CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee – The Iowa State wrestling team kicked off competition at the 12th annual Southern Scuffle. After two sessions, the Cyclones are currently in 15th place with a team score of 22. Penn State leads the tournament field after day one with a score of 52.
Leading the way for the Cyclones today was No. 14 Gabe Moreno. He kicked off the Scuffle for ISU with a 12-2 major-decision over George Mason’s James Hunsberger. He followed that up by beating Geoffrey Verallis of Drexel by fall in 6:43.
Moreno closed out his day with an impressive 6-1 dec. over Nebraska’s Tyler Berger. Moreno trailed 1-0 heading into the final minute of the match, but a late reversal, and a three-point near-fall gave a Moreno the victory and a spot in tomorrow’s quarterfinals.
Also advancing to the quarterfinals for Iowa State was No. 13 Earl hall and No. 7 Tanner Weatherman.
Hall picked up two victories today. He defeated Jared Browning of Chattanooga to begin the day by a score of 6-1. He came back in the second session and got a 6-4 dec. over Missouri’s Zach Synon.
Weatherman also had a first round bye. He faced Duke’s Trey Adamson in the second round. He got the 8-5 dec. behind the work of three takedowns. He cemented his spot in the quarterfinals by defeating Army’s Brian Harvey, 4-1.
Still alive for Iowa State on the backside is Kyle Larson, Kyven Gadson, Marcus Harrington, Joe Scanlan and Quean Smith.
The semi-finals and finals will commence tomorrow at McKenzie Arena. The first session will begin at 8 a.m. CT. Medal bouts are set to begin at 6 p.m. CT.
