Completed Event: Wrestling versus Harold Nichols Cyclone Open on January 18, 2026 , , One Champ
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Iowa State University Athletics
Photo by: Randi Yeager
2025-26 Iowa State Wrestling Year in Review
04.01.2026 | Wrestling
AMES, Iowa - Iowa State completed its ninth season under head coach Kevin Dresser with an eighth-place finish at the 2026 NCAA Championships, its 60th top-10 finish in program history, and a second-place performance at the Big 12 Championship.
NCAA Finish: 8th, 52 pts.
All-Americans: 3
Big 12 Finish: 2nd, 144 pts.
Big 12 Champs: 2
Dual Record: 12-2 (8-1 Big 12)
Final NWCA Dual Ranking: No. 4
Three Cyclones finished on the podium in at the NCAA Championships - Anthony Echemendia (6th, 141), MJ Gaitan (8th, 174) and Yonger Bastida (2nd, 285). It marked the fifth time in the last six seasons ISU crowned multiple All-Americans. Bastida, along with Rocky Elam (197), were crowned Big 12 champions.
ISU finished the season with a 12-2 dual record, including an 8-1 mark in Big 12 action. It marks Dresser's fifth-consecutive season with 12 or more dual victories. The Cyclones went 6-0 at home and defeated in-state rival Iowa for the first time in 21 years, snapping a 20-match losing streak to the Hawkeyes.
Cyclone fans showed out in large numbers once again to watch wrestling in Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State averaged 6,641 fans per home dual, its second-best season attendance average on record (since 1997). ISU is one of three schools in the country, and the only in the Big 12, to average 5,000-plus fans per dual in each of the last four seasons (Penn State, Iowa).
Dresser's efforts have seen Iowa State climb on the national stage. He 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, T-27th and 8th at the national tournament.
CYCLONES CROWN THREE ALL-AMERICANS
All-Americans Bastida, Echemendia and Gaitan highlighted Iowa State's postseason by reaching the podium at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, where the Cyclones finished in eighth place with 52 points. ISU's 52-point total was a 34-point improvement over the season prior and represented the nation's second-largest positive point differential between the 2025 and 2026 NCAA Championships (Stanford +46.5).
The tournament delivered several thrilling moments, perhaps none bigger than Bastida's semifinal 15-7 major decision over Nebraska's AJ Ferrari. A special case could also be made for Gaitan's First Round pin against Purdue or down-to-the-wire Blood Round win over Illinois.
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 21, 2026
An All-American moment for the Cali Kid 🌴 pic.twitter.com/TZMpmHGK6K
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 21, 2026
MJ Gaitan doing MJ Gaitan things 📌
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 19, 2026
📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/wyUAdWjNvp
BASTIDA, ELAM WIN BIG 12 TITLES
Both Bastida and Elam won their second career Big 12 titles with Elam having also won in 2023 at Missouri and Bastida taking the heavyweight crown in 2024. For Elam, it was his third conference title after also winning a MAC title in 2021. Bastida became the 40th two-time conference champion in Iowa State history.
Elam went 19-2 during the season and defeated Wyoming's Joey Novak for his Big 12 title. Unfortunately, Elam suffered a significant knee injury in the final 30 seconds of his Big 12 finals match which severely impacted his performance at nationals two weeks later. His only two losses on the season came at the NCAA Championships.
Bastida topped Oklahoma State's Konner Doucet in the heavyweight title match, 4-1. It was Bastida's 100th career victory, becoming the 40th wrestler in Iowa State history to win at least 100 matches in his career. He is the first Cyclone since David Carr (2019-24), and the 16th this century, to achieve the 100-win milestone.
Iowa State placed second as a team at the Big 12 Championships with 144 points behind champion Oklahoma State (176). Eight of the 10 Cyclones in the lineup wrestled to or above their seed at the conference championship.
IOWA STATE SNAPS STREAK AGAINST IOWA
No. 6 Iowa State took six of 10 bouts to defeat No. 3 Iowa, 20-14, for the Cyclones' first win over the Hawkeyes in 21 years. A crowd of 12,292, the 10th-largest wrestling crowd in program history, traveled through a foot of snow to see the Cyclones snap their 20-match losing streak to their in-state rivals. The dual was nationally broadcast on ESPN and was the third college wrestling to ever air on the flagship station.
Yonger Bastida opened the dual with a win at heavyweight. Evan Frost and MJ Gaitan provided crucial upset victories while Anthony Echemendia and Vinny Zerban delivered bonus-point wins. No. 2 Rocky Elam closed out the win with an 8-2 decision over Massoma Endene.
133 | No. 6 Evan Frost takes out No. 3 Drake Ayala, 11-5!
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) November 30, 2025
ISU 6, UI 3
📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/AMYqTJ7oRZ
Electric ⚡
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) November 30, 2025
No. 11 MJ Gaitan takes out No. 2 Patrick Kennedy, 9-8, in tiebreakers!
ISU 17, UI 11
🌪️🚨🌪️ pic.twitter.com/WMRI7PeYvI
CKLV CHAMPIONS
Four Cyclones were crowned champions at the 2025 Cliff Keen Invitational as Iowa State ran away with its second team title at the event in the last three seasons.
Iowa State scored 183.5 points to win the team title, well in front of second place Michigan (99) and third place Stanford (97.5). Evan Frost (133), Anthony Echemendia (141), Rocky Elam (197) and Yonger Bastida (285) all won individual titles as ISU had a placewinniner in nine of 10 weight classes.
The Cyclones scored 34.5 bonus points in the tournament thanks to 13 tech falls, seven major decisions and four pins.
BASTIDA CALLS IT A CAREER
Bastida closed an outstanding Cyclone career despite falling short of his ultimate goal. Bastida closed his Cyclone career as a two-time Big 12 champion and two-time All-American, finishing 5th at 197 pounds in 2022 before his runner-up finish this season as a heavyweight. He owned a 104-23 career record, tied for the 33rd-most wins in program history. As a heavyweight, he compiled a 57-3 record.
Always worth the price of admission, Bastida always made it a goal to put points on the scoreboard. He finished his career with 64 bonus-point victories (10 WBF, 33 TF, 21 MD) and led all NCAA Division I wrestlers with 17 tech falls during the 2025-26 season.
Bastida recorded a 29-1 record in his senior season and registered 136 takedowns while only conceding four. Twenty-one of his 29 wins came via bonus-point margin (17 TF, 2 WBF, 2 MD).
Curtain call for Yonger Bastida! 👏
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) February 22, 2026
📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/tlFKlDWFl9
2025-26 TEAM LEADERS
(Does not include unattached matches and non-countable matches for redshirting student-athletes.)
Wins - Y. Bastida (29)
Pins - M. Gaitan (5)
Tech Falls - Y. Bastida (17)
Major Decisions - A. Echemendia (8)
Bonus-Point Wins - Y. Bastida (21)
Takedowns - Y. Bastida (136)
Full stats from the season can be found, here.
OTHER NOTABLES
- Iowa State was one of six teams nationally to qualify 10 wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. It marked the eighth-consecutive season under Dresser ISU sent eight-plus qualifiers to the national tournament.
- Dresser preaches a high-paced, entertaining style of wrestling and encourages his athletes to give fans their money's worth. Not including open tournaments, Cyclone wrestlers combined to earn bonus points in 56 percent of their wins this season (120-of-213). Broken down, Cyclone wrestlers combined for 16 pins, 56 tech falls and 48 major decisions.
- Anthony Echemendia compiled a 23-5 season record with 16 bonus-point victories (1 WBF, 7 TF, 8 MD) and went 10-4 against ranked foes. He recorded 87 takedowns this season and only allowed eight.
- California native MJ Gaitan had a breakout 2025-26 season, finishing eighth at the NCAA Championships to become ISU's first 174-pound All-American since 2016. He was 19-9 on the season with 11 bonus-point victories (5 WBF, 2 TF, 4 MD).
- Jacob Frost fell a match shy of a return trip to the podium, falling in the Blood Round as the No. 16 seed. Now a two-time NCAA Qualifier, he went 20-9 on the season with 10 bonus-point victories (2 WBF, 5 TF, 3 MD).
- Vinny Zerban had an impressive regular season but finished with a disappointing postseason after his Big 12 Championship was cut short due to a concussion suffered toward the end of his first match. He was unable to find his groove at the NCAA Championships and bowed out of the tournament with a 1-2 record. Zerban posted a 16-6 record in his lone season as a Cyclone, including a 7-4 mark against ranked opponents.
- Fan favorite Stevo Poulin was the No. 13 seed at the NCAA Championships and was wrestling his best at the right time of year. He narrowly lost to No. 4 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh), 5-4, in the Second Round before falling to defending champion Vincent Robinson in the Round of 16, ending his tournament.
- It was a bumpy start to the season for Poulin, who started with a 4-5 record through his first nine matches wrestling perhaps the most difficult first semester schedule of any Cyclone. He saw five top-15 opponents in those first nine matches. After the rocky start, Poulin won 13 of his last 17 and finished 17-9. Eight of his wins came via bonus-point margin (2 WBF, 1 TF, 5 MD).
- Isaac Dean, a 184-pound transfer from Rider, was a welcome addition to the Cyclone lineup in 2025-26. Dean, who suffered a knee injury in the ISU-OKST dual on Feb. 1 and missed the final month of the regular season, made his return to the mat for the Big 12 Championship where he placed sixth. He reached the semifinals as the No. 7 seed before medically forfeiting out of the tournament after suffering an even more severe knee injury which impacted his performance at the NCAA Championships two weeks later.
- Dean, who prides himself on being tough to score on, had 14 matches decided by a takedown or less this season. He went 9-5 in those matches.
- Evan Frost had a tough ending to his 2025-26 season, missing the final portion of the year due to illness and a subsequent shoulder injury. Frost was back down at 133 pounds for the season and slowly descended to weight while wrestling at 141 pounds for ISU's first two events of the season. Frost went 13-1 with seven bonus-point wins (1 WBF, 3 TF, 3 MD) in 2025-26, including a 3-1 mark against ranked opponents.
- Garrett Grice was given the postseason nod at 133 pounds in place of Evan Frost. Grice, a transfer from Virginia, competed in his third season in Ames and made his NCAA Championship debut. Grice made a run in the tournament to reach the Round of 16 as the No. 28 seed.
- Grice was limited in action during the season and missed a large portion of the year due to a knee injury suffered at the first tournament of the season (Cyclone Invitational). At the Big 12 Championships, Grice fell to top-seeded Jax Forrest in the first round before rattling off three-straight wins to earn his trip to Cleveland.
THANK YOU SENIORS
A special thank you to the seniors for their contributions to Iowa State wrestling - Yonger Bastida, Rocky Elam, Vinny Zerban, Stevo Poulin, Isaac Dean, Manny Rojas, Rowan Udell and Xavier Bruening.
The read the full end-of-season notes packet, CLICK HERE.
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