Never Too Early Lineup Look: Iowa State

Iowa State finished fourth in 2024, their highest finish since 2010. With four All-Americans the Cyclones earned a team trophy, albeit given much later in the year. They won the Big 12 for the first time since 2009 and are returning four potential conference finalists. They have some absurd depth in the middleweights and smartly used the transfer portal to strengthen other areas. While filling a David Carr-sized hole isn’t easy, Dresser and Co. have put together another potential trophy team. 125lbs: Kysen Terukina (Senior) Heading into his senior season Terukina is a three-time NCAA qualifier with a career record of 35-26. He was right in the chaos of 125, with wins over All-Americans Tanner Jordan and Eric Barnett proving he is a contender. A fourth-place finish in a stacked Big 12 weight class was the best in his career and led to the 24 seed at NCAA’s where he went 1-2. While this is his senior season Terukina has not taken a redshirt yet, and an injury-shortened 2023 season could potentially lead to another year of eligibility. Regardless, Terukina has proven to have podium potential and is one good run away from scoring big points for the Cyclones. 133lbs: Evan Frost (Soph.) Heading into the 2024 season many expected young transfer Garrett Grice to step into this weight class. Frost won the wrestle-off and never looked back, finishing sixth at NCAA’s as a redshirt freshman. A recruit outside of the top 200 in high school, Frost had a busy redshirt season where he had a solid, but unassuming, 11-5 record against Division I opponents. His 2024 season started strong, going 4-0 in duals before a runner-up finish at CKLV. Through the regular season, his only losses came to Kai Orine, Nasir Bailey, and Daton Fix. He continued to show his consistency at Big 12’s where he dropped a decision to Fix in the finals. Those matches against Fix showed Frost’s development, as he went from an 11-3 major decision loss in the dual, to an 8-5 decision loss at Big 12’s, to an OT rideout 2-1 loss in the NCAA quarterfinals. Frost went on to beat Big 10 Champ Dylan Shawver before losses to Ryan Crookham and Dylan Ragusin. With the podium finish Frost was ISU’s first All-American at the weight since 2016, and the Big 12’s first All-American not named Daton Fix since 2018. I dove as deep as I could and found that Frost was also the state of Louisiana’s first qualifier in almost a decade and its first AA since 2013. After all the accolades, Frost is the heavy favorite for the Big 12’s and a title threat nationally. 141lbs: Jacob Frost (Soph.)/Zach Redding (Junior) The next handful of weights are a bit up in the air with potential weight changes and redshirts coming into play. Word is that Anthony Echemendia is moving up in weight after a breakout season, leaving the Cyclones with some options. There is potential for Frost and Terukina to both bump up, but there is depth and experience here as well. Frost and Redding wrestled off last season with Frost getting a 10-5 win. Echemendia started the season at 149 but took the spot once he dropped to 141. Frost had a solid 13-4 redshirt record but only competed in seven matches in 2024, with a 5-2 record. He did have a win over Missouri’s Josh Edmond in 2023, while redshirting. Redding on the other hand is a two-time qualifier at 133, making the bloodround in 2023. Last season he competed at 141 to start the year, but moved up to 149 and went 4-2 in duals while Casey Swiderski was injured. He beat NCAA qualifier Ethan Fernandez, so he is a bit more proven against ranked wrestlers compared to Frost. Depending on how the weights change I wouldn’t be surprised to see either wrestler start or a returning starter move into the weight. Either way, it is clear that at the very minimum, the Cyclones should be fitted with a qualifier at this weight with upside potential. 149lbs: Anthony Echemendia (Junior) Listed here is returning All-American and Big 12 champ Echemendia, who had a breakout year in his first official year as a starter. After a year at Ohio State and a year unattached, Echemendia wrestled to a 23-6 record that saw him finish fifth. After a seventh-place finish at CKLV, he went 13-1 with a conference title heading into NCAA’s. Included in that run were wins over Vince Cornella, Cael Happel, and Josh Edmond. Last year’s starter Casey Swiderski has a redshirt available, so the move makes sense with the depth of talent spread through these weights. Echemendia beat Swiderski in the wrestle-off, so it’s clear that he can have success at the weight. This weight returns six qualifiers from last season including Big 12 champ and All-American Ty Watters. Echemendia’s exciting style should make for a number of highlight reel moments in 2025. 157lbs: Paniro Johnson (Soph.) Another interesting weight is at 157 where 2023 Big 12 Champ Paniro Johnson is returning after a controversial gambling suspension led to him redshirting. He competed at 157 with a 7-1 record, only losing in overtime to SDSU’s Cael Swensen at the Soldier Salute. His 2023 run saw him post wins over Brock Mauller, Colin Realbuto, Victor Voinovich, and Shayne Van Ness. This summer he made the U23 team at 70kg which included wins over All-Americans Ed Scott and Daniel Cardenas. Johnson is a conference title contender and is in the podium discussion at a difficult 157 lb weight class. Last year’s starter Cody Chittum was a true freshman and likely to redshirt with Casey Swiderski. Chittum and Swiderski are likely the best 1-2 punch to redshirt this season and an impressive showing of ISU’s depth. 165lbs: Connor Euton (Soph.)/Manny Rojas (Soph.) David Carr will undoubtedly go down as one of the best to ever wear maroon and gold and leaves a large hole in a stacked lineup. Both of these young wrestlers were ranked out of high school, with Rojas at #19 and Euton at #77 on the 2022 Big Board. In two seasons Rojas has a 12-7 record, with all but two of those matches at 174. Euton has a 10-3 record, all at 165 last season. Euton’s wins include qualifiers Jack Thomsen, Blaine Brenner, and Joey Bianchi. Rojas didn’t compete much last season, but did beat bloodround finisher Jared Simma twice in 2023. With no clear favorite, Euton appears to have an edge on paper. Rojas was higher ranked out of high school, but with only two matches at 165, there’s no guarantee he even makes the move down. Euton has multiple ranked wins at the weight and looks like he should at least be a qualifier in one of the toughest weight classes nationally. 174lbs: MJ Gaitan (Soph.) Another young standout for the Cyclones, Gaitan had an impressive first season with a bloodround finish at NCAA’s. Sporting one of the more exciting and dangerous styles at the weight, he had a 22-9 record while finishing 4th at Big 12’s. After a rocky CKLV where he finished 8th, he won his last ten matches in duals. A top-two seed at Big 12’s he was upset early by Gaven Sax, but recovered for a fourth-place finish to qualify. Gaitan took the 15th seed at NCAA’s and scored wins over Jackson Turley, Adam Kemp, and Ben Pasiuk to make the bloodround. After a season of experience, Gaitan should be a podium contender for 2025 and with ten falls last season could be a big point scorer. 184lbs: Evan Bockman (Senior)/Tate Naaktgeboren (RS Fresh.) This is another weight that the Cyclones have some impressive options between recruiting and the transfer portal. Naaktgeboren was a top-30 recruit in the class of 2023 and redshirted last season. He went 1-4 against Division I opponents, but three of those losses came to Parker Keckeisen while the other was to WVU’s Dennis Robin. Naaktgeboren did bonus all other opponents, so if he makes a jump in his second year could be someone to look out for. The competition attempting to stop him comes in Utah Valley transfer Evan Bockman. After qualifying the last three seasons at 197, Bockman comes to ISU with years of experience. He has a 54-29 record in the past three seasons and has one year left. With the addition of Christian Carroll from the portal, it leaves a path for Bockman to come down to 197. He wrestled in 2019 at 174 lbs, but him at 184 is still a question. While neither wrestler may have the big-move ability of last year’s starter Will Feldkamp, both seem to fit into the NCAA qualifier mold. With Naaktgeboren’s youth and a potential weight change for Bockman, they both have potential upside as well. 197lbs: Christian Carroll (RS Fresh.) The #2 overall recruit for 2023 is no stranger to the Big 12 after redshirting at Oklahoma State, but he’ll be wearing an Iowa State singlet in his first season as a starter. Carroll transferred after the coaching changes at OSU, and slots in as an immediate starter. He has a long list of credentials from high school, and saw success in freestyle recently with wins over Jacob Warner, Tony Cassioppi, and Trey Munoz. After expecting to be a heavyweight in college Carroll made a descent to 92 kg with the plan to compete at 197 this season. During his redshirt season, he only wrestled three matches between two opens, dropping a match to Missouri’s Seth Nitzel at heavyweight for his only D1 match. If Carroll can handle the cut and grind of a full season at 197, his athleticism and talent make him an immediate podium contender. 285lbs: Yonger Bastida (Senior) One of the more surprising results to me at NCAA’s was Yonger Bastida missing the podium. After a fifth place finish at 197 in 2022, Bastida looked like a future title contender if he improved on the mat. The strong freestyle background was evident in his matches, but a tough weight cut led to a round of 16 finish in 2023. It was announced that Bastida would make the move to heavyweight, and the work in the weight room was clear at the start of the season. Bastida appeared to be a full-sized heavyweight and reportedly lowered his body fat percentage. His athleticism was unreal and the new scoring system was even more in his favor as he started the year with three tech falls. A highlight reel at CKLV was a breakout as he beat Nick Feldman and Lucas Davison. Wins over Cohlton Schultz, Josh Heindselman, and Zach Elam only furthered his hype into the postseason. That continued into the Big 12 tournament as he scored three bonus wins before a barnburner with Wyatt Hendrickson to give himself a 24-0 record and an argument for the top seed. Unfortunately, an injury appeared to cause him issues in Kansas City, as he dropped the rematch to Davison in the quarters and was upset by Yaraslau Slavikouski in the bloodround. Now heading into his final season, Bastida should be back to a title threat and a leader for the Cyclones. If he can repeat his standout regular season and improve his NCAA showing, he has title-threat potential. Previous “Never Too Early Lineup Looks:” Air Force Indiana Lock Haven North Carolina Oregon State West Virginia

Sign In

Never Too Early Lineup Look: Iowa State

User Feedback

Recommended Comments

Create an account or sign in to comment

Create an account

Sign in

Categories

Rankings

Browse

Activity

Support