AMES – While the Iowa State Cyclones won eight of the 10 weight classes in the Cyclone Invitational, they didn’t all come easily.
Seniors Rocky Elam and Yonger Bastida were featured in the final two matches of a long day of wrestling. Both are within the top two wrestlers in their respective weight classes, according to InterMat.
Senior 285 lb-heavyweight No. 1 Bastida’s championship match was the last match of the day and it was filled with fireworks.
Bastida defeated Utah Valley redshirt sophomore Levi Kovacs in the quarterfinals via technical fall, 17-2. Bastida would then have to wrestle two Wisconsin Badgers en route to his Cyclone Invitational title.
First was redshirt sophomore Gannon Rosenfeld. While Bastida took down the Badger three times, he escaped twice. Bastida also recorded a near fall in the first period. Bastida would only need an escape followed by a takedown to win the match by technical fall, 17-2.
The final test for Bastida was redshirt junior No. 19 Braxton Amos. Amos took the lead over Bastida, recording a takedown in the first period, the first to do so in the tournament. Amos started the second period on the bottom and recorded an escape to make the score 4-1.
Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser decided to have Bastida start the third on the bottom in hopes that scoring an escape would be successful. The only thing Bastida had to do was somehow take down Amos, which he did. Bastida recorded a takedown with only 38 seconds left and rode the match out, winning 5-4.
Wisconsin head coach and newly inducted member into the Iowa State Athletic Hall of Fame, Chris Bono, praised Dresser and the event being hosted at Hilton Coliseum, a place where he used to wrestle.
“Iowa State’s a very rich tradition in wrestling,” Bono said. “So it’s good to come to these environments and let them [Wisconsin wrestling team] see what we can build where we are.”
Iowa State’s No. 2 197 lb Elam is a four-time All-American. Elam transferred to Iowa State from Missouri. While he hasn’t wrestled since the end of the 2023-24 season, the Cyclone Invite was a nice chance to tune up and get better.
“I feel the energy,” Elam said. “A lot of us were in the finals, fortunately, so it was just really supportive from everybody.
Elam wrestled California Baptist freshman Kayden Cartee in the quarterfinals. Recording a takedown and a four-point near fall in both the first and second periods, followed by a takedown in the third to end the match via technical fall at 17-1 in just 5:34.
Next, Elam had a semifinal match against SIU Edwardsville redshirt sophomore Nick Nosler. Elam scored a takedown and, in the first, started on the bottom to begin the second and escaped, making the score 4-0.
Then, in the third and final period, Elam recorded a takedown and was given a point for riding time, ending the contest at 8-0 and earning himself a place in the final.
Next was Utah Valley redshirt sophomore Kael Bennie. The final would be a similar story as Elam got out to a good start, recording a takedown and a near fall in the first period, giving the Cyclone a 5-0 lead. Bennie escaped Elam with 33 seconds remaining in the second period. The third period was filled with scoring as Elam recorded two takedowns and earned points for escape and riding time.
“We’ll be in the training room and in the practice room and just kind of circle the wagons and see what we’ve got to do for next week because we’re back here Friday night,” Dresser said.
