NCAA Wrestling Championships Primer

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State returns to Tulsa for the 2023 NCAA Championships March 16-18 inside the BOK Center. The Cyclones look to take the next step under head coach Kevin Dresser and are in search of their first top 10 finish since 2010.

What: 2023 NCAA Championships
Where: Tulsa, Okla. // BOK Center
When: March 16-18
Live Stats: TrackWrestling
Watch: ESPNU (Sessions 1, 3, 5) & ESPN (Sessions 2, 4, 6)
Listen: Varsity App & Cyclones.com
[Joe Sinclair, pxp; Ryan Rohlk, pxp; Nate Carr, analyst]
Championship Central: NCAA.com
Notes: Iowa State

NCAA Championship Schedule
Thursday, March 16
Session 1: Pigtails & First Round - 11 a.m. (ESPNU)
Session 2: Second Round & Consolation First Round - 6:00 p.m. (ESPN)

Friday, March 17
Session 3: Quarterfinals & Consolation Second & Third Rounds - 11 a.m. (ESPNU)
Session 4: Semifinals & Consolation Fourth & Fifth Rounds - 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday, March 18
Session 5: Consolation Semifinals & Placing Matches - 10 a.m. (ESPNU)
Session 6: Finals - 6 p.m. (ESPN)

First Round Match-Ups
133: No. 14 Zach Redding vs. No. 19 Domenic Zaccone (CAMP)
141: No. 24 Casey Swiderski vs. No. 9 Mosha Schwartz (OU)
149: No. 5 Paniro Johnson vs. No. 28 Alec Hagan (OHIO)
157: No. 25 Jason Kraisser vs. No. 88 Ed Scott (NCST)
165: No. 1 David Carr vs. No. 33 Josh Kim (HAR) or No. 32 Cole Moody (WYO)
184: No. 5 Marcus Coleman vs. No. 28 Jacob Ferreira (HOF)
197: No. 13 Yonger Bastida vs. No. 20 Evan Bockman (UVU)
285: No. 8 Sam Schuyler vs. No. 25 Michael Wolfgram (WVU)

A more in-depth breakdown of Iowa State's First Round matches can be found, here.

Casey Swiderski vs. Oklahoma (2023)

Storylines

This marks the fifth consecutive season Iowa State has sent at least eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. The Cyclones are one of 15 teams nationally sending at least eight wrestlers to the tournament.
Four Cyclones are seeded in the top 10 of their respective brackets. David Carr is the No. 1 seed at 165 pounds while Paniro Johnson and Marcus Coleman are both a No. 5 seed at 149 and 184 pounds, respectively. Sam Schuyler is Iowa State's fourth top 10 seed, coming in at No. 8 in the 285-pound bracket.
Paniro Johnson (149) and David Carr (165) both won Big 12 titles two weekends ago.
Carr is the second Iowa State wrestler, and first since Cael Sanderson in 2002, to win four Big 12 titles. He becomes the 11th wrestler in conference history to win four titles in the Big 12 era (1997-pres.).
Johnson, a freshman, became Iowa State's first Big 12 Champion at 149 pounds and is the 24th wrestler in Big 12 history to win a title as the No. 3 seed or worse.
Three Cyclones - Casey Swiderski, Paniro Johnson and Jason Kraisser - will be wrestling in their first NCAA Championships. Both Swiderski and Kraisser did not earn an allocation but wrestled well above their seed at the Big 12 Championship to punch their ticket back to Tulsa. Both placed fourth in their respective brackets, Swiderski as an unseeded wrestler and Kraisser as the No. 7 seed.
David Carr has won 29 consecutive matches since his loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year. The Cyclone has wins against the other top six seeds and is 16-0 wrestlers in the field. Twelve of Carr's 23 wins have come with bonus points, including a pin over No. 2 Keegan O'Toole for a Big 12 title. He has 82 takedowns to his name and has only allowed three this season.
Yonger Bastida is one of three international wrestlers in the field at this year's NCAA Championships. The Trinidad, Cuba native joins North Carolina's Lachlan McNeil (Toronto, Canada), and Harvard's Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rechitsa, Belarus) as the only wrestlers in the tournament who hail from outside the United States.

Spirit Package and Social
NCAA Socials Graphic

This year's spirit packages, given to those who purchased championship tickets through Iowa State, includes a t-shirt to wear each day of the tournament and admission wristbands for the ISU wrestling socials Friday and Saturday night.

Spirit packages for ISU ticket holders will be distributed from Tactic Room 3 on the street level (one level below the main lobby level) of the Aloft hotel. IMPORTANT: Please enter the hotel on 5th and Denver. You must buzz the front desk to drive through the gate, or, you may enter 12345 if walking through the gate.

Pick up times are Wednesday from 6-9 p.m. and Thursday from 8-10 a.m.

Aloft Hotel Address: 200 Civic Center, Tulsa, OK

Social I - Friday, March 17

Social Location - Ballroom at the Aloft Tulsa Downtown
Social begins upon the conclusion of Session IV Friday Night
Wristband Color: Green

Social II – Saturday, March 18

Social Location - Ballroom at the Aloft Tulsa Downtown
Social begins upon the conclusion of Session VI Saturday Night
Wristband Color: Red

Socials will include a complimentary light snack, keg beer (while supplies last) and a cash bar. Please note, the hotel only accepts cash payment at the cash bar. The Ballroom is located on the street level of the hotel, one level below the lobby. You must wear your provided wristband for access into the social.

Note: Admission to the socials for fans who did not purchase tickets through the ISU package is $15 per person per social.

Fans will wear their cardinal shirts Thursday, green shirts Friday and black on Saturday.

NCAA Wrestling T-Shirts

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Yonger Bastida

David Carr

Marcus Coleman

Paniro Johnson

Jason Kraisser

Zach Redding

Sam Schuyler

Casey Swiderski

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics