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Iowa State surges to team lead after opening session of Big 12 Wrestling Championships

Cyclones send 7 into semifinals; University of Northern Iowa have 4 semifinalists; SDSU’s Tanner Sloan opens with consecutive pins

K.J. PilcherK.J. Pilcher

Mar. 9, 2024 4:19 pm

No. 1 seeded 165-pound Iowa State's David Carr wrestles No. 33 seeded 165-pound Harvard's Josh Kim during session one of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. on Thursday, March 16, 2023. Carr defeated Kim by major decision, 10-2. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Daily Iowan)
No. 1 seeded 165-pound Iowa State's David Carr wrestles No. 33 seeded 165-pound Harvard's Josh Kim during session one of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. on Thursday, March 16, 2023. Carr defeated Kim by major decision, 10-2. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Daily Iowan)

Iowa State produced a hot start to the postseason.

The Cyclones won their first 13 matches and advanced seven into the semifinals of the Big 12 Championships on Saturday at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. They led the team race after the opening session with 71 points, 3 ½ ahead of Oklahoma State. University of Northern Iowa was fourth with 45 points and four semifinalists.

Iowa State posted a 14-3 overall record through the quarterfinals, tallying 14 bonus-point victories. Second-seeded heavyweight Yonger Bastida led the way with two pins. NCAA champion and two-time national finalist David Carr was close behind with a pin and technical fall at 165, while top-seeded 141-pounder Anthony Echemendia started with two technical falls. Two major decisions propelled Evan Frost into the 133 semifinals.

Kysen Terukina (125) and Cody Chittum (157) each went 2-0 for Iowa State. Terukina, Frost, Casey Swiderski (149), Chittum, Carr and Bastida have all earned automatic berths to the NCAA Championships March 21-23 at Kansas City, Mo.

UNI’s Parker Keckeisen wrestles Nebraska’s Taylor Venz during the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Little Caesers Arena in Detroit, Michigan on Friday, March 18, 2022. Keckeisen won by decision 7-5. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
UNI’s Parker Keckeisen wrestles Nebraska’s Taylor Venz during the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Little Caesers Arena in Detroit, Michigan on Friday, March 18, 2022. Keckeisen won by decision 7-5. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

UNI’s top-ranked Parker Keckeisen remained unbeaten, throttling Wyoming’s Ethan Ducca, 21-4, in the 184 quarterfinals. He was joined in the semifinals by former Lisbon prep and NCAA qualifier Cael Happel (141), Ryder Downey at 157 and former West Delaware prep Wyatt Voelker at 197.

Happel and Voelker both avenged losses in the quarterfinals. Happel opened with a technical fall and handled Missouri’s Josh Edmond, 10-3. Voelker, the fifth seed, used a takedown with 10 seconds left in the first for a 4-1 win over Utah Valley’s Evan Bockman. Voelker and Downey have earned automatic NCAA berths.

South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan celebrates after defeating Cal Poly's Bernie Truax at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships, Friday, March 17, 2023, in Tulsa, Okla. (Ian Maule/Tulsa World via AP)
South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan celebrates after defeating Cal Poly's Bernie Truax at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships, Friday, March 17, 2023, in Tulsa, Okla. (Ian Maule/Tulsa World via AP)

Voelker advanced to the semifinals against South Dakota State’s No. 1 seed Tanner Sloan, who was a two-time Alburnett state champion. Sloan, an NCAA finalist last season, opened with two pins, including a 1:47 quarterfinal fall over Iowa State’s Julien Broderson. Sloan earned an automatic NCAA berth.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com
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