ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The work is done. Now comes the fun part for Iowa State.

With the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships set to begin Thursday at the Scottrade Center, Cyclones coach Cael Sanderson believes his collection of 10 qualifiers is fully prepared to succeed, or to have some fun, in his words.

"Having fun is you are trusting your instincts, wrestling hard and not making mistakes," said Sanderson. "You're not worrying about the things that take away some of the fun."

Sanderson is fully aware the Cyclones will have to work and compete hard if they want to match or better their national runner-up finish at Auburn Hills, Mich., last year.

But, at the same time, if you're not ready for the three grueling days that make up the Division I meet by now, you're probably not going to be successful.

Sanderson is certain his bunch is ready to compete.

"The work has been done, and I have a lot of confidence in our plan," said Sanderson. "We have an unbelievable coaching staff. Cody (Sanderson) and Tim (Hartung) have done a great job of helping and making sure each of these guys is going to be at their best.

"We're ready. Now we have to take advantage of that and attack … attack at scoring opportunities and (allow them to do) what makes them special."

Edinboro is the only other team in the field that qualified all 10 wrestlers. Five programs qualified nine - Boise State, Central Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and Northern Iowa.

ISU may have the youngest team in the field with two freshmen, six sophomores and two seniors. However, all six sophs (Nick Fanthorpe at 133, Nick Gallick at 141, Mitch Mueller at 149, Cyler Sanderson at 157, Jake Varner at 184 and David Zabriskie at heavyweight) are returning national qualifiers.

Freshman Tyler Clark at 125, freshman Jon Reader at 165, senior Aron Scott at 174 and senior David Bertolino are making their first NCAA appearances.

"I think it is going to pay off big for them," said Sanderson of experience his sophs got last year, "pay off big like it did at the Big 12 meet, if you use that as an example. All of our sophomores made the finals with the previous experience they had at the Big 12 meet. Being at the NCAA tournament last year … it will have the same affect."

The Cyclones won their second consecutive Big 12 title 11 days ago, the first time ISU has won back-to-back conference meets since 1979-80.

Varner finished second to Northwestern's Jake Herbert last year at 184, while Fanthorpe, Cyler Sanderson and Zabriskie all reached the round of 12, which is one win shy of becoming an all-American.

Varner is the top seed at 184 and one of only five undefeated wrestlers in the tournament.

Having a full complement of wrestlers at his disposal means two things for Sanderson, as well.

"It just means we were wrestling well when we needed to at the Big 12s," said Sanderson. "I mean, we had a few guys who were borderline at qualifying, and they were at their best.

"Having all 10 also sets us up to have more opportunities to score points at nationals, which is the ultimate goal."

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com

Opening matchups

125 Tyler Clark (19-9) vs. Ross Gitomer (Virginia), 37-11

or Luke Smith (Central Michigan), 24-7

133 No. 5 Nick Fanthorpe (28-4) vs. Steve Bell (Maryland), 26-7

141 No. 9 Nick Gallick (23-11) vs. Chris Drouin (Arizona State), 17-12

149 Mitch Mueller (21-11) vs. Kyle Fried (Binghamton), 22-2

157 No. 7 Cyler Sanderson (28-4) vs. Matt Moley (Bloomsburg), 29-8

165 No. 6 Jon Reader (26-7) vs. Andrew Rendos (Bucknell), 27-9

174 Aron Scott (12-11) vs. Randy Oates (George Mason), 25-9

184 No. 1 Jake Varner (25-0) vs. Lior Zmir (Penn), 18-4.

197 David Bertolino (22-11) vs. Patrick Bradshaw (Edinboro), 24-8

Hwt. No. 7 David Zabriskie (25-5) vs. Mitchell Monteiro (Bakersfield), 3-1