After day one of the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Iowa State saw five semifinal wrestlers, one finalist and three tickets punched to nationals.
Freshman Daniel Herrera, sophomores Evan Frost, Cody Chittum, Paniro Johnson and senior Evan Bockman all made early advancements. In contrast, sophomores MJ Gaitan, Aiden Riggins, Nate Schon, Evan Frost and senior Kysen Terukina found the consolation bracket.
Jacob Frost and Johnson highlight the opening rounds
The first pair of Cyclones to reach the 2-0 mark were sophomores Jacob Frost and Johnson. Frost recorded a 16-1 technical fall against Arizona State’s Daniel Miranda before winning a 15-8 decision over Josh Edmond of Missouri.
“The first round was really good,” Iowa State assistant coach Derek St. John said. “We dropped a couple of matchups in the second round that we maybe expect to win, but we also snuck a couple in that were toss-ups.”
At 149, things were much tighter. Johnson won his first two matchups by decision, the first coming 2-1 over South Dakota State’s Avery Allen and the second a 6-5 sudden victory over No. 7 Logan Gioffre of Missouri.
”The effort and awareness today was really good,” St. John said. “We push guys to go out and get bonus points, but the first line of business is to win.”
Frost fell to Northern Iowa’s Cael Happel by a major decision, while Johnson is set to wrestle top-seeded Colin Realbuto of Northern Iowa in the 149 final.
Terukina and Evan Frost fall off at 125 and 133
The anticipated return of Terukina from injury didn’t pan out as head coach Kevin Dresser and the Cyclones had expected. In his opening matchup, Terukina lost a 4-1 decision to North Dakota State’s Tristan Daugherty.
Falling into the consolation bracket, Terukina received an opening-round bye and is expected to wrestle Northern Iowa’s Trevor Anderson in the second round.
“We dropped a couple of matches that we expected to win,” St. John said. “[Kysen] wrestled too tight, and if he had shown up and wrestled to his ability, it doesn’t go that way – if anything, it’s lopsided.”
After an opening-round 17-4 major decision victory against Stockton O’Brien of Wyoming, Evan Frost ran into a wall. After missing the regular season dual against Missouri, he was set to face No. 8 ranked Kade Moore.
Moore flipped the script on Evan Frost after a swift major decision, winning a 20-6 major decision over the dominant Cyclone lightweight. Evan Frost is expected to reset and prepare for a match against Arizona State’s Julian Chlebove.
“Those Frost boys keep coming,” St. John said. “[Evan] has been ailed a bit, and sorting that out mentally will be big for him. He’s got to keep doing what he’s doing and change things strategically to protect himself more.”
Terukina did not place after losing a 10-3 decision to No. 7 Trever Anderson of Northern Iowa.
Following a 14-13 decision loss to Northern Iowa’s Julian Farber, Evan Frost will wrestle for seventh place against Cleveland Belton of Oklahoma.
Chittum’s mixed result at 157
To no surprise, Chittum dominated in the opening rounds of the 157 bracket. Chittum defeated Air Force’s Bryce Shelton before winning a 9-0 major decision over West Virginia’s Caleb Downing.
Chittum’s opening-round success followed a defeat at the Missouri dual, losing a 9-3 decision to James Conway.
“It’s always about scoring more points and getting more takedowns,” St. John said. “[Chittum] has been looking good today, getting into his offense and riding tough.”
After a 2-0 start, Chittum fell to No. 4 Cobe Siebrecht of South Dakota State, setting up a redemption matchup against No. 3 Ryder Downey of Northern Iowa.
Riggins and Gaitan fall short early and bounce back late
Both Riggins and Gaitan received first-round byes at 165 and 174. Following the dormant advancements, struggle ensued.
Both wrestlers lost their second-round matchups, Riggins by a 2-0 decision over top-ranked Terrell Barraclough of Utah Valley and Gaitan by technical fall to Missouri’s No. 2 ranked Keegan O’Toole.
“There’s good, and there’s bad,” Dresser said. “We go out and raise our hands as much as possible, and it’s no secret that they’re hanging in there. They keep getting a little better all the time.”
Riggins bounced back, defeating Northern Colorado’s Clayton Ulrey 11-3 on a significant decision to face Arizona State’s Nicco Ruiz in the fourth round of the consolation bracket. Gaitan will wrestle No. 5 Cade DeVos of South Dakota State.
The pair both went 2-0 in the second session, punching their tickets to the national tournament in Philadelphia.
Bockman and Herrera close out the heavyweights
Before the 197 and 285 contests, Bockman recorded the second sudden victory on the day for Iowa State at 184. Bockman’s first-round matchup against Air Force’s Gage Musser ended in a 19-4 technical fall.
A 4-1 sudden victory over No. 5 Deanthony Parker Jr. set up an eventual semifinal with top-ranked Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa. An injury would take Bockman out of contention, setting up a fourth-round contest against No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach.
Conversely, Herrera opened the tournament, winning two of three bouts by fall. The first came against North Dakota State’s Andrew Blackburn in 4:36 and the second over No. 3 Lance Runyon of Northern Iowa.
“[Herrera] had a great day,” Dresser said. “We competed hard in a lot of places, but the second day is always the hardest. Sometimes you have to be a savage and figure out how to separate yourself.”
Herrera’s only loss of the day came against No. 2 Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State, a familiar face that took him down in the regular season. The 4-1 decision loss to Schultz sets up a matchup between Herrera and No. 8 Sam Mitchell of Wyoming.
The third session of the Big 12 Tournament gets underway at noon on Sunday, followed by the fourth and final session at 8 p.m. Consolation semifinals and placing matchups will take place in session three, with the championships following in session four.
