Iowa State Cyclones MJ Gaitan takes down Missouri Tigers’ Ellis Pfleger during their 174-pound wrestling in the Big-12-conference showdown at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK
AMES — Iowa State 174-pounder MJ Gaitan found himself down, 9-0, and running out of time.
The Cyclones’ high-risk, high-reward bundle of energy then flipped a switch, turning his opponent to win by fall with 28 second left in regulation in the consolation rounds 10 days ago the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The native Californian’s pulse-quickening roller coaster ride through the backside concluded with a third-place finish, which locked up the scrambling sophomore’s second berth in the NCAA Championships, which run Thursday through Sunday in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
“In nationals, you get one takedown, you (probably) win the match,” said Gaitan, who’s one of eight Cyclones to qualify for the NCAA meet. “It doesn’t matter how you win at that tournament. Everyone’s going in there competitive and they’re gonna take every point that they can. I know that.”
It’s fitting that Gaitan — ISU’s most chaotic competitor — would spectacularly stave off certain defeat to have a chance to improve on his tournament run last March, which ended in the blood round. Cyclone head coach Kevin Dresser’s seen four starters, including three former All-Americans, lost to injuries this season. So chaos of the worst kind has set the tone for ISU — a situation Dresser hopes is reversed in the city of brotherly love.
“We’ve got eight really excited guys right now and I think this time of year I’m pretty good at reading excited versus maybe tired and worn out,” said Dresser, whose team notched its best finish in 14 years (fourth) at nationals last season. “So mentally we’re really excited right now. How that translates? I don’t know. We’ve got a few guys (who) are banged up, but everybody’s got a few guys (who) are banged up, so we have to put that out of our mind.”
ISU 149-pounder Paniro Johnson earned a No. 4 seed at his weight class after winning his second Big 12 title. 141-pounder Jacob Frost is seeded ninth, his banged-up twin brother, Evan, is seeded 11th at 133, and veteran 184-pounder Evan Bockman is seeded 13th despite battling injuries all season.
Both Evan Frost and heavyweight Daniel Herrera earned at-large berths to nationals. Frost medically forfeited at the Big 12s because of an injury. Herrera’s been impressive while wrestling in place of Yonger Bastida, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in November.
“If you would have told me on Nov. 1 that I’d be standing here in front of you all talking about Daniel Herrera qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, I would have bet you a lot of money for a lit of reasons,” Dresser said. “Obviously, the injury with (Bastida), but also as a true freshman to dive into heavyweight — you know, heavyweight’s good this year. All the weights are good, but heavyweight is really good this year.”
Herrera’s no longer surprising himself, though. His remarkable growth this season has been well-documented — and not just by Dresser and the media. Herrera keeps a journal, which helps remind him of how far he’s come in a relatively short time.
“That’s helped me a lot, just being able to reflect, but also not (be) content with where I’m at or who I am right now,” Herrera said.
Gaitan’s similarly driven as a chance to ascend the podium at another chaotic national meet nears.
“Always being laser-focused,” he said. “That’s the only thing you can do in that scenario.”
