TULSA, Okla. – Much like the regular season for the Cyclones, day one at the Big 12 Championships didn’t go quite as planned.There were upsets, injuries and glimmers of hope all mixed in.
Iowa State still has eight wrestlers alive heading into day two, highlighted by the bright spot of the day: Paniro Johnson, who will wrestle in Sunday’s finals.
The Cyclone are currently in fourth place in the team race with 84.0 points.
Here are all the details from day one.
Paniro Johnson will wrestle for his second conference championship.
It felt fitting that Paniro Johnson performed at his best in a match that kept the largest fanbase in attendance quiet for seven minutes. Johnson secured his spot in the finals at 149 pounds with a 7-3 decision win over Oklahoma State’s Teague Travis. Johnson opened up his offense and separated himself in his win. If Johnson wrestles with the same confidence and aggression on Sunday night, he’s positioned well to win his second conference title.
Here’s what Dresser had to say about Johnson:
“I think he opened it up a little bit today, you know? I mean, it’s no secret, if that guy can get a little orneriness to him and just want to go out and beat guys really bad, he’d like the results even more. There’s times when you have to be a savage and you just got to put guys away, and you have to have that mentality for the whole time. And that’s hard for him to generate sometimes, but when he generates it…You have to separate yourself at this level, because you can’t go into the NCAA Tournament and be in overtime the first round and the second round and the third round. You’re not going to win all those so you have to figure out, as a wrestler, how to separate yourself. And so that’s the challenge with him.”
Yessir! 👊
Paniro Johnson is into the Big 12 finals with a 7-3 decision over Teague Travis!
🌪️🚨🌪️ pic.twitter.com/hpNbX4nzsY
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 8, 2025
Iowa State took some tough losses
It’s hard to feel great about a day when top-seeded wrestlers Evan Frost and Cody Chittum are wrestling in the back of the bracket, Evan Bockman is forced to injury default in the semifinals, and Kysen Terukina’s highly anticipated return ends with an early elimination.
The silver lining is that Paniro Johnson, MJ Gaitan and Aiden Riggins have punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships with several others still have the chance to do the same.
“You know, I tell them (the team) all the time, ‘This weekend is about jockeying for position. So you can put yourself in Philadelphia number one and number two, put yourself in the best spot in Philadelphia.’ So that’s the goal.”
Jacob Frost, Cody Chittum and Evan Bockman still have the opportunity to secure their tickets to Philadelphia, with Evan Frost likely to earn an at-large bid. Realistically, the Cyclones have a chance to send eight to compete at Nationals.
Session III matchups:
- 133: Evan Frost vs. No. 6 Cleveland Belton (OU) – 7th place match
- 141: Jacob Frost vs. No. 8 Julian Tagg (SDSU) – Consis. Rd. 4
- 157: Cody Chittum vs. No. 3 Ryder Downey (UNI) – Consis. Rd. 4
- 165: Aiden Riggins vs. No. 6 Nicco Ruiz (ASU) – Consis. Rd. 4
- 174: MJ Gaitan vs. No. 5 Cade DeVos (SDSU) – Consis. Rd. 4
- 184: Evan Bockman vs. No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach (WYO) – Consis. Rd. 4
- 197: Nate Schon vs. Kael Bennie (UVU) – 7th-Place Match
- 285: Daniel Herrera vs. No. 8 Sam Mitchell (WYO) – Consis. Rd. 4
This session will begin at Noon on ESPN+.
Team Standings:
1. Oklahoma State 137.5
2. Northern Iowa 120.5
3. South Dakota State 87.5
4. Iowa State 84.0
5. Northern Colorado 63.0
MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
125: No. 8 Kysen Terukina – DNP
First Round: L-D, 4-1 vs. Tristan Daugherty (NDSU)
Consis. Rd. 1: Bye
Consis. Rd. 2: L-D, 10-3 vs. No. 7 Trever Anderson (UNI)
133: No. 1 Evan Frost
First Round: W-MD, 17-4 vs. Stockton O`Brien (WYO)
QF: L-MD, 20-6 vs. No. 8 Kade Moore (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-MD, 14-3 vs. Julian Chlebove (ASU)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D, 14-13 vs. No. 3 Julian Farber (UNI)
7th-Place Match: vs. No. 6 Cleveland Belton (OU)
141: No. 3 Jacob Frost
First Round: W-TF, 16-1 (5:21) vs. Daniel Miranda (ASU)
QF: W-D, 15-8 vs. No. 6 Josh Edmond (MIZ)
SF: L-MD vs. No. 2 Cael Happel (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 8 Julian Tagg (SDSU)
149: No. 2 Paniro Johnson
First Round: W-D, 2-1 vs. Avery Allen (SDSU)
QF: W-D, 6-5 SV-1 vs. No. 7 Logan Gioffre (MIZ)
SF: W-D, 7-3 vs. Teague Travis (OKST)
Finals: vs. No. 1 Colin Realbuto (UNI)
157: No. 1 Cody Chittum
First Round: vs. Bryce Shelton (AF)
QF: W-MD, 9-0 vs. Caleb Dowling (WVU)
SF: L-MD, 12-4 vs. No. 4 Cobe Siebrecht (SDSU)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 3 Ryder Downey (UNI)
165: No. 8 Aiden Riggins
First Round: Bye
QF: L-D, 2-0 vs. No. 1 Terrell Barraclough (UVU)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-D, 10-7 vs. Cooper Voorhees (WYO)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-MD, 11-3 vs. Clayton Ulrey (UNCO)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 6 Nicco Ruiz (ASU)
174: No. 7 MJ Gaitan
First Round: Bye
QF: L-TF, 15-0 (1:44) vs. No. 2 Keegan O`Toole (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-D, 4-2 vs. Carter Schmidt (CBU)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-D, 15-9 vs. Aydin Rix-McElhinney (UNCO)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 5 Cade DeVos (SDSU)
184: No. 4 Evan Bockman
First Round: W-TF, 19-4 (6:33) vs. Gage Musser (AF)
QF: W-D, 4-1 SV-1 vs. No. 5 Deanthony Parker Jr. (OU)
SF: L-Inj. Def. (3:35) vs. No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach (WYO)
197: No. 6 Nate Schon
First Round: WBF (2:26) vs. Jacob Meissner (ASU)
QF: L-D, 14-8 vs. No. 3 Wyatt Voelker (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D. 6-4 vs. Jesse Cassatt (MIZ)
7th-Place Match: vs. Kael Bennie (UVU)
285: No. 6 Daniel Herrera
First Round: WBF (4:36) vs. Andrew Blackburn-Forst (NDSU)
QF: WBF (5:37) vs. No. 3 Lance Runyon (UNI)
SF: L-D, 4-1 vs. No. 2 Cohlton Schultz (ASU)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 8 Sam Mitchell (WYO)
