 15 teams nationally to send at least eight wrestlers to the tournament.

All eight Cyclones who qualified for the national tournament scored at least one team point. Three Cyclones - Zach Redding, Casey Swiderski and Sam Schuyler - fell in the blood round, one win shy of All-America honors.

Wrestling Team Score Breakdown

Johnson, Carr Win Big 12 Titles
Paniro Johnson (149) and David Carr (165) both won Big 12 titles in 2022-23.

Carr is the second Iowa State wrestler, and first since Cael Sanderson in 2002, to win four Big 12 titles. He is the 11th wrestler in league history to win four titles in the Big 12 era (1997-pres.).
Carr joins Pete Galea (1973-76), Tim Krieger (1986-89) and Cael Sanderson (1999-2002) as the only four-time conference champions in school history.
Johnson, a freshman, became Iowa State's first Big 12 Champion at 149 pounds and is the 24th wrestler in Big 12 history to win a title as the No. 3 seed or worse.

Other Storylines of Note

Two true freshmen, Casey Swiderski and Paniro Johnson, represented Iowa State in the NCAA Championships.
Five different true freshmen appeared in Iowa State's dual lineup at least once during the season. Swiderksi (141) and Johnson (149) were the regulars but Ethan Perryman (125), Jacob Frost (141) and MJ Gaitan (174) also made appearances. The five freshmen combined for 24 wins in dual action.
Iowa State went undefeated inside Hilton Coliseum, posting a 6-0 record on its home mat.
Kevin Dresser put the Cyclones through one of the toughest schedules in the nation in 2022-23. Ten of Iowa State's dual opponents this season were ranked in the final NWCA Coaches Poll, including five inside the top 10 and two in the top five. ISU logged five dual wins against top 15 opponents (#12 Wisconsin, #12 Cornell, #3 Arizona State, #10 Oklahoma State, #14 Northern Iowa).
The Cyclones pieced together their longest conference winning streak in program history from 2021-23 with 18 consecutive Big 12 victories. The streak was snapped in ISU's final dual of the season at No. 10 Missouri.

The read the full end-of-season notes packet, click here.

Players Mentioned

David Carr

Marcus Coleman

Jarrett Degen

Jacob Frost

MJ Gaitan

Paniro Johnson

Ethan Perryman

Zach Redding

Sam Schuyler

Casey Swiderski

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