Iowa State wrestling has 'tremendous' attitude following loss to Iowa
Make no mistake about it, Iowa State wrestling is frustrated with itself after its 18-14 loss to Iowa on Sunday. A team win appeared likely after David Carr's major decision victory over Michael Caliendo at 165 pounds.
"(The match at) 174, that one will keep me awake for months and months and months, years," said coach Kevin Dresser said after the match.
Dresser likened the dual against Iowa to a football game where the stats from the game don't reflect the final score, where a team outgained its opponent by hundreds of yards but still didn't win.
If you're looking for a reason why, it's those crucial match losses at 141, 157 and 174 pounds in which mere seconds decided the final result of the dual. Iowa State had more takedowns in the dual, with Yonger Bastida and Carr racking up major-decision victories, but Iowa's execution late in matches prevailed.
It's a dual that will sting for a long time for Dresser and the rest of the team. The Cyclones have aspirations of being a top-five team at the NCAA Championships. So far, Dresser has loved the response from his guys in the wrestling room.
"Our attitude and mojo when we got back on Monday was tremendous," Dresser said. "It doesn't surprise me because we've got a really good team here."
That's a positive development for Iowa State, and a crucial one as the Cyclones prepare for this weekend's Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas.
The invite is one of the toughest the nation has to offer, with 12 of the NWCA's top 20 teams heading to Sin City for what is something of a preview of the NCAAs. Ohio State, Cornell, Michigan, Nebraska and Virginia Tech will be there, all of which are ranked in the top 10. No. 16 Northern Iowa also will be in attendance with several high-profile guys such as Parker Keckeisen at 184 pounds.
In other words, Iowa State has no time to feel sorry for itself.
"Those guys that didn't get it done, it's just back to work," Carr said. "It's early in the season. I think we're gonna make a lot of adjustments and by the end of the year, I think we could walk away with a trophy if everyone's healthy and everyone's continued to get better."
Cyclone wrestlers participating in Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Full pre-seed lists can be found on Flowrestling, which will be live streaming the invite on Friday and Saturday.
Kysen Terukina, 125 pounds
Evan Frost, 133 pounds
Anthony Echemendia, 141 pounds
Casey Swiderski, 149 pounds
Cody Chittum, 157 pounds
David Carr, 165 pounds
MJ Gaitan, 174 pounds
Will Feldkamp, 184 pounds
Julien Broderson, 197 pounds
Yonger Bastida, 285 pounds
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State wrestling prepares for Cliff Keen Invite after loss to Iowa
