DES MOINES — Five ISU wrestlers began the day alive on Friday in day two of the 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

SESSION III (Friday morning)

UPDATE: 11:53 a.m. — Wrestlebacks third round

Two hours after the start of Session III, Iowa State took the mat with Michael Moreno’s match against Stanford’s Bret Baumbach in the third round of the 165-pound wrestlebacks.

A first period full of handfighting came to an end with a late takedown of Baumbach that was followed by two-straight reversals and ended with a 2-point nearfall by Moreno as time expired.

It didn’t take long before Moreno pinned Baumbach to advance, nailing him in 3:37. Moreno will face Ohio State’s Mark Martin later this session.

UPDATE: 12:12 p.m. — Championship quarterfinals

Tanner Weatherman shortly took the mat after Moreno’s pin, this time against No. 2 Matt Brown of Penn State in the 174-pound quarterfinals.

Brown secured the first takedown on the edge just before his toes left the mat. An escape, takedown and two back points later, Weatherman found himself trailing 6-1 at the end of the first period with 1:22 of riding time against him.

Weatherman notched his first takedown early in the second period but was unable to ride for long, letting Brown go after eight seconds.

Brown struck again in the second to take a 10-3 lead after two.

Weatherman went on to lose 13-5 to drop to the wrestlebacks.

Weatherman will face either Cody Walters of Ohio or John-Martin Cannon of Buffalo. If he wins, he will become the first ISU All-American since Jon Reader when he won the 174-pound championship in 2011.

UPDATE: 12:40 p.m. — Wrestlebacks third round

Iowa State continued its push through the wrestlebacks with the 184-pound match between Boaz Beard and No. 11-seeded Mike Larson of Missouri.

Beard, who went 0-2 against Larson last season, got tangled up in multiple scrambles that ended in stalemates for the duration of the first period.

An escape by Larson highlighted a dull second period during which both wrestlers appeared fatigued.

Beard tied the match with an escape in the third period, but not before Larson accumulated 1:25 in riding time to secure the 2-1 victory.

The loss eliminated Beard from the tournament.

UPDATE: 1:01 p.m. — Wrestlebacks third round

Kyven Gadson hoped to halt Iowa State’s misfortune and stay alive with his bout against No. 12-seeded Brent Haynes of Missouri at 197 pounds.

Gadson slid for a quick takedown early in the first, riding Haynes for 1:02 before letting him out.

Gadson got in on another shot toward the end of the period, but slid out of bounds before securing his position. An officials review took place but did not reverse the call.

Haynes notched his three points from escapes, opting to enter the third period without taking a single shot while trailing 4-3.

Haynes’ first shot was met with a countering takedown by Gadson midway through the third period. That counter would secure the 7-3 victory for Gadson to keep him alive in the wrestlebacks.

UPDATE: 1:24 p.m. — Wrestlebacks third round

Matt Gibson rounded out the first consolation round for the Cyclones with his match against North Dakota State’s Evan Knutson at heavyweight. Gibson had pinned Knutson in the dual meet this past December.

The two locked horns for a majority of the first period before Gadson shot for Knutson’s ankle. Knutson got away to end the first period scoreless.

The two took one or two shots each in the second period that was started in the neutral position, leaving scoreless after two periods.

A reversal and a call for locked hands put Gibson up 3-0 in the third, giving him the 4-2 victory with the eventual riding time point.

UPDATE: 1:47 p.m. — Wrestlebacks fourth round

Michael Moreno kept himself afloat in the tournament after his bout against Mike Martin of Ohio State at 165 pounds.

Moreno got in on a leg midway through the first period for the eventual takedown with 1:45 in riding time for an early 2-0 advantage.

Moreno defended an ankle pick by Martin in the second period, able to get him into a cradle before pinning him in 4:27.

Moreno needs to beat Michigan’s Taylor Massa in the next session to become an All-American.

UPDATE: 2:19 p.m. — Wrestlebacks fourth round

Kyven Gadson continued his push through the 197-pound wrestlebacks with his bout against Richard Perry of Bloomsburg.

Beginning his match with a slap of the mat, Gadson got in on a single-leg, elevating Perry before slamming him to the mat for an early 2-0 lead.

Perry then got in deep on Gadson’s leg, but was unable to take him down before the conclusion of the first period.

Perry shot on a counter to snag Gadson, tying the match at 3-3 going into the third period.

Gadson would go on to win 4-3 right before heavyweight Matt Gibson pinned No. 8 Mike McClure of Michigan State. Both will be moving on to Friday night’s competition.

UPDATE: 2:32 p.m. — Quotes

“I think [getting three pins] was a good way to end the session. We didn’t start it out as strong as we would’ve liked with Tanner and Boaz dropping matches. But we have four guys still alive to become All-Americans, so it’s a big round tonight. We have to wrestle even better.” — ISU coach Kevin Jackson

Moreno’s two pins: “He opened up. Our philosophy coming into this meet was that: At the NCAA tournament, even the best guys tend to tighten up; we have to open up. I think he’s doing a great job of opening up.” — Jackson

Gadson’s close matches: “I don’t even know how he’s doing what he’s doing personally … I’ve never had to deal with a situation like he’s dealing with. I do think he went to a mentality of ‘just winning’ and when you just wrestle to win, you end up having tough, tough matches and that’s what happened.” — Jackson

SESSION IV (Friday evening)

UPDATE: 7:03 p.m. — Wrestlebacks fifth round

Iowa State’s first match of Session IV will pit Michael Moreno against No. 12-seeded Taylor Massa of Michigan.

Moreno converted on an abrupt double-leg in the first minute of the match after fighting off a headlock by Massa at the edge of the mat.

Another double-leg for Moreno got Massa into a cradle for three back points. Moreno was unable to get the pin, but managed to accumulate 1:33 in the process to end the first period with a 7-1 lead.

A call for a potentially dangerous hold on Massa saved Moreno from his back in the second, soon following with an escape to go up 8-1.

Moreno ended the second period with another 5-point move and every ounce of momentum going forward.

Moreno would finish with the 17-2 technical fall to become Iowa State’s first All-American in two years.

UPDATE: 7:23 p.m. — Wrestlebacks fifth round

Tanner Weatherman became the next Cyclone vying to earn All-American honors, this time against Ohio’s Cody Walters at 174 pounds.

After a scoreless first period, Weatherman rode Walters for 23 seconds before securing a takedown to regain the lead halfway through the second.

With the score tied 2-2 to begin the third period, Weatherman struggled to get out from bottom, seeing his 0:57 riding time diminish.

Walters wouldn’t let go, needing to ride Weatherman out to get the riding time point. A 2-point nearfall for Walters ended Weatherman’s season with a 5-2 decision.

UPDATE: 7:38 p.m. — Wrestlebacks fifth round

Kyven Gadson took the mat against No. 8-seeded Micah Burak of Penn in the fifth round of the 197-pound wrestlebacks.

Gadson gave up an early takedown to trail 2-1 after the first period.

Gadson struggled to get his offense off for most of the match, scrapping with Burak more than the amount of shots he took.

Gadson notched a takedown with 0:05 remaining to become the Cyclones’ second All-American.

UPDATE: 7:53 p.m. — Wrestlebacks fifth round

Matt Gibson tried to become the third All-American with a bout against J.T. Felix of Boise State in the fifth round of the heavyweight wrestlebacks.

Gibson fell behind 2-1 early, but scrapped with Felix to stay in contention in the match. Felix got flattened after attempting a high-crotch, resulting in a 5-point move for Gibson to give him a 6-2 lead after one.

Gibson got out from the bottom and quickly snatched Felix up for a 9-2 lead to give him 2:20 in riding time at the end of the second period.

Gibson would go on to win 15-2 to become the Cyclones’ first heavyweight All-American since David Zabriskie in 2010 when he won an NCAA title.

UPDATE: 8:30 p.m. — Wrestleback quarterfinals

With All-America status already locked up, Michael Moreno wrestled for at least a sixth-place finish against No. 8-seeded Nick Sulzer of Virginia in the quarterfinals of the 165-pound wrestlebacks.

Moreno continued his solid riding, accumulating 1:16 in riding time to complement his 2-1 lead at the end of the first period.

Moreno’s riding time amassed 2:07 with one minute to go in the match and a 3-2 lead. Despite a stalling warning, Moreno held on to win 4-2.

Moreno will wrestle Saturday and cannot place worse than sixth.

UPDATE: 8:52 p.m. — Wrestleback quarterfinals

With a heavy heart, Kyven Gadson continued to push through the tournament with a quarterfinal match against No. 4-seeded Alfonso Hernandez of Wyoming.

Gadson’s takedown within the first 15 seconds of the match only lasted for 10 seconds as Hernandez was able to escape to drive the score to 2-1.

Hernandez was able to catch Gadson off balance, but a scramble soon ensued that resulted in nothing late in the first period. Gadson answered with an ankle pick to end the first period leading 4-2.

Another counter gave Gadson a 6-3 lead late in the second, negating another attack from Hernandez en route to amassing more than one minute of riding time.

Gassed, Gadson relied on his counters to continue scoring en route to a 12-4 major decision to advance. Gadson cannot place worse than sixth at 197 pounds.

UPDATE: 9:04 p.m. — Wrestleback quarterfinals

Matt Gibson concluded day two for the Cyclones with a match against No. 10-seeded Jarod Trice of Central Michigan in the wrestleback quarterfinals at heavyweight.

After a scoreless first period, Trice locked up the first points with a takedown following a ruthless scramble by the scorer’s table.

Trice escaped, literally flipping Gibson over his back, to take a 3-0 lead midway through the third period.

Gibson lost 3-0 and will wrestle in the seventh-place match on Saturday.