Iowa State Wins 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championship
SOURCE: big12sports.com
March 11, 2024

 


TULSA, Oklahoma - Iowa State notched its first Big 12 Wrestling Championship title since 2009 Sunday night at the BOK Center. The Cyclones tallied 152.5 points as a conference-leading five wrestlers advanced to the finals, resulting in two Big 12 individual titles.

It is their fourth Conference title in program history after winning three years in a row from 2007-2009.

Oklahoma State finished second with 141.5 points while South Dakota State earned its highest finish since 2018 with 122 points. Missouri (115.5 points) and Northern Iowa (100.0 points) rounded out the top-five.

Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser garnered Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career, while Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen was named the 2024 Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Wrestler by league coaches.

Championship Finals Round

Wyoming's Jore Volk started the night with a 3-2 sudden victory over OSU's Troy Spratley to earn the first-ever Big 12 title for the Cowboys at 125 pounds.

Oklahoma State's Daton Fix became the first wrestler in Conference history to win the same weight class five times. Fix picked up an 8-5 decision over Iowa State's Evan Frost to claim the 133-pound title.

ISU's Anthony Echemendia grabbed the 4-2 decision over UNI's Cael Happel for the Cyclones' first individual title of the night. Echemendia is the first Cyclone to win the 141-pound title since Ian Parker in 2020.

West Virginia's Ty Watters became the second straight No. 3 seed and first Mountaineer to win the 149-pound title. The freshman won via injury over OSU's Jordan Williams and is the fourth WVU competitor to win an individual title in program history.

At 157 pounds, Ryder Downey collected his 14th straight match victory to become the first Northern Iowa wrestler to win the 157-pound title. Downey defeated ISU's Cody Chittum 5-3.

Missouri's Keegan O'Toole claimed his second Big 12 title in three years as he got the best of ISU's David Carr in the rematch of the 2023 Big 12 finals matchup at 165-pounds.

Cade DeVos became the second Jackrabbit to win a Big 12 title and first since 2018. DeVos defeated NDSU's Gaven Sax via a 6-4 decision for the 174-pound crown.

Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen secured his fourth consecutive 184-pound title to keep the trophy with the Panthers for the seventh straight year. Keckeisen tallied a 14-5 major decision victory over OSU's Dustin Plott to win the second weight-class of the night for UNI.

In his fourth appearance in the 197-pound finals match, SDSU's Tanner Sloan obtained his first Big 12 title to help the Jackrabbits lock up third place in the team standings. Sloan finished with a 1-0 decision victory over Missouri's Rocky Elam.

To end the night, Yonger Bastida (ISU) won the battle of unbeatens in the heavyweight class. Bastida defeated the two-time Big 12 champion, Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force), 10-7.

Session III

To start the consolation bracket, West Virginia's Jett Strickenberger took home third place at 125 pounds after notching a fall in 4:58 over Iowa State's Kysen Terukina. SDSU's Tanner Jordan claimed the 5th-place match over Missouri's Noah Surtin while UNCO's Stevo Poulin defeated CBU's Elijah Griffin in the 7th place bout.

Dominick Serrano won the third-place, 133-pound match for Northern Colorado via 6-1 decision while OU's Jace Koelzer and UNI's Julian Farber finished fifth and seventh in the class, respectively.

Missouri's Josh Edmond (141 pounds) recorded an 8-1 decision victory over OSU's No. 2-seeded Tagen Jamison for the bronze while SDSU's Clay Carlson and UVU's Haiden Drury won the fifth and seventh place matches, respectively.

ISU's Casey Swiderski finished with a technical fall over Wyoming's Gabe Willochell to win the 149-pound consolation bracket. Oklahoma's Willie McDougald won the fifth-place match while SDSU's Alek Martin prevailed in the 7th-place match.

SDSU's Cael Swensen defeated OSU's Teague Travis at 157 pounds 5-4. Missouri's Brock Mauller took fifth while UNCO's Vinny Zerban took the seventh-place match.

OSU's Izzak Olejnik defeated WVU's Peyton Hall in a 5-1 decision at 165 pounds for third. Air Force's Giano Petrucelli won the fifth-place match while OU's Cael Carlson secured the seventh-place match.

OSU's Brayden Thompson finished his week with a win in the consolation bracket for third place at 174 pounds. WVU's Brody Conley finished fifth while UNI's Jared Simma ended up seventh at 174 pounds.

Air Force's Sam Wolf defeated SDSU's Bennett Berge with a 4-3 decision for third at 184 pounds while Colton Hawks won the fifth-place match for the Tigers and Dennis Robin (WVU) collected a win by fall for seventh.

Stephen Buchannan finished with a 6-4 decision for third at 197 pounds for Oklahoma while Wyatt Voelker (UNI) recorded a win by fall for fifth. Evan Bockman (UVU) rounded out the weight class with a seventh-place match victory.

Missouri's Zach Elam took the last third place at heavyweight via major decision followed by OSU's Konner Doucet (5-2) and SDSU's Luke Rasmussen's decision victories for fifth and seventh place, respectively.

Final Team Standings
1. Iowa State 152.5
2. Oklahoma State 141.5
3. South Dakota State 122.0
4. Missouri 115.5
5. Northern Iowa 100.0
6. West Virginia 97.5
7. Oklahoma 68.5
7. Wyoming 68.5
9. Air Force 45.0
10. Northern Colorado 33.5
11. North Dakota State 28.0
12. Utah Valley 22.0
13. California Baptist 16.0


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