Big 12 Wrestling Championship Primer

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State begins its postseason at the Big 12 Championship March 9-10 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. Head coach Kevin Dresser and the Cyclones are in search of their first team title since 2009.

What: 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championship
Where: Tulsa, Okla. // BOK Center
When: March 9-10
Live Stats: TrackWrestling
Watch: ESPN+ (Sessions 1-3) & ESPN2 (Finals)
[Sessions 1-3: Mike Leslie, pxp; Hardell Moore, analyst // Finals: Mike Couzens pxp; Rock Harrison analyst; Quint Kessenich, sideline]
Listen: Varsity App & Cyclones.com
[Joe Sinclair, pxp; Ryan Rohlk, pxp; Nate Carr, analyst]
Championship Central: Big12Sports.com
Notes: Iowa State

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 9
Session 1: Preliminary & Quarterfinal Matches — 10 a.m. (ESPN+)
Session 2: Semifinal & Consolation Quarterfinal Matches — 5 p.m. (ESPN+)

Sunday, March 10
Session 3: Consolation Semifinals and Placing Matches — Noon (ESPN+)
Session 4: Finals — 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

IOWA STATE FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS
125: No. 6 Kysen Terukina (ISU, 10-6) vs. Conrad Hendriksen (OU, 12-10)
133: No. 2 Evan Frost (ISU, 15-3) vs. Jace Koelzer (OU, 13-10)
141: No. 1 Anthony Echemendia (ISU, 16-4) vs. Garrett Kuchan (AF, 7-11)
149: No. 1 Casey Swiderski (ISU, 13-2) received a bye
157: No. 4 Cody Chittum (ISU, 12-4) vs. Brooks Gable (AF, 1-17)
165: No. 2 David Carr (ISU, 19-1) vs. Mateo de la Pena (CBU, 7-6)
174: No. 2 MJ Gaitan (ISU, 16-5) received a bye
184: No. 5 Will Feldkamp (ISU, 10-6) received a bye
197: Julien Broderson (ISU, 7-7) vs. No. 8 Austin Cooley (WVU, 13-9)
285: No. 2 Yonger Bastida (ISU, 20-0) vs. Xavier Doolin (UNCO, 9-7)

BIG 12 TITLE RACE
The Cyclones will face stiff competition in Tulsa with four teams ranked inside the top-15 in FloWrestling's tournament rankings (OKST, ISU, MIZ, SDSU). Iowa State and Oklahoma State each have seven wrestlers seeded fourth or better, tied for the most in the league. Missouri is not far behind with six seeded fourth or better.

Nine Iowa State wrestlers received a top-eight seed. Anthony Echemendia (141) and Casey Swiderski (149) both earned the No. 1 seed in their respective brackets while Evan Frost (133), David Carr (165), MJ Gaitan (174) and Yonger Bastida (285) all received a No. 2 seed.

Big 12 Championship Team Race Projections*
Iowa State - 126.5
Oklahoma State - 126.5
Missouri - 115.5
South Dakota State - 105
Northern Iowa - 86
*Based on pre-seeds, no bonus points factored in

POST-MATCH SOCIAL
Cyclone wrestling fans are invited to Albert G's Saturday night following session II for a post-match social.
Address: 421 E 1st St, Tulsa, OK 74120
Big 12 Championship - Post Match Social

CARR CHASING A FIFTH TITLE
David Carr, along with Oklahoma State 133-pounder Daton Fix, are each chasing their fifth Big 12 titles. They would be the first two to accomplish the feat in league history.

Last season, Fix and Carr became the 10th and 11th wrestlers, respectively, to win four championships in the Big 12 era (1997-pres.).

NOTABLE

David Carr is one of five wrestlers in the tournament field set to wrestle in their fifth Big 12 Championship. Last year, Carr joined Pete Galea (1973-76), Tim Krieger (1986-89) and Cael Sanderson (1999-2002) as the only four-time conference champions in school history.
Only four wrestlers (Swiderski, Carr, Broderson, Bastida) from Iowa State's 2023 postseason lineup are listed in the 2024 lineup. Carr is the only Cyclone wrestling in the same weight class as last season, making ISU's 2024 postseason lineup different in 9-of-10 weight classes.
Four Cyclones (Frost, Echemendia, Chittum, Gaitan) will make their postseason debuts in the tournament. Will Feldkamp, a transfer from Clarion, has wrestled in three MAC Championships but will make his Big 12 Championship debut this weekend.
ISU finished third at last year's Big 12 Championship with 131 points behind Oklahoma State (134) and Missouri (148). Iowa State had two champions and put five in the finals, its most since six Cyclones made the championship bout in 2015.
ISU finished the regular season ranked No. 5 in the NWCA Coaches Poll, its third consecutive season finishing with a top-five mark. The Cyclones have gone 32 consecutive weeks ranked inside the top 10, including 10-straight weeks inside the top five.
Yonger Bastida finished the regular season with a 20-0 record and an 83:2 takedown ratio. He defeated 11 ranked opponents, including six victories over top-10 foes.
MJ Gaitan closed the regular season on a career-best 10 match winning streak with four of his last five wins coming against a ranked opponent.
Casey Swiderski is 5-0 with three ranked wins since making his return to the lineup after suffering a knee injury which caused him to miss most of December and January.

Big 12 Allocations By Weight
125: 6 Automatic Qualifiers
133: 6 Automatic Qualifiers
141: 5 Automatic Qualifiers
149: 6 Automatic Qualifiers
157: 6 Automatic Qualifiers
165: 6 Automatic Qualifiers
174: 6 Automatic Qualifiers
184: 5 Automatic Qualifiers
197: 6 Automatic Qualifiers
285: 5 Automatic Qualifiers
Total: 57

MEDIA AVAILABILITY
(Kevin Dresser, Will Feldkamp, Anthony Echemendia)

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Players Mentioned

Yonger Bastida

Julien Broderson

David Carr

Cody Chittum

Anthony Echemendia

Will Feldkamp

Evan Frost

MJ Gaitan

Casey Swiderski

Kysen Terukina

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics