Rob Gray

Friday’s Iowa boys’ state wrestling notebook: Having his mom nearby for support provides South Tama’s Gavin Bridgewater with both comfort and motivation.

Williamsburg senior Gavin Jensen’s last almost-three seasons on the mat have taught him one thing: Humbling setbacks can deepen one’s sense of confidence, not shake it.

Every bout’s a blessing. Each second on the mat’s sublime. That’s because Iowa City High’s Cale Seaton is able to compete in the Class 3A Iowa high school boys’ state wrestling tournament — a proposition that appeared bleak about a month ago.

Mikey and Henry Ryan and Jase and Jackson Jaspers of Mount Vernon all advanced to the Class 2A state wrestling quarterfinals. The Mustangs are in second in the team race after the first day.

Top-seeded heavyweight Cody Fox of East Buchanan made sure his first match after sustaining a knee injury in his district meet would be anything but close. Fox — a four-star Iowa football recruit — won by fall in his only bout on the first day of the Class 1A state wrestling tournament Wednesday.

They hunt and fish together. They’re good friends and have each other’s backs. But each day in the Maquoketa Valley wrestling room, upper weight standouts Nathan Beitz, Brady Davis and Aiden Salow beat the crap out of each other.

Whether you consider it a lull, skid or a slump, Iowa State men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger wants to make one thing clear: The No. 19 Cyclones’ recent struggles don’t require a reset, nor a push of the panic button.

Denae Fritz’s clutch 3-pointer with 37 seconds left essentially sealed the No. 22-ranked Iowa State women’s basketball team’s rousing 66-61 win over 17th-ranked Texas Monday Night at Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly drew up a detailed plan with his assistants. The mission: Turning a week off from Big 12 play into a rejuvenating spark for success down the stretch.

No. 11 Iowa State — the worst free-throw shooting team in the Big 12 — struggled from the foul line again Saturday against Oklahoma State and fell for the first time at Hilton Coliseum this season, 64-56, before a sellout crowd of 14,267.

Iowa State’s Caleb Grill been pretty good at considerably less than full strength, especially on defense and from the 3-point line. He’s also a key element for ISU’s offense in terms of spacing and ball movement as the Cyclones prepare to host surging Oklahoma State on Saturday.

No. 3 Iowa State seeks a fourth straight win against No. 14 Northern Iowa in a dual Friday. The coaches played up the intense in-state rivalry as usual this week.

Bad intentions: that’s the mentality new Iowa State offensive line coach Ryan Clanton expects his linemen to showcase from every snap to what he calls the echo of the whistle.

Former Iowa State star running back Breece Hall is still recovering from an ACL tear suffered in week 7 of his promising rookie NFL season, but remains on schedule to be ready for training camp this summer. He was at the ISU men’s basketball team’s win over Kansas on Saturday.

It’s been eight years since an Iowa State men’s basketball team won at West Virginia. The No. 11 Cyclones seek to end that long drought Wednesday.