Gadson a lonely champion for Iowa State

AMES - Kyven Gadson wanted to leave a mark. While he accomplished that as an individual, his winning moment was bittersweet.

No. 8 Iowa State sent six wrestlers to the finals of the Big 12 Championship, but only the 197-pound Gadson walked away with a title. As he walked off the mat, all he could think about was how he wanted more.

'I would give this title back for a team one,” Gadson said. 'It hurts and stings. We'll move forward.”

Gadson's 10-2 major decision against Jake Smith of West Virginia was the lone bright spot in the finals for the Cyclones, as they finished second with 68 points. Oklahoma State won the Big 12 crown with 92 points.

'We couldn't have had a worse championship round and Oklahoma State couldn't have had a better one,” Iowa State Coach Kevin Jackson said. 'We've got a lot of work to do between now and the NCAA tournament.”

Jackson felt surprise and disappointment from the first finals match for Iowa State, when 133-pounder Earl Hall notched an early takedown but ultimately lost a 10-5 decision to Cody Brewer of Oklahoma.

Dante Rodriguez lost by fall in 4:49 to Dean Heil of Oklahoma State at 141 and Tanner Weatherman lost a 4-3 decision by criteria in the second tiebreaker to Kyle Crutchmer of Oklahoma State.

No. 2 Mike Moreno's 14-4 major decision loss to No. 1 Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State at 165 pounds put Iowa State 0-for-5 in the finals before Gadson's victory took the goose egg out of the win column.

At heavyweight, Lelund Weatherspoon lost 2-1 to Oklahoma's Nolan Boyd.

'That's probably what's most frustrating, you want to spring board from here positively into the national championship and we've got to backtrack a little bit to get to where we need to be and we don't have much time to do it,” Jackson said.

Gadson became the 18th wrestler in ISU history to win three conference titles and controlled his match from the start. He said he made it a point to be more physical to secure the win, but the disappointment he felt about the team finish weighed heavily as the tournament ended.

'I wanted more for them, a little bit more success,” Gadson said. 'But we have a chance to do that in a week and a half.

'Pick 'em up and get them on the right track and see if we can do something special at nationals.”