2024-25 Cyclone Wrestling Season in Review

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State wrestling completed its eighth season under the direction of head coach Kevin Dresser in 2024-25. It was an injury plagued season, but the Cyclones still managed eight national qualifiers and one All-American at the NCAA Championships.

Highlighting Iowa State's postseason was Jacob Frost's seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships, the first All-America honor of his career, and Paniro Johnson's second Big 12 title.

Iowa State fans once again showed up to Hilton Coliseum in large numbers. ISU averaged 5,694 fans per home dual this season. That makes Iowa State one of three schools in the country, and the only one in the Big 12, to average 5,000-plus fans per dual in each of the last three seasons (Penn State, Iowa).

ISU finished the season with a 12-5 dual record, including a 6-2 mark in Big 12 action. It marks Dresser's fourth-consecutive season with 12 or more dual victories.

Dresser's efforts have put the Cyclones back into the national conversation. A year after winning a Big 12 title and NCAA team trophy, Iowa State suffered a setback during an injury-filled 2025 campaign which saw three returning All-Americans out of the lineup due to season-ending injuries. Dresser inherited an ISU program that scored one point and finished tied for 57th at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Since then, Iowa State has finished T-45th, 16th, T-13th, 17th, 11th, 4th and T-27th at the national tournament.

FROSTY GETS ON THE PODIUM
Jacob Frost was perhaps Iowa State's best story of the 2024-25 season. The Cyclones entered the year with a plethora of talent at the 141 and 149 pound weight classes, including returning All-Americans at each weight. Frost missed the first wrestle-offs while healing his own bumps and bruises but continued to put his head down and work and eventually earned his chance after several injuries rattled the ISU lineup.

Frost took full advantage of his opportunity and continued to improve throughout the season, becoming one of Iowa State's most consistent wrestlers. He led the team in bonus-point wins (16) and takedowns (55), wrestled to a 33-9 record and finished as Iowa State's only All-American at the 2025 NCAA Championships.

Frost's 141-pound bracket at the national tournament was one of the deepest, loaded with seven returning All-Americans and two national champions. He placed seventh as the No. 9 seed and defeated 2023 national champion Andrew Alirez in the second round of the tournament.

Eight of Frost's nine losses on the season came against wrestlers who finished sixth or better at the NCAA Championships. The other loss was against Alriez at the Big 12 Championship, which he avenged at the national tournament.

Jacob Frost put his head down and kept chopping 🪓 to earn his 7th place finish at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships #ncaawrestling

Presented by @CKAwrestling pic.twitter.com/3NSGtl5Ehz
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) March 22, 2025

JOHNSON GETS SECOND BIG 12 TITLE
Paniro Johnson won the second Big 12 title of his career, adding a 2025 championship to his 2023 title. Both of his Big 12 titles have come against opponents who beat him in the regular season.

Johnson defeated UNI's Colin Realbuto in the Big 12 finals, avenging a loss to the Panther from the regular season.

The Erie, Pa. native tallied a 27-6 record, allowed only five takedowns on the season and finished with an 11-5 mark against ranked opponents.

Johnson registered dual victories at 149, 157 and 165 pounds during the regular season.

Paniro Johnson Big 12 Champion

BIT BY THE INJURY BUG
It was an injury riddled season for Dresser's squad. ISU lost four starters, including three past All-Americans, to season ending injuries: Casey Swiderski (141/149), Anthony Echemendia (141/149), Connor Euton (165) and Yonger Bastida (285).

Other starters were in and out of the lineup throughout the season battling injury and sickness. As a result, Iowa State used 15 unique lineup combinations in 17 duals and 25 different wrestlers saw the lineup during the season.

Out of ISU's eight NCAA Qualifiers, seven were redshirt sophomores or younger.

NEXT MAN UP
Several young wrestlers gained valuable experience in the lineup due to Iowa State's injury misfortune. Below are some of the notable moments from the season featuring Iowa State's underclassmen.

Coach Dresser called true freshman heavyweight Daniel Herrera one of the most improved wrestlers on the team throughout the season. Herrera made the most of his opportunity with Bastida out of the lineup. He earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships and posted a 24-15 record, finishing with 15 bonus-point victories (9 WBF, 5 TF, 1 MD).
Sophomore Carter Fousek delivered one of the best moments of the season inside Hilton Coliseum. Originally scheduled to wrestle a 149-pound exhibition match against Arizona State, Fousek received the call around lunchtime on the day of the dual that he was needed in the lineup at 157 pounds due to sickness. Fousek went to Subway and ordered two sandwiches to bulk up for the 157-pound weigh-in. After falling behind early in the match, he went on to earn a crucial third-period fall over Pierson Manville, bringing the Hilton Coliseum crowd to its feet.
Adrian Meza, a true freshman from Laveen, Arizona, was a key piece of Iowa State's 2024 recruiting class. Meza posted a 16-6 overall record, including a 11-2 mark in his five countable dates while maintaining his redshirt status. He was 3-0 in dual action and earned a victory over Iowa's No. 27 Kale Petersen in the Cy-Hawk dual. Meza won the Grand View Open and reached the Round of 12 at the Cliff Keen Invitational.
Another true freshman, Kane Naaktgeboren notched his first career dual victory inside Hilton Coliseum in a dual against Oklahoma. He locked up a cradle on the edge of the mat in the first period to bring the crowd to its feet and jump out to a huge lead. Naaktgeboren registered a 15-5 overall record, including a 9-3 mark in his five countable dates while maintaining his redshirt status.
Osmany Diversent delivered one of the bigger upsets of the season when he defeated Lock Haven's two-time All-American Anthony Noto, 9-3, at the Collegiate Duals.

CARTER FOUSEK!!!! 📌 pic.twitter.com/qqZLIHHM8V
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) February 8, 2025

2024-25 TEAM LEADERS
(Does not include unattached matches and non-countable matches for redshirting student-athletes.)
Wins - J. Frost (33)
Pins - D. Herrera (9)
Tech Falls - J. Frost (9)
Major Decisions - E. Frost & A. Riggins (7)
Bonus-Point Wins - J. Frost (16)
Takedowns - J. Frost (55)

The chart below tracked ISU wrestler takedown totals throughout the season. (This list excludes extra matches and open tournaments).

Season Takedown Tracker
Athlete	For	Against
J. Frost	55	34
E. Frost	47	23
E. Bockman	38	21
D. Herrera	37	16
P. Johnson	36	5
A. Riggins	36	39
C. Chittum	33	15
M. Gaitan	27	23
A. Echemendia	19	2
C. Carroll	19	9
N. Schon	14	21
K. Terukina	12	6
A. Meza	12	6
E. Perryman	11	11
C. Euton	7	5
O. Diversent	7	4
Y. Bastida	6	1
G. Grice	4	1
M. Rojas	4	1
C. Fousek	3	15
Z. Redding	2	3
N. Villaescusa	2	1
K. Naaktgeboren	1	5
S. Bartelt	0	3
C. Schmidt	0	4
C. Helgeson	0	11
TEAM	432	285

OTHER NOTABLES

Jacob Frost became the 311^th All-American in program history and the 164^th individual Cyclone to reach the podium at the national tournament. It marks Iowa State's seventh-consecutive season under head coach Kevin Dresser with an All-American and ISU's second-consecutive year with an All-American at 141 pounds (A. Echemendia, 2024).
Evan Frost went 22-6 during the 2024-25 season with five top-20 victories and 12 bonus-point wins (7 MD, 3 TF, 2 WBF). A 2024 All-American, Frost fell a match shy of returning to the podium at the 2025 NCAA Championships after losing in the Blood Round. He defeated Little Rock's No. 3 seed Nasir Bailey, 5-3, in the Round of 16 on a takedown with 0:13 remaining. The win avenged his tech fall loss to Bailey from a season prior.
Both Frost brothers have earned All-America honors in their careers (Evan, 2024; Jacob, 2025). They are the first set of Cyclone brothers to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the same season since Michael and Gabe Moreno in 2015. Evan and Jacob were one of five sets of brothers and two sets of twins in the 2025 NCAA Championship field.
Evan Bockman finished his seventh season of collegiate wrestling by competing in his fourth NCAA Championships. He went 0-2 at the 2025 NCAA Championships while wrestling on a badly injured knee. Bockman finished his season with a 14-9 record and seven ranked wins. He ended his career with a 72-42 record.
Aiden Riggins, a transfer from Iowa, struggled to begin the 2024-25 season but came on strong late in the year. He earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships thanks to a fourth-place finish at the Big 12 Championship as the No. 8 seed. At the 2025 NCAA Championships, Riggins went 3-2 and reached the Round of 16, scoring 2.5 points. He scored the second-most points of any Cyclone at the national tournament.
MJ Gaitan qualified for his second NCAA Championships in 2025 where he upset the No. 10 seed, Central Michigan's Alex Cramer, in the First Round. He had a roller coaster season battling injury and changing weight classes but finished with a 17-11 record and nine bonus-point victories (5 WBF, 1 TF, 3 MD). After a quarterfinal loss at the Big 12 Championship, Gaitan won four-in-a-row on the back side to punch his ticket to the national tournament. Two of those wins came against top-15 opponents.
Kevin Dresser preaches a high-paced, entertaining style of wrestling and encourages his athletes to give fans their money's worth. Nearly half of Cyclone wrestlers' wins in 2024-25 came with bonus points (70-of-159, 44%).
Hilton Coliseum hosted another dual on ESPN's flagship station in 2025. Iowa State has hosted the only two duals to ever appear on ESPN (2023 vs. Iowa; 2025 vs. Oklahoma State).

MJ GAITAN!! 📌

DOWN BUT NEVER OUT! pic.twitter.com/jmyh4Jte7p
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 9, 2025

The read the full end-of-season notes packet, CLICK HERE.

Players Mentioned

Yonger Bastida

Evan Bockman

Osmany Diversent

Anthony Echemendia

Connor Euton

Carter Fousek

Evan Frost

Jacob Frost

MJ Gaitan

Daniel Herrera

Paniro Johnson

Adrian Meza

Kane Naaktgeboren

Aiden Riggins

Casey Swiderski

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics