Iowa State wrestling wins Big 12 championship, UNI has two individual winners

Iowa State secured the team title at the Big 12 Championships on Sunday, the Cyclones’ first since 2009 when Cael Sanderson was the head coach.

The Cyclones were in a fierce team race that was decided in the finals. After freshman 133-pounder Evan Frost dropped a bout to Oklahoma State's Daton Fix to take second, the Cowboys had some life. However, junior 141-pounder Anthony Echemendia won the first individual title of the day for Iowa State over Northern Iowa's Cael Happel and was followed by an Oklahoma State loss at 149 pounds, securing the team crown.

Iowa State would go on to lose two of its three remaining matches, with Cody Chittum coming up short at 157 pounds and David Carr falling to Missouri's Keegan O'Toole for the second time. O'Toole moved to 2-2 all-time against Carr by scoring two takedowns on re-attacks for an 8-2 decision over Carr. That was Carr's second loss of the season, which could drop him as far as the No. 4 seed at NCAAs, setting up a potential semifinal rematch in Kansas City between these two.

Heavyweight Yonger Bastida capped off the night in style for the Cyclones with his first Big 12 title. Hendrickson was going for a trip takedown up 1-0 with Bastida's leg propped in the air. Somehow, Bastida found a way to re-attack and plop Hendrickson down for a three-point takedown and three near-fall points to make to 6-1. With an escape and takedown, he cut it to 6-5 with under a minute to go. However, Bastida ended it with a takedown late for his 12th ranked win of the year and a 10-7 decision.

Iowa State’s Kevin Dresser was named Big 12 Coach of the Year, his second time earning the award. He last earned it after the 2019 season.

Northern Iowa had a stellar day in the finals, with 157-pound freshman Ryder Downey and 184-pound junior Parker Keckeisen each winning titles.

Downey had a lengthy bout with Chittum, going deep into overtime. Tied at three entering a 30-second tiebreaker, Chittum chose top but drew a third early start caution and awarding Downey a point. Chittum then cut Downey and could not score a takedown, so Downey secured a 5-3 sudden victory in dramatic fashion. The Indianola native has narrowly beaten Chittum twice in back-to-back outings, setting up a fun rivalry moving forward.

Keckeisen continued his blistering pace, improving to 27-0 by beating Oklahoma State's Dustin Plott for the second time this year, this time by major decision. He's now a four-time Big 12 champion and could become a five-time winner next year as he plans to use his extra COVID-year next season.

Keckeisen has won in bonus-point fashion in all but two of his matches this season. He's a leading candidate for the Dan Hodge Trophy, which goes to the top college wrestler in the country.

Southeast Polk alum and South Dakota State 174-pound senior Cade DeVos won a Big 12 title over North Dakota State's Gaven Sax. His teammate, Tanner Sloan, is an Alburnett High School alum and also won the 197-pound Big 12 title over Missouri's Rocky Elam to clinch a third-place team finish for the Jackrabbits.

Individual results from Iowa State at the Big 12 Championships

in addition to their five finalists, the Cyclones qualified three others for the NCAAs automatically.

Senior 125-pounder Kysen Terukina out-performed his seeding, taking fourth place in the class. Going 3-2 on the weekend, it was the most consistent version of the Hawaii native fans have seen this season.

Sophomore 149-pound Casey Swiderski took third, dropping a 8-7 decision in the semifinals to Oklahoma State's Jordan Williams, but picking up a pair of bonus-point wins in the consolations to end strongly.

Freshman 174-pounder MJ Gaitan had three wins in this tournament, two falls and a major decisions, but two narrow losses to drop to fourth as the No. 2 seed in the class.

The two who will be awaiting their fate as potential at-large bids are seniors Will Feldkamp and Julian Broderson. Feldkamp was one win shy of qualifying for the NCAAs and will be in the conversation for an at-large at 184 pounds. Broderson will likely be on the outside looking in after a 1-2 weekend in Tulsa.

• 125: Kysen Terukina- Fourth place
• 133: Evan Frost - Second place
• 141: Anthony Echemendia - Big 12 Champion
• 149: Casey Swiderski - Third place
• 157: Cody Chittum - Second place
• 165: David Carr - Second place
• 174: MJ Gaitan - Fourth place
• 184: Will Feldkamp - Sixth place
• 197: Julien Broderson - DNP
• 285: Yonger Bastida - Big 12 Champion

Individual results from Northern Iowa at the Big 12 Championships

Aside from its three finalists, UNI qualified two others automatically for the NCAAs. Junior 165-pounder Jack Thomsen took sixth behind a pair of major decision wins in the consolations. 197-pound freshman clinched a fifth-place finish with a pin over Oklahoma State's Luke Surber.

UNI has five who will be awaiting to see if they earn at-large bids. 133-pound sophomore Julian Farber, 174-pound sophomore Jared Simma and 285-pound senior Tyrell Gordon all should be in the conversation based on their season results. 125-pound freshman Trever Anderson could have an argument with a strong strength of schedule and could be one of the last couple wrestlers to qualify, but 149-pound sophomore Adam Allard is likely on the outside looking in with a below .500 record and a limited sample size of matches.

• 125: Trever Anderson - DNP
• 133: Julian Farber - Seventh place
• 141: Cael Happel - Second place
• 149: Adam Allard - DNP
• 157: Ryder Downey - Big 12 Champion
• 165: Jack Thomsen - Sixth place
• 174: Jared Simma - Seventh place
• 184: Parker Keckeisen - Big 12 Champion
• 197: Wyatt Voelker - Fifth place
• 285: Tyrell Gordon - DNP

Team results from Big 12 Championships

• 1st - Iowa State - 152.5
• 2nd - Oklahoma State - 141.5
• 3rd - South Dakota State - 122
• 4th - Missouri - 115.5
• 5th - Northern Iowa - 100

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.