Iowa State earns first win of the season, Northern Colorado tallies two upsets

No. 4 Hall of ISU defeats No. 17 Montoya of UNC. Photo: Dean Popejoy

GREELEY, Colo. – Iowa State earned its first win of the season on Sunday afternoon, defeating Northern Colorado, 19-16, inside Bank of Colorado Arena.


“It was a tough win,” Iowa State head coach Kevin Jackson said. “We put ourselves in a hole with the forfeit at 125, but we had to do some things that we felt were necessary. Getting the first win was very important. The altitude makes it a bit tougher, but I thought our guys responded really well. I saw a couple of areas that we need to get better in. We’ll continue to get better and continue to grow.”


ISU won six of the day’s 10 matches, highlighted by a return from senior Earl Hall and a major decision from Lelund Weatherspoon.


Fourth-ranked Hall made his first start of the year, taking on No. 17 Rico Montoya at 133 pounds. A successful third period from Hall gave him a 7-0 win and his 85th win of his Cyclone career.


“It honestly felt like my first match as a freshman,” Hall said. “I was a little jittery, but I had to lock in and get a win for my team. It was great to be out there with my coaches and team. It was just great to compete again.”


At 174 pounds, No. 10 Weatherspoon earned the only bonus-point win for Iowa State with a major decision over Dalton Robertson. The Cyclone senior turned Robertson twice for four-point nearfalls en route to the 14-2 win.


The Bears locked up a pair of upsets at 141 and 165 pounds.


UNC’s Timmy Box took out No. 13 Gabe Moreno at 141 pounds with a 13-2 major decision. His win gave the Bears their first team lead of the day.


Junior Keilan Torres of Altus, Okla., picked up a statement win over No. 19 Dane Pestano at 165 pounds. Torres trailed most of the match but came up with a big takedown on the edge of the mat as the buzzer sounded to clinch a 5-4 win.


“I felt good throughout the match, but I felt like I could have done more to push the pace and score more points on my opponent. As long as I could get my movement and my fakes going. I was confident I would get the takedown at the end of the match,” Torres said.


The dual started at 197 pounds, with ISU’s Joe Teague earning his first career dual win, followed by a decision from Quean Smith.


ISU also tallied wins at 149 and 157 pounds, coming from Chase Straw and Colston DeBlasi, who also earned their first dual wins as Cyclones.


Dylan Gable of UNC wrapped up the dual with a Bear win at 184 pounds as he defeated Carson Powell, 7-0.


Northern Colorado 19, Iowa State 16
Nov. 26, 2016 :: Bank of Colorado Arena :: Greeley, Colo.
Attendance - 742

*Dual started at 197 pounds
197: Joe Teague (ISU) dec, Jamarcus Grant (UNC), 3-2

285: Quean Smith (ISU) dec. Jack Kuck (UNC), 4-1

125: Trey Andrews (UNC) wins by forfeit

133: No. 4 Earl Hall (ISU) dec. No. 17 Rico Montoya (UNC), 7-0

141: Timmy Box (UNC) maj. dec. No. 13 Gabe Moreno (ISU), 13-2

149: Chase Straw (ISU) dec. Ben Polkowske (UNC), 9-5

157: Colston DeBlasi (ISU) dec. Jimmy Fate (UNC), 5-3

165: Keilan Torres (UNC) dec. No. 19 Dane Pestano (ISU), 5-4

174: No. 10 Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU) maj. dec. Dalton Robertson (UNC), 14-2

184: Dylan Gabel (UNC) dec. Carson Powell (ISU), 7-0