The following is a press release from Iowa State Athletic Communications
TULSA, Okla. – Five Cyclones – Evan Frost, Anthony Echemendia, Cody Chittum, David Carr and Yonger Bastida – advanced into the finals Saturday at the Big 12 Championship inside the BOK Center. Iowa State went 5-2 in the semifinal round and tallied 24.5 bonus points on the day to lead the team race with 129.5 points after day one.
Oklahoma State sits close behind in second place with 119.5 points while Missouri is in third with 96.0.
Two more Cyclones – Echemendia and MJ Gaitan – punched their tickets to the 2024 NCAA Championships during the session.
Iowa State finished the day with six falls, five tech falls and five major decisions.
Frost and Echemendia each earned bonus points in their semifinal matches. Frost used a late tilt to pick up a 12-4 major decision over No. 3 Dominick Serrano while Echemendia took care of business, 14-4, against Jordan Titus.
Chittum became ISU’s third finalist with a 6-0 decision against Oklahoma’s Jared Hill in the 157-pound semifinals. Soon after, Carr dispatched of West Virginia’s Peyton Hall, 5-1. He will wrestle for his fifth Big 12 title on Sunday night.
Bastida capped the semifinal round with a dominant 11-3 major decision against No. 3 Zach Elam. The Cyclone dealt with Elam’s adjustment from their bout two weeks ago and registered three takedowns in the win.
Two tight decisions went against the Cyclones in the 125- and 149-pound semifinal matches.
At 125 pounds, No. 6 Kysen Terukina took No. 2 Troy Spratley to sudden victory after both wrestlers could only muster an escape in regulation. Terukina was called for stalling on the edge of the mat which gave Spratley the deciding point for a 2-1 decision.
Casey Swiderski dropped a hotly contested semifinal against Jordan Williams at 149 pounds. The Cyclone made a late charge in the match but came up short, 8-7, in the bout.
On the back side, Gaitan finished his day with back-to-back falls at 174 pounds. He pinned Utah Valley’s Mahonri Rushton in 2:18 before taking Oklahoma’s Tate Picklo upper body for a fall in 1:43 to advance on the back side.
Will Feldkamp picked up bonus points with a fall over California Baptist’s Nathan Hass at the buzzer in the final period before registering a 18-1 tech fall over Ethan Ducca to end the day.
Up Next
Iowa State resumes action at the Big 12 Championship Sunday at noon inside the BOK Center. Consolation semifinals and placing matches will be contested on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Finals are set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
Iowa State Results
125: No. 6 Kysen Terukina
First Round: W-D, 6-2 vs. Conrad Hendriksen (OU)
QF: W-D, 3-2 vs. No. 3 Stevo Poulin (UNCO)
SF: L-D SV-1, 2-1 vs. No. 2 Troy Spratley (OSU)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 4 Tanner Jordan (SDSU)
133: No. 2 Evan Frost
First Round: W-MD, 12-1 vs. Jace Koelzer (OU)
QF: W-MD, 18-5 vs. No. 7 Hunter Leake (CBU)
SF: W-MD, 12-4 vs. No. 3 Dominick Serrano (UNCO)
Finals: vs. No. 1 Daton Fix (OSU)
141: No. 1 Anthony Echemendia
First Round: W-TF, 17-2 (3:22) vs. Garrett Kuchan (AF)
QF: W-TF 21-5 (5:50) vs. No. 8 Cole Brooks (WYO)
SF: W-MD, 14-4 vs. No. 4 Jordan Titus (WVU)
Finals: vs. No. 3 Cael Happel (UNI)
149: No. 1 Casey Swiderski
First Round: Bye
QF: W-D, 4-2 vs. No. 8 Logan Gioffre (MIZ)
SF: L-D, 8-7 vs. No. 4 Jordan Williams (OSU)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 2 Willie McDougald (OU)
157: No. 4 Cody Chittum
First Round: W-TF, 22-4 (5:29) vs. Brooks Gable (AF)
QF: W-D, 7-3 vs. No. 5 Brock Mauller (MIZ)
SF: W-D, 6-0 vs. No. 8 Jared Hill (OU)
Finals: vs. No. 2 Ryder Downey (UNI)
165: No. 2 David Carr
First Round: WBF (2:07) vs. Mateo de la Pena (CBU)
QF: W-TF, 17-2 (5:47) vs. Jack Thomsen (UNI)
SF: W-D, 5-1 vs. No. 3 Peyton Hall (WVU)
Finals: vs. No. 1 Keegan O’Toole (MIZ)
174: No. 2 MJ Gaitan
First Round: Bye
QF: L-D SV-1, 6-3 vs. No. 7 Gaven Sax (NDSU)
Consis. Rd. 2: WBF (2:18) vs. Mahonri Rushton (UVU)
Consis. Rd. 3: WBF (1:43) vs. No. 6 Tate Picklo (OU)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 4 Peyton Mocco (MIZ)
184: No. 5 Will Feldkamp
First Round: Bye
QF: L-MD, 13-2 vs. No. 4 Colton Hawks (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: WBF (7:00) vs. Nathan Haas (CBU)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-TF, 18-1 (6:18) vs. No. 8 Ethan Ducca (WYO)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 6 Sam Wolf (AF)
197: Julien Broderson – DNP
First Round: W-D, 5-1 vs. No. 8 Austin Cooley (WVU)
QF: LBF (1:47) vs. No. 1 Tanner Sloan (SDSU)
Consis. Rd. 2: L-D, 8-2 vs. No. 7 Luke Surber (OSU)
285: No. 2 Yonger Bastida
First Round: WBF (0:30) vs. Xavier Doolin (UNCO)
QF: WBF (2:17) vs. No. 7 Michael Wolfgram (WVU)
SF: W-MD, 11-3 vs. No. 3 Zach Elam (MIZ)
Finals: vs. No. 1 Wyatt Hendrickson (AF)
