New cast of characters on Cyclones’ wrestling mat

AMES - Iowa State's wrestling team is expected to contend for a national championship every single year. Period.

Having a roster like the Cyclones have - missing three NCAA finalists from a year ago and dominated by first- and second-year wrestlers - is not an excuse for anything less.

“Iowa State has a legacy of being near the top every year. That doesn't go away,” said junior 165-pounder Andrew Sorenson. “We have to carry that torch. It doesn't matter if we have a young team. That's what stepping up is about.”

Gone are NCAA champions Jake Varner (197) and David Zabriskie (Hwt), along with national qualifiers Mitch Mueller, Nick Fanthorpe, Dalton Jensen, Duke Burk and Nick Gallick.

Dylan Long, the 125-pound national runner-up last season as

a red-shirt freshman,

was dismissed from the team in the spring for

repeated code of conduct

violations.

Long's absence was a big blow to a team that was entering transition mode after a 13-2 record and third-place NCAA finish in Kevin Jackson's first season as coach.

Is another top-five finish at nationals on the horizon?

“You never know what you have until you throw them out there in competitions,” Jackson said. “Whether that happens or not, it's going to be up to these guys and me and my coaching staff. I do think we have the ability, the potential and the talent to be in the hunt.”

The Cyclones have two returning All-Americans, and only one - senior Jon Reader - who earned that honor at ISU. Arizona State transfer Chris Drouin was a top-eight finisher at the 2008 NCAA meet.

Jackson is a believer that Drouin's only season at ISU will be a special one.

“I really think he's going to be in the hunt for a national championship,” Jackson said of his starter at 141.

Drouin, Reader and red-shirt freshman Trent Weatherman, Jackson said, are the only real locks in the lineup. There are favorites at the other seven weight classes, but next week's intrasquad scrimmage is shaping up as meaningful.

One of the most heated competitions is expected at 165 between Sorenson and sophomore Chris Spangler.

Sorenson was an NCAA qualifier at 157 last season. Spangler was 11-4 in limited action.

“In my mind, I'm the guy,” Sorenson said. “I'm going to be the one wrestling at nationals and the one winning matches.”

Weatherman won state titles as a junior and senior at nearby Ballard High School and was the top-ranked 152-pound recruit nationally a year ago.

“He's got more talent than a lot of people possess coming into college,” Reader said.

“He's going to be someone to watch.”

Reader finished seventh and fourth, respectively, in the NCAA meet his first two seasons. The Davison, Mich., native stumbled badly last season and fell short of a third consecutive All-American honor. He'll be looked to for a lot of things this year, leadership in particular.

Reader has been in the program the longest and is the team's only true senior.

“This is my last rodeo. I'm excited,” he said. “We are kind of looked at as the underdogs right now. I'm excited to see these guys compete. They are young. They are hungry. They remind me a lot of myself.”

Iowa State begins the dual season Nov. 6 in Salem, Va., with a doubleheader against Kent State and Virginia Tech.

The non-conference dual meet schedule includes Iowa (Dec. 3), Minnesota (Jan. 16), Cornell (Jan. 30), Northern Iowa (Feb. 4) and Arizona State (Feb. 6).

The Cyclones make their annual trip to the Midlands in late December and follow that with the National Duals in Cedar Falls.

“I don't think there's a schedule as tough as ours in the entire country,” Jackson said.