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NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Weight-By-Weight First Round Breakdown
03.13.2025 | Wrestling
AMES, Iowa - Iowa State's eight qualifiers for the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships received their seeds and brackets during Wednesday night's selection show. Let's dive into the Cyclones' First-Round matchups.
Four Cyclones received a top-15 seed in their weight class. Paniro Johnson, ISU's highest seeded wrestler, is the No. 4 seed at 149 pounds on the heels of his second Big 12 title. Jacob Frost (No. 9 - 141 pounds), Evan Frost (No. 11 - 133 pounds) and Evan Bockman (No. 13 - 184 pounds) round out Cyclones in the top-15.
Cody Chittum is the No. 16 seed at 157 pounds while MJ Gaitan, who reached the blood round last season, is a dangerous No. 23 seed at 174 pounds. True freshman heavyweight Daniel Herrera will wrestle his first NCAA Championships as the No. 28 seed and Aiden Riggins is the No. 30 seed at 165 pounds.
It is the seventh-consecutive season under head coach Kevin Dresser that eight or more Cyclones have qualified for the national tournament.
Three Cyclones – J. Frost, Riggins and Herrera – will make their NCAA Championships debut next week in Philadelphia.
Below is a weight-by-weight breakdown for all eight of Iowa State's First-Round matches.
133: No. 11 Evan Frost (19-4) vs. No. 22 Tyler Wells (MINN, 11-8)
Evan Frost, who placed sixth at last year's NCAA Championships, will open his second NCAA Championships against Minnesota's two-time NCAA Qualifier Tyler Wells.
Frost pieced together a strong regular season and was on track to earn himself a possible top-five national seed before he dropped a pair of matches and finished seventh at the Big 12 Championship last weekend. Wells, a sophomore, did not place at the Big Ten Championships after losing twice in sudden victory. Wells' best win this season is a 3-1 decision over Virginia Tech's Connor McGonagle.
The pair have met once before in their careers. Frost defeated Wells, 2-1, in the Blood Round at last year's NCAA Championships.
To view common opponents between Frost and Wells, click here.
Frost is 5-4 against the 133-pound field this season.
141: No. 9 Jacob Frost (29-7) vs. No. 24 Jason Miranda (STAN, 20-7)
Both Jacob Frost and his opponent, Stanford's Jason Miranda, will be making their NCAA Championships debuts in this First Round matchup. Frost, a sophomore, placed fourth at the Big 12 Championship while Miranda, a fifth-year senior, finished third at ACCs last weekend.
The pair have not met before in their careers.
To view common opponents between Frost and Miranda, click here.
Frost is 10-7 against the 141-pound field.
149: No. 4 Paniro Johnson (25-4) vs. No. 29 Jack Gioffre (UVA, 9-6)
Paniro Johnson will make his second NCAA Championships appearance in 2025. He'll open his tournament against Virginia's Jack Gioffre who is making his NCAA debut.
Johnson won his second Big 12 title last weekend while Gioffre placed fourth at ACCs. Gioffre's best win this season came in December against Penn's Cross Wasilewski who is the No. 9 seed in the national tournament.
Johnson and Gioffre have never wrestled. To view common opponents between Johnson and Gioffre, click here.
Johnson is 4-1 against the 149-pound field.
157: No. 16 Cody Chittum (18-6) vs. No. 17 DJ McGee (GMU, 21-5)
Cody Chittum will open his tournament against George Mason's two-time NCAA Qualifier DJ McGee. Chittum, who placed sixth at the Big 12 Championship last weekend, will also be wresting in his second NCAA Championships.
McGee is the 2025 MAC Champion and was the 2024 MAC Freshman of the Year a season ago. Chittum and McGee have never met on the mat and both wrestlers went 1-2 at last year's NCAA Championships.
To view common opponents between Chittum and McGee, click here.
Chittum is 4-5 against the 157-pound field.
165: No. 30 Aiden Riggins (14-17) vs. No. 3 Mike Caliendo (IOWA, 20-2)
Aiden Riggins, who joined Iowa State this season after transferring from Iowa, will make his NCAA Championships debut against a former Hawkeye teammate, two-time All-American Mike Caliendo.
Riggins outperformed his seed at the Big 12 Championship, placing fourth as the No. 8 seed, to punch his ticket to the national tournament. Caliendo has lost only twice this season and was the Big Ten runner-up.
To view common opponents between Riggins and Caliendo, click here.
Riggins is 2-10 against the 165-pound field.
174: No. 23 MJ Gaitan (16-9) vs. No. 10 Alex Cramer (CMU, 26-6)
A year after reaching the Blood Round at the NCAA Championships, MJ Gaitan will make another run at the podium in Philadelphia. The Cyclone will open his tournament against Alex Cramer, an experienced four-time NCAA Qualifier from Central Michigan. Cramer fell in the Round of 16 at last season's NCAA Championships.
Gaitan was another Cyclone who outperformed his seed at the conference tournament, winning four-in-a-row after a quarterfinal loss to place third as the No. 7 seed. Cramer, a sixth-year senior, was the 2025 MAC runner-up.
The pair have not wrestled in their careers. To view common opponents between Gaitan and Cramer, click here.
Gaitan is 5-6 against the 174-pound field.
1️⃣0️⃣ falls for @MJGaitan33 this season!
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 22, 2024
🌪️🚨🌪️ pic.twitter.com/9QWrNXSiGk
184: No. 13 Evan Bockman (14-7) vs. No. 20 Nick Fine (COL, 14-8)
Evan Bockman will wrestle in his fourth and final NCAA Championships next weekend. The Cyclone will open his tournament against a junior from Columbia, Nick Fine, who is making his NCAA Championships debut.
After injury defaulting in the Big 12 semifinals, Bockman medically forfeited to a sixth-place finish in the conference tournament. Fine placed third in a tough Ivy League Championship bracket last weekend.
Bockman and Fine have never wrestled. To view their common opponents, click here.
Bockman is 6-5 against the 184-pound field. None of those five losses came to anyone outside of the top five seeds.
285: No. 28 Daniel Herrera (26-13) vs. No. 5 Ben Kueter (IOWA, 18-6)
True freshman Daniel Herrera will make his NCAA Championships debut against Iowa's Ben Kueter, who is also making his first postseason appearance.
Herrera placed fifth at the Big 12 Championship and has nine pins on the season. Kueter is a 2022 U20 World Champion and placed third at the Big Ten championships last weekend.
The pair have not wrestled in their careers. To view common opponents between Herrera and Kueter, click here.
Herrera is 4-8 against the heavyweight field.
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