Johnson Wins Second Big 12 Title

TULSA, Okla. - Iowa State 149-pounder Paniro Johnson won his second career Big 12 title Sunday night inside the BOK Center. Johnson came from behind to beat UNI's top-seeded Colin Realbuto, 5-4, on a takedown with 22 seconds remaining in the third period.

The victory flipped the dual result between the two foes from three weeks ago where Johnson lost to Realbuto in sudden victory.

Johnson, also the 2023 Big 12 Champion, became the 39^th two-time conference champion in school history and the first since David Carr won four (2020-21-22-23).

This marks Iowa State's seventh-consecutive season with a conference champion under head coach Kevin Dresser. Johnson is Dresser's 11^th individual Big 12 Champion.

Realbuto struck first with a takedown in the opening period and rode the Cyclone for nearly a minute. Johnson eventually escaped and ended the first trailing, 3-1.

Johnson started in the bottom position to begin the second period which allowed the Panther to bring riding time over the minute mark. The pair ended the period in neutral after a Johnson escape at the 1:33 mark.

Johnson began the final period on top and erased the riding time advantage before allowing Realbuto to escape with 1:34 remaining. The Erie, Pennsylvania native earned the winning takedown with 0:18 remaining and rode Realbuto out for the victory.

Came through in the clutch.

📺 ESPNU pic.twitter.com/iQygXSFvol
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 10, 2025

Iowa State finished the team race in fourth place with 107.5 points behind champion Oklahoma State (153.5), UNI (149.5) and South Dakota State (110.0).

Up Next
Iowa State wrestlers who did not earn automatic qualifying spots for the 2025 NCAA Championships await their fate for the full field announcement on Tuesday. Official brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12.

MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
*Denotes NCAA Qualifier
125: No. 8 Kysen Terukina - DNP
First Round: L-D, 4-1 vs. Tristan Daugherty (NDSU)
Consis. Rd. 1: Bye
Consis. Rd. 2: L-D, 10-3 vs. No. 7 Trever Anderson (UNI)

133: No. 1 Evan Frost – 7^th Place
First Round: W-MD, 17-4 vs. Stockton O`Brien (WYO)
QF: L-MD, 20-6 vs. No. 8 Kade Moore (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-MD, 14-3 vs. Julian Chlebove (ASU)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D, 14-13 vs. No. 3 Julian Farber (UNI)
7^th-Place Match: W- MFF vs. No. 6 Cleveland Belton (OU)

*141: No. 3 Jacob Frost – 4^th Place
First Round: W-TF, 16-1 (5:21) vs. Daniel Miranda (ASU)
QF: W-D, 15-8 vs. No. 6 Josh Edmond (MIZ)
SF: L-MD, 14-3 vs. No. 2 Cael Happel (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 4: W-D, 12-5 vs. No. 8 Julian Tagg (SDSU)
3^rd-Place Match: L-D, 8-2 vs. No. 1 Andrew Alirez (UNCO)

*149: No. 2 Paniro Johnson - Champion
First Round: W-D, 2-1 vs. Avery Allen (SDSU)
QF: W-D, 6-5 SV-1 vs. No. 7 Logan Gioffre (MIZ)
SF: W-D, 7-3 vs. Teague Travis (OKST)
Finals: W-D, 5-4 vs. No. 1 Colin Realbuto (UNI)

*157: No. 1 Cody Chittum – 6^th Place
First Round: W-MD, 13-3 vs. Bryce Shelton (AF)
QF: W-MD, 9-0 vs. Caleb Dowling (WVU)
SF: L-MD, 12-4 vs. No. 4 Cobe Siebrecht (SDSU)
Consis. Rd. 4: L-D, 7-6 vs. No. 3 Ryder Downey (UNI)
5^th-Place Match: L-D, 4-3 vs. No. 5 Jared Hill (WYO)

*165: No. 8 Aiden Riggins – 4^th Place
First Round: Bye
QF: L-D, 2-0 vs. No. 1 Terrell Barraclough (UVU)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-D, 10-7 vs. Cooper Voorhees (WYO)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-MD, 11-3 vs. Clayton Ulrey (UNCO)
Consis. Rd. 4: W-MFF vs. No. 6 Nicco Ruiz (ASU)
3^rd-Place Match: L-D, 1-0 vs. No. 1 Terrell Barraclough (UVU)

*174: No. 7 MJ Gaitan – 3^rd Place
First Round: Bye
QF: L-TF, 15-0 (1:44) vs. No. 2 Keegan O`Toole (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-D, 4-2 vs. Carter Schmidt (CBU)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-D, 15-9 vs. Aydin Rix-McElhinney (UNCO)
Consis. Rd. 4: WBF (6:32) vs. No. 5 Cade DeVos (SDSU)
3^rd-Place Match: W-D, 6-4 vs. No. 3 Gaven Sax (OU)

*184: No. 4 Evan Bockman – 6^th Place
First Round: W-TF, 19-4 (6:33) vs. Gage Musser (AF)
QF: W-D, 4-1 SV-1 vs. No. 5 Deanthony Parker Jr. (OU)
SF: L-Inj. Def. (3:35) vs. No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 4: L-MFF vs. No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach (WYO)
5^th-Place Match: MFF vs. No. 5 Deanthony Parker Jr. (OU)

197: No. 6 Nate Schon – 6^th Place
First Round: WBF (2:26) vs. Jacob Meissner (ASU)
QF: L-D, 14-8 vs. No. 3 Wyatt Voelker (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D. 6-4 vs. Jesse Cassatt (MIZ)
7^th-Place Match: W-D, 9-4 vs. Kael Bennie (UVU)

285: No. 6 Daniel Herrera – 5^th Place
First Round: WBF (4:36) vs. Andrew Blackburn-Forst (NDSU)
QF: WBF (5:37) vs. No. 3 Lance Runyon (UNI)
SF: L-D, 4-1 vs. No. 2 Cohlton Schultz (ASU)
Consis. Rd. 4: L-D, 5-3 vs. No. 8 Sam Mitchell (WYO)
5^th-Place Match: W-D, 5-3 vs. No. 5 Juan Mora (OU)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Evan Bockman

David Carr

Cody Chittum

Evan Frost

Jacob Frost

MJ Gaitan

Daniel Herrera

Paniro Johnson

Aiden Riggins

Carter Schmidt

Nate Schon

Kysen Terukina

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