Wrestling season has once again kicked off in Ames as Iowa State Wrestling had its annual media day Tuesday.
Coming off a season hindered by injuries, Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser is now in his ninth season at the helm of Cyclone wrestling.
Last preseason, the Cyclone team was in the conversation to be a national contender. The national championship conversation was quickly quieted due to injuries on the roster. Now the team is healthy and begins a climb back to the top.
The team will feature its fair share of returning members, freshmen and transfers. Iowa State has yet to reveal who its starters will be, but the wrestlers seem ready to get back on the mat for collegiate competition.
Rocky’s road leads to Ames
It is not every day that a four-time All-American enters the transfer portal and even more of a shock when Iowa State is the new destination.
“What a good hire, right?” Dresser said. “Pat myself on the back, but sometimes you get lucky, but that guy, he’s a talent.”
Senior Rocky Elam will start the season at 197 pounds for the Cyclones after four All-American seasons at Missouri. While Elam hasn’t wrestled since the 2023-2024 season, the former conference champion feels healthy and has been praising Dresser and the rest of his coaching staff in preparation for this season.
“I don’t want to compare too much, but I think the cooperation level for the coaching staff is at a very high level,” Elam said.
Elam has been drilling and even wrestling with 285-pound senior Yonger Bastida.
“[Bastida] and I have, you know, made each other as competitors,” Elam said. “Now we make each other better as teammates.”
Iowa State is also bringing in All-Americans seniors Vinny Zerban at 157 pounds and Stevo Poulin at 125 pounds.
Anthony Echemendia
After a season cut short due to injury, senior Echemendia will continue to wrestle at 141 pounds this season and look to get back to his All-American capabilities.
Last season, Echemendia went down with an ankle injury. What started as a sprain turned into an infection so serious that, without immediate action, amputation would have been necessary.
“I sprained my ankle, and two ligaments,” Echemendia said. “They did the surgery and put a metal plate inside of my foot to keep everything together, and I started training too early.”
While at the hospital, multiple IVs and vacuums were used to clear the infection and then pump antibiotics into the student athlete. Echemendia also talked about how his wife was a big part of the recovery process. The pair was married Aug. 16.
The Frost brothers
Juniors Evan Frost and Jacob Frost, wrestling at 133 and 149 pounds respectively, will return for the Cyclones. While the pair are welcoming their transfer portal teammates with open arms, they have never even thought about leaving the program.
“I committed to come here for, you know, all my years of eligibility, so I didn’t really think there was a need to leave,” Jacob said. “I love the staff, I love the whole team.”
Jacob is coming off an All-American season, while Evan Frost was an All-American for the 2023-2024 season.
The pair represents true homegrown talent. Recruited out of high school to be Cyclone wrestlers, they plan on having the entirety of their collegiate careers here in Ames.
Facilities
Iowa State wrestling doesn’t really have all the flash to attract any potential transfers. The team practices on the second floor of the Lied Recreation Athletic Center. Plans were proposed to build a team-specific facility, but they recently fell through.
“So we got to find a $20 million donor,” Dresser said. “So you can call your friends.”
The team will continue to host meets at Hilton Coliseum with some of the best attendance in all of NCAA wrestling. The best in the Big 12 and one of just three schools in the country to average more than 5,000 fans per dual, the others being Penn State and Iowa.
The early-season events in Ames will be the Cyclone Invitational on Nov. 8, a dual against Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 13 and the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series on Nov. 30.
