AMES — No. 11 Iowa State earned its first win of the season over the Navy Midshipmen in dominating fashion. The 29-9 win was highlighted by the return of sophomore Evan Frost, who failed to make weight for the season opener against No. 20 Stanford.
Frost’s opponent, Brendan Ferretti, took an early 3-0 lead but failed to maintain it, as the first period ended with the two tied at four. Frost scored two takedowns in the second period before closing the matchup by a decision of 14-7.
“We saw some good things tonight,” Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser said. “[Frost] is a leader, and he wrestled a tough guy. For him to come back and compete felt really good.”
Iowa State All-American Casey Swiderski is set to miss the entirety of the season with a knee injury, which opened the door for Frost’s twin brother, Jacob, to step up at the 141 spot. Evan Frost teased the possibility of following the dual.
“He was with me all of last year,” Evan Frost said. “He saw my grind, and he knows how it goes. I’m excited for him to have the opportunity, and I’m ready for him to get going.”
Evan Frost was not alone in facing off against a ranked opponent. Senior Zach Redding took the mat for the Cyclones at 141 but could not capitalize in the final two minutes. Redding’s matchup ended by decision at 3-2 in favor of his opponent, Josh Koderhandt.
“I knew going in that it was going to be close,” Dresser said. “On paper, Zach [Redding] took on their best guy. He’s been super tough at practice, and I feel that he can help us move down the line.”
Redding’s matchup came after wins by freshman Adrian Meza at 125 and Frost at 133 but was followed by another prominent showing by senior Anthony Echemendia at 149. Echemendia won by technical fall at 22-7, which increased Iowa State’s lead to a 12-3 margin.
Dresser and the Cyclones rolled throughout the remainder of the dual with wins by sophomore Connor Euton at 165, senior Evan Bockman at 184, redshirt freshman Christian Carroll at 197 and freshman Daniel Herrera at 285.
Euton recorded his first win inside Hilton Coliseum by a score of 25-7 on a technical fall. His win added to the Cyclones’ score after the 165 matchup, increasing the lead to a 17-6 margin.
“The secret is that I can’t see the crowd,” Euton said. “I have very bad eyesight, and I can’t actually see past four and a half feet. The crowd looks like a bunch of red, white, and yellow blobs.”
Herrera led early in the heavyweight matchup and won again in dominant fashion.
“[Herrera] looks good,” Dresser said. “He’s either getting really good or having a lot of mismatches, but at this point, it’s hard to tell. There’s a great upside to a guy like Herrera, and so far, he’s hit my expectations out of the park.”
The Cyclones will take the mat against Grand View Saturday before preparing for the Cy-Hawk series in Iowa City the following week. The matchup against Iowa will take place at 6 p.m. on the Big 10 Network.
