Zabriskie hoping OT wins keep coming at NCAAs

AMES – Iowa State heavyweight David Zabriskie has been tough to beat over the last two seasons.

The Cyclone senior has been practically invincible in matches that have extended past regulation.

Zabriskie is 15-1 in overtime matches the past two years, and 18-3 for his career, an impressive run of sudden-death victories for the undersized heavyweight who has more than held his own in the weight class over the last four years.

“I don't want it to come down to overtime,” Zabriskie said, “but I feel pretty confident. I've been there a bunch. My conditioning is great. If I am put in that position I feel like I'm going to be able to outwork the guy.”

Edge-of-your-seat finishes have become the norm with Zabriskie, who enters Thursday's opening day of the NCAA Championships at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., as the top seed in his weight class for the second straight year.

Odds are he'll have to put in extra time this weekend in order to become the first three-time heavyweight All-American in school history.

“We don't like to see Z wrestle so many overtime matches,” Coach Kevin Jackson said, “but as this year has gone on, I find myself instead of feeling nervous thinking he's going to win. I think he is the best heavyweight in the country. But I know in this tournament that the best wrestler doesn't always win.”

Zabriskie finished a disappointing fifth at last year's NCAA meet after a sixth-place showing as a sophomore.

He's learned a lot from last year's effort.

“I didn't really have my head on straight,” Zabriskie said. “It's my senior year. I have to go out there and give it everything I have every match.”

He capped off a third Big 12 Conference championship back on March 6 with extra-session wins over Missouri's Mark Ellis and Oklahoma State's Jared Rosholt.

Ellis, the defending NCAA champion, has never beaten Zabriskie in seven tries.

Rosholt has gotten the best of him, but not very often. Zabriskie is 21-2 this season and 111-22 for his career.

“If he looks for his offense, stays on it and works really hard in that first period, than he can walk away with the title,” Jackson said. “His expectation is to win the national championship.”

The second-ranked Cyclones (13-2) have had three consecutive top-five NCAA finishes, including a second-place showing in 2007.

This senior-dominated crew would love to finish out their careers with the school's first national title since 1987. Zabriskie will have a lot to do with that.

He hopes have his arm raised at the end of regulation and not chance the percentages continuing to work in his favor.

“This is one tournament where you don't want to leave it up to fate,” Zabriskie said. “I don't get taken down often, but if it does happen I don't want that to be in the overtime period.”