Following the announcement of the NCAA Tournament bids on March 12, the field is set for round one of the NCAA Championships. Eight of Iowa State’s 10 starters will take the mat in the first round Thursday for the second consecutive season.
133: No. 11 Evan Frost (19-4) vs No. 22 Tyler Wells (11-8)
Among the eight qualifiers, sophomore Evan Frost was granted an at-large bid at 133 pounds. Frost is the lightest competitor of the qualifying Cyclones.
After struggling in the Big 12 Championships, Frost was one of two Cyclone wrestlers awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships. Frost ended the regular season 19-4 with an 11-1 dual record and placed seventh in the Big 12 at 133 pounds.
“[Frost] wasn’t 100% at Big 12s,” Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser said. “Everybody knows he has a big motor, and I want to see him ready to go.”
Frost’s only dual loss of the season came against Iowa’s Drake Ayala on an 11-7 decision. The 133-pound sophomore never lost a home dual match, additionally never falling to an unranked opponent before the Big 12 Championship.
“[Frost] has had some good practices,” Dresser said. “It’s just a matter of getting ready to go and making sure he’s physically ready.”
141: No. 9 Jacob Frost (30-7) vs No. 24 Jason Miranda (20-7)
Unlike his twin brother, sophomore Jacob Frost did not see the starting lineup until two days before the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas. Like Evan Frost, Jacob Frost commanded the mat at 141 instead of 133.
Frost wrestled 36 matches this season, going 12-2 in dual competition. His only two losses came against No. 4 Cael Happel of Northern Iowa.
“Those Frost boys know how to compete,” Dresser said. “It doesn’t matter what happens, [Jacob Frost] always finds a way to bounce back and compete.”
Of his seven losses on the season, none came against opponents outside the top 10. Jacob Frost is the only Cyclone this season to hold that title.
149: No. 4 Paniro Johnson (25-4) vs No. 29 Jack Gioffre (9-6)
After claiming his second Big 12 Championship title, sophomore Paniro Johnson enters the NCAA Championships ranked No. 4 in the nation. Arguably one of the toughest draws in the first round, Johnson is a name that other competitors are familiar with.
Unlike the other seven wrestlers in the starting lineup, Johnson scores a surprisingly low number of points, often dragging matches into extra periods. In his four sudden victory matches of the season, Johnson is 3-1, having outscored opponents 7-3.
“I always tell him to be greedy,” Dresser said. “You can’t be happy with one takedown. You need three or four. If [Johnson] gets there, he will be tough to figure out.”
Johnson makes his second appearance at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. He did not place in his first appearance in 2023.
157: No. 16 Cody Chittum (18-6) vs No. 17 DJ McGee (21-5)
At the beginning of the season, Dresser planned to redshirt sophomore Cody Chittum in preparation for the 2025-26 campaign. Injuries in November’s starting lineup got that plan thrown out the window.
Chittum is 17-6 on the season with a 10-1 dual record. His only loss in the regular season came against Missouri’s unranked James Conway in the dual finale on Feb. 22. He placed sixth at the Big 12 Championships, losing his last two matches by single-point decisions to Northern Iowa’s Ryder Downey and Wyoming’s Jared Hill.
“We’ve got to get him to relax,” Dresser said. “He wants to win so bad sometimes that it might be a curse, but emotionally, he has to be ready to go.”
165: No. 30 Aiden Riggins (14-17) vs No. 3 Mike Caliendo (20-2)
Having started the season wrestling at 174, sophomore Aiden Riggins was nowhere near the conversation to qualify for the postseason when dual competitions got underway. Like those projections, however, things changed.
The 14-17 record looks jarring, but after a fourth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships and back-to-back major decisions against Arizona State’s Javani Majoor and Pittsburgh’s Kelin Laffey, Riggins enters with some momentum. Riggins also boasts a second-place finish at the Cyclone Open earlier this season.
“[Riggins] is at the right weight now,” Dresser said. “He’s gaining confidence after being thrown to the wolves last season. Wrestling at 174 and 184 was hard on him physically and emotionally, but he’s not a complainer and that’s why we love him.”
Of the eight qualifiers, Riggins will face the highest-ranked opponent in the first round ahead of freshman heavyweight Daniel Herrera.
174: No. 23 MJ Gaitan (16-9) vs No. 10 Alex Cramer (26-6)
For the second time in his collegiate wrestling career, sophomore MJ Gaitan is headed to the NCAA Championships at 174. Similar to Riggins, his opponent is also ranked in the top 10.
After changing course and wrestling at 174, Gaitan is 7-7 in his last 14 matches. He boasts a 16-9 record on the season, going 4-6 in dual competition. Unlike other competitors at 174, the California native is known for his high-flying moves.
“I can throw it out there at any moment,” Gaitan said. “I’m never out of any match, and I continue to get better towards the end of the season. I’m starting to wrestle smarter and figure out the little things, and it’s working for me.”
Ahead of the Big 12 Championships, Gaitan fell victim to an injury that saw his right knee lock up before competition. The injury, however flawed, didn’t keep him down for long.
“It didn’t feel great,” Gaitan said. “It was scary going through that warm-up knowing how I felt, especially with the stress going through my head and not wanting to lose. It would have been easy to drop out and roll over, but I fought to stay in it.”
Unlike Riggins, however, Gaitan moved to 174 from 165, a change that benefitted the sophomore heavyweight in the postseason.
“On paper, [Gaitan] is dangerous,” Dresser said. “He’s always got home runs in his back pocket and a good understanding of the fundamentals.”
184: No. 13 Evan Bockman (14-7) vs No. 20 Nick Fine (14-8)
The lone senior in the Iowa State lineup comes at 184 in an experienced veteran, Evan Bockman. At the start of the season, Bockman was one of four seniors projected to make a postseason run. As it stands, he’ll look to lead the charge at 184.
“I never like to see veteran guys with eligibility cheering from the mat,” Dresser said. “I look back and see [Casey] Swiderski, [Anthony] Echemendia, [Connor] Euton and all of the guys who wrestled early in the year that are banged up, and it’s hard.”
Bockman missed a portion of the season after contracting an illness in late January and early February, ultimately returning in the dual against Northern Iowa.
Bockman is 14-7 on the season with a 9-4 dual record.
“I brag on him and how tough he is,” Dresser said. “I’m confident that he’ll figure out how to get his hand raised.”
285: No. 28 Daniel Herrera (26-13) vs No. 5 Ben Kueter (18-6)
This season has brought about some firsts for Herrera. In his first year with the program, he played a substantial role in place of the injured Yonger Bastida. Unlike Bastida, however, Herrera has yet to face off against Kueter.
Like teammate Evan Frost, Herrera earned the last of two at-large bids. The pair were the only two qualifying Cyclones that didn’t receive an automatic bid in their respective brackets.
The freshman boasts an impressive 24-13 record on the season, going 8-7 in dual competition against a handful of top 10 opponents, including Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz and Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson.
“I expected to be here,” Herrera said. “I told myself that ‘I did what I did’ and never stressed about it. If I was getting in, then I was getting in.”
Bastida defeated Kueter 7-2 in the Cy-Hawk dual on Nov. 7, which opened the door for Herrera to run the tables in a similar fashion. Having Bastida in his corner during practices, it’s fair to wonder how similar Herrera’s first-round draw will look to the matchup between Bastida and Kueter earlier this season.
“I didn’t know I would come this far,” Herrera said. “It’s crazy how it works. I’m taking things day-by-day, hour-by-hour and hoping they fall into place.”
The first session of the NCAA Wrestling Championships is scheduled at 11 a.m. Thursday and will air on ESPN U and ESPN+. Day one will conclude with session two at 6 p.m. and will air on ESPN and ESPN+.
