"I really feel good about seeing some of our guys connect with the technical skills and the attitude in which we want to see them wrestle, score points and get falls," head coach Kevin Jackson said. "I think we scored a ton of bonus points, got a ton of falls and then we got a few champs and we won some matches late as well. All in all I feel good and we'll get better yet. I did see a great deal of improvement even from last week."
Cyclone captain Andrew Sorenson continues to dominate this season for Iowa State. The seventh-ranked Sorenson walked away with the 165-pound Cyclone Open crown. He pinned his first two opponents, each in under five minutes. In his semifinal match against Cody Tibbetts of St. Cloud State (unattached), Sorenson posted a 20-5 technical fall at 6:46. In the final, Sorenson earned a 19-1 technical fall in 5:58 against Northern Iowa's Riley Banach.
"He did what our captain does," Jackson said. "He went out there and he wrestled the way we want our guys to compete, very aggressive, very powerful, looking for points all the time, looking to pin guys, looking to dominate and continue to wrestle in every situation and every position."
Redshirt freshman Ryak Finch became the 125-pound Harold Nichols/Cyclone Open champion in dominating fashion. The Safford, Ariz. native won his first match of the day on a 17-0 technical fall against Tyler Reiste of Iowa Central with just 11 seconds left in the first period. Finch then went on to post two falls in both the semifinal and final rounds. In the championship match, Finch defeated Northern Iowa's Cruse Aarhus with a fall 1:41 into the match. Going for pins isn't uncharacteristic of Finch, who believes in Jackson's philosophy to fight for a pin if the chance is ever presented.
"That's what we're taught," Finch said. "You go out there and you score every chance you get, you're not looking at points and you see a fall you take it. I think that's one of coach Jackson's main philosophies and I think you'll see that as the season goes on.â€
Freshman 133-pounder Shayden Terukina wrestled unattached and won his division title after two technical falls and a pin at 4:27 in the semifinals. Terukina nearly had a pin in the second period, but trailed 7-6 entering the final period. After a penalty against Northern Iowa's Ryan Juach, the Kamehameha, Hawaii native made a takedown for a 9-7 advantage, which he held onto for the remainder of the match.
"I started off slow and should have been leading going into that final match, I really had to do something to try and get that win," Terukina said. "I trusted my conditioning and I went for it and came up with the win."
After moving up to 197 pounds last week, redshirt sophomore Cole Shafer impressed Jackson with dominating performances. One of Shafer's highlights was a pin in the first 32 seconds of the championship match against Iowa Central grappler Kolten Kersten.
"I think 197 fits his style better," Jackson said. "I think he's strong enough to be able to wrestle with anybody at that weight class. He's going to challenge for that weight class, if Kyven Gadson's not healthy obviously Cole Shafer is going to be a guy that's going to fill in for us and be able to win for us."
Redshirt junior Matt Gibson wrestled unattached for Iowa State and won the 285-pound title. Gibson pinned two of his four opponents and finished the day with a 5-0 decision over Jake Kahnke of St. Cloud State.
"Gibson is an athlete for that weight class," Jackson said. "He's long enough to deal with the guys in that weight class so he's capable of beating anybody in the country as long as we continue to get him a little bit better shape and get his offense going a little bit more."
Redshirt freshman 174-pounder Mikey England advanced to the finals, but fell in a 13-4 major decision to Luke Rynish of Wisconsin-Parkside. England won his second round match with a pin at 1:04 and defeated Jack Barnes who wrestled unattached 6-5 in the quarterfinals.
Iowa State will hit the road Nov. 20 to face Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va. at noon (CST).
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