Iowa State will be a different team in the 2017-18 season. In the most ballyhooed move of the offseason, Kevin Dresser made the move from Blacksburg to Ames, bringing Mike Zadick and Derek St. John with him from his Virginia Tech coaching staff, and adding Brent Metcalf.

When there is such a drastic change in a coaching staff, there are bound to be eyes on that team the next year. When you factor in the amount of money being thrown at the new staff, and that the change happened at one of the 12 schools to win an NCAA title, the scope becomes even more magnified.

The four former Hawkeyes will be overseeing a lineup featuring, at minimum, seven new starters this year.

Iowa State Lineup

125: Danny Vega
133: Ian Parker/Markus Simmons
141: Kanen Storr
149: Dante Rodriguez/Jarrett Degen
157: Colston DiBlasi
165: Skyler St. John
174: Hank Swalla
184: Dane Pestano
197: Sammy Colbray
285: Marcus Harrington/Gannon Gremmel

It is unclear if Markus Simmons can continue to hold 125 for a full season, so we're pencilling in redshirt freshman Danny Vega to the starting spot here. He could be pushed for time by Jonathan Marmolejo, but both Simmons and Marmolejo are listed as 133 pounders on the ISU's official roster. Vega was 14-7 during his redshirt year but did not have any wins over NCAA qualifiers.

The logjam starts at 133. The Cyclones could decide not to redshirt Austin Gomez, but he'd also have to beat out Ian Parker. Either way, it seems like the first three weights will be freshmen. The only caveat there would be if Simmons is stronger at 133 than 125 and grabs the spot for himself.

At 141, Kanen Storr is clearly the face of the program right now. A guy with All American potential, his accolades during his redshirt year speak for themselves: fifth at the Midlands, second at the Dave Schultz, and runner-up at the Junior Open. He tallied four wins over NCAA qualifiers, with his five losses only coming against qualifiers, three of whom were All Americans. Storr lives off snapdowns and front headlock position.



Another of their various roster battles comes at 149, where transfer Jarrett Degen is contending with Dante Rodriguez. Degen comes with Dresser's staff from Virginia Tech after redshirting last year, but Rodriguez was an NCAA qualifier down at 141 pounds in 2015. This will be the third different starter in three years for ISU, after John Meeks and Gabe Moreno wrestled in the last two Big 12 conference tournaments. Through four weights, Iowa State will feature four new starters.

Returning to hold down the spot at 157 is Colston DiBlasi. The redshirt sophomore had an up and down season, splitting matches with Clark Glass, Evan Wick and Archie Colgan, as well as a win over new Big 12 member Paden Moore of Northern Iowa. DiBlasi may be one to benefit from the newly expanded Big 12, which should have an increased number of automatic qualifiers at every weight this year. Pushing DiBlasi for the spot right now is redshirt sophomore Chase Straw, who was eighth last season at the CKLV down at 149.

Another transfer in line to start is Skyler St. John, the younger brother of assistant Derek St. John. Formerly at Iowa, the redshirt junior has wrestled just 14 career college matches, but one of those was win by pin over his new teammate and the Cyclone's Big 12 entry last year in Logan Breitenbach.

Oklahoma State 2017-18 Lineup Look

In their September newsletter to the fans, Dresser listed seven guys at 174, any of whom could start. Marcus Coleman may turn out to be the best guy and long term option, but will probably redshirt this year. That leaves Hank Swalla as our best guess to take hold of the spot, but has just 11 total matches under his belt.

Dane Pestano looks to be the frontrunner at 184, and in all likelihood the only starter in his final year of eligibility.

Upon first glance on the official roster, it seemed there might be a wrestle-off situation at 197 between Marcus Harrington and Sammy Colbray. But that same September newsletter seemed to confirm the rumor that Harrington is bumping up to heavyweight. He is the Cyclones' only returning NCAA qualifier, though a bit undersized compared to Gremmel. Colbray should be the clear starter at 197, and with Gremmel not blowing away the field during his redshirt year, Harrington could be the guy at 285lbs.

Watch the match that qualified Harrington for NCAAs


Long term, the expectations for ISU will be high after what Dresser did at VT. With a seven-year deal in place, it seems the athletic department is on board for the long term. Which is exactly what fans need to keep in mind as Iowa State begins the Dresser transition this year.

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