Cyclones Put Eight in Big 12 Semifinals

Friday, March 6

Tulsa, Oklahoma

10:00 AM

Iowa State

Big 12 Championship (Session I)

Isaac Dean celebrates a win at the 2026 Big 12 Championships

Cyclones Put Eight in Big 12 Semifinals

03.06.2026 | Wrestling

Dresser Interview Brackets Team Scores

TULSA, Okla. – Eight Cyclones advanced to the Big 12 semifinals, five of which punched their ticket to the 2026 NCAA Championships, Friday afternoon inside the BOK Center.

Stevo Poulin (125), Anthony Echemendia (141), Jacob Frost (149), Connor Euton (165), MJ Gaitan (174), Isaac Dean (184), Rocky Elam (197) and Yonger Bastida (285) will wrestle for a spot in the finals later this evening. Echemendia, Gaitan, Dean, Elam and Bastida qualified for the NCAA Championships thanks to their conference semifinal appearance.

Iowa State is second in the team race with 83.5 points, trailing only Oklahoma State (89.5), following the opening session. The Cyclones and Cowboys opened a gap between third-place Arizona State (40).

ISU added 18 bonus points to its team score in the first session courtesy of two falls, two injury defaults four tech falls and four major decisions.

ISU went 8-1 in the quarterfinal round with the lone loss a medical forfeit by Vinny Zerban (157) after he suffered an injury in his first-round match. No. 7 seed Isaac Dean highlighted the quarterfinal round with an upset over No. 2 seed Zach Ryder of Oklahoma State.

Dean defeated Ryder via 6-2 decision before tournament officials later ruled, following the conclusion of the match, that Dean should have won by injury default in the second period after Ryder's injury time had expired. The result was changed from a decision to injury default (3:15) in Dean's favor.

Jacob Frost (149) had an exceptional first session with a pin and a tech fall in his first two matches while Yonger Bastida (285) notched a pair of tech falls.

Garrett Grice (133) is the lone Cyclone fighting through the consolation side of the bracket after a 1-1 showing in the first session.

At 157 pounds, Zerban medically forfeited out of the tournament after winning his first-round match. He is eligible for an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships.

UP NEXT
Iowa State is back in action this evening for semifinals and consolation rounds. Wrestling starts at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
No. 2 Stevo Poulin (125)
R16 – W-MD vs. Anee Vigil (ASU), 14-3
QF – W-Inj. Def. vs. No. 7 Trevor Anderson (UNI), 0:36
SF – vs. No. 6 Ezekiel Witt (NDSU)

Garrett Grice (133)
R16 – L-TF vs. No. 1 Jax Forrest (OKST), 15-0 (2:59)
Consis. Rd. 2 – W-D vs. Tristan Daugherty (NDSU), 5-2
Consis. Rd. 3 – vs. No. 7 Luke Willochell (WYO)

*No. 2 Anthony Echemendia (141)
R16 – W-TF vs. David Saenz (WYO), 22-6 (6:33)
QF – W-D vs. No. 7 Carter Nogle (AF), 11-4
SF – vs. No. 6 Tyler Wells (OU)

No. 2 Jacob Frost (149)
R16 – WBF vs. Kenneth Evans (UNCO), 6:52
QF – W-TF vs. No. 7 Paul Kelly (CBU), 19-4 (6:32)
SF- vs. No. 6 Caleb Rathjen (UNI)

No. 3 Vinny Zerban (157) - DNP
R16 – W-D vs. Daishun Powe (UNCO), 7-2
QF – L-MFF vs. No. 6 Cael Swensen (SDSU)
Consis. Rd. 2 – L-MFF vs. Drayden Morton (CBU)

No. 5 Connor Euton (165)
R16 – Bye
QF – W-D vs. No. 4 Max Mayfield (MIZ), 8-6
SF – vs. No. 1 LaDarion Lockett (OKST)

*No. 4 MJ Gaitan (174)
R16 – W-MD vs. Murphy Menke (UNCO), 12-3
QF – WBF vs. No. 5 Jared Simma (UNI), 4:40
SF – vs. No. 1 Alex Facundo (OKST)

*No. 7 Isaac Dean (184)
R16 – W-MD vs. Brock Fettig (SDSU), 11-2
QF – W-Inj. Def. vs. No. 2 Zach Ryder (OKST), 3:15
SF – vs. No. 3 Eddie Neitenbach (WYO)

*No. 1 Rocky Elam (197)
R16 – W-D vs. Colton Hawks (ASU), 5-0
QF – W-MD vs. No. 8 Devin Wasley (NDSU), 9-1
SF – vs. No. 5 DJ Parker (OU)

*No. 1 Yonger Bastida (285)
R16 – W-TF vs. Brock Kehler (WVU), 24-6 (5:23)
QF – W-TF vs. Rylan Kuhn (AF), 22-6 (4:49)
SF – vs. No. 4 David Szuba (ASU)

*Denotes NCAA Qualifier