Yonger Bastida stands atop the podium after claiming the 285 pound title at the Cyclone Invitational. (Photo courtesy of Iowa State Wrestling)
Iowa State kicked off the 2025-26 season in style, hosting the inaugural Cyclone Invitational presented by Daily’s Premium Meats — and there was plenty of bacon to go around.
Iowa State crowned eight champions and in total put 14 wrestlers in the top four across their respective weight classes. The headliners? A loaded list that includes:
- Anthony Echemendia – 141
- Paniro Johnson – 149
- Vinny Zerban – 157
- Connor Euton – 165
- MJ Gaitan – 174
- Isaac Dean – 184
- Rocky Elam – 197
- Yonger Bastida – 285
Notable takeaways:
- Echemendia and Evan Frost met in the final at 141 but they did not wrestle the match. Coach Dresser shared with reporters he was being weary of injury as E. Frost is still working on cutting back down to 133 pounds. Hopefully he’ll be ready to weigh in at 133 pounds come the Cy-Hawk dual in a few weeks.
- Euton has been a name consistently shared with me as the one to watch by his own teammates. In his return to action after suffering a season ending ACL injury last year, in his return to acton, he tallied three bonus-point wins which included 13 takedowns and gave up none. He’s going to be a lot of fun.
From top to bottom, the team looked sharp, confident and ready to roll heading into next week’s dual opener.
- Iowa State place winners:
125: Ethan Perryman, 4th - 133: Carter Pearson, 3rd | Garrett Grice, 4th
- 141: Anthony Echemendia, 1st | Evan Frost, 2nd
- 149: Paniro Johnson, 1st
- 157: Vinny Zerban, 1st | Kane Naaktgeboren, 5th
- 165: Connor Euton, 1st | Aiden Riggins, 4th
- 174: MJ Gaitan, 1st
- 184: Isaac Dean, 1st
- 197: Rocky Elam, 1st | Rowan Udell, 6th
- 285: Yonger Bastida, 1st | McCrae Hagarty, 3rd
Full results can be found here.
Team Results:
1. Iowa State – 226.5
2. Wisconsin – 182
3. Utah Valley – 111
4. SIU Edwardsville – 101.5
5. California Baptist – 81
Iowa State returns to Hilton Coliseum next Friday, Nov. 14, to host Nebraska-Kearney in the first official dual of the season. The dual will be available on ESPN+.
