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No. 10 Cyclones Thump Wildcats in Home Opener

Sports

November 12th, 2023 by Asa Lucas

AMES, Iowa – No. 10 Iowa State (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) beat Davidson (0-1, 0-0 SoCon) 50-0 Sunday afternoon in the home opener for the Cyclones. It was the largest margin of victory against an NCAA Division I school for the Cyclones since beating Utah Valley 53-0 in 2019.

All 10 of ISU’s individual victories came with bonus points (2 WBF, 6 TF, 2 MD) and the Cyclones held a 43-0 takedown advantage in the dual.

It was a homecoming for the Wildcat coaching staff, as Davidson Head Coach Nate Carr Jr. wrestled for the Cyclones from 2008-11 and assistant coach Marcus Coleman graduated last year from Iowa State. Carr is the older brother of David Carr and the son three-time NCAA Champion Nate Carr. Coleman was a five-time NCAA qualifier and two-time All-American for the Cyclones, winning 99 matches in his career.

The dual opened at 125 pounds, where No. 19 Kysen Terukina earned a 12-3 lead in the first period on four takedowns, as he won by 19-4 technical fall (4:46) over Enis Ljikovic. At 133 pounds, No. 21 Evan Frost posted another technical fall for the Cyclones, as he downed Jackson Sichelstiel 16-1 in 4:56.

No. 23 Jacob Frost led 9-2 after the first period at 141 pounds, as he cruised to a 19-4 technical fall (5:36) over Josh Viarengo. At 149 pounds, Anthony Echemendia put on a show against Tyler McKnight with a 17-5 lead after the first period. Echemendia got a quick escape, technical violation, escape and takedown in the second period for the 22-5 technical fall (3:47).

Making his Cyclone debut, Cody Chittum’s match at 157 pounds was the first to go the distance on the night. Chittum took a 7-2 lead into the third period and used a late takedown and a point for riding time for a 13-3 major decision against Tanner Peake.

No. 2 David Carr led 13-2 after the first period with three takedowns and a four-point nearfall, before adding an escape and takedown early in the second period for a 17-2 technical fall (3:54) against Marc Koch at 165 pounds. At 174 pounds, No. 33 MJ Gaitan earned fall in 3:37 over Brett Sanderlin. Gaitan held a 13-3 lead at the time of the fall after three first period takedowns.

At 184 pounds, Caleb Helgeson recorded five takedowns, as he beat Wyatt Ferguson 17-5. No. 25 Julien Broderson made quick work of Cameo Blankenship at 197 pounds, tossing Blankenship to his back less than :30 into the match for a fall in :45.

The dual closed at heavyweight, as No. 9 Yonger Bastida dominated Jake Fernicola 19-4. Bastida recorded five takedowns in the first period for a 15-4 lead before picking up an early second period takedown for the technical fall in 3:11.