Completed Event: Wrestling versus #14 Missouri on February 22, 2026 , Win , 20, to, 14
Final
Wrestling
20
#14 Missouri
14
Iowa State University Athletics
Photo by: Iowa State Athletics
2026 NCAA Wrestling Championship Brackets Announced
03.11.2026 | Wrestling
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Iowa State will send 10 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships next weekend, held March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. On Wednesday, the NCAA announced the seeds and brackets for each of the 10 weight classes which featured three Cyclones as top-four seeds.
Heavyweight Yonger Bastida is the No. 1 seed in his bracket while Rocky Elam is seeded No. 2 at 197 pounds and Anthony Echemendia is No. 4 at 141 pounds. Overall, nine of 10 Cyclones received a top-16 seed.
Full seeds and first-round match-ups can be found below. To view the full brackets, CLICK HERE.
Iowa State is one of six teams nationally, and one of two in the Big 12, to qualify 10 wrestlers (Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Nebraska). This marks the eighth-consecutive season under head coach Kevin Dresser Iowa State has sent eight-plus qualifiers to the national tournament.
The NCAA Championships are set to begin Thursday, March 19, and will be wrestled through March 21. Wrestling will be featured on the ESPN family of networks throughout the weekend with main telecasts on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. All eight mats, as well as a MatCast, will have individual streams available on ESPN+.
IOWA STATE FIRST ROUND MATCHES
125: No. 13 Stevo Poulin (15-7) vs. No. 20 Diego Sotelo (MICH, 13-12)
133: No. 28 Garrett Grice (6-3) vs. No. 5 Kyler Larkin (ASU, 18-2)
141: No. 4 Anthony Echemendia (19-3) vs. No. 29 Jordan Titus (WVU, 16-14)
149: No. 16 Jacob Frost (17-7) vs. No. 17 Lucas Kapusta (LH, 25-4)
157: No. 12 Vinny Zerban (15-4) vs. No. 21 Charlie Millard (MINN, 18-9)
165: No. 15 Connor Euton (17-7) vs. No. 18 Gunner Filipowicz (ARMY, 19-6)
174: No. 11 MJ Gaitan (16-6) vs. No. 22 Brody Baumann (PUR, 16-8)
184: No. 13 Isaac Dean (17-7) vs. No. 20 Brian Soldano (OKLA, 13-8)
197: No. 2 Rocky Elam (18-0) vs. No. 31 Kael Bennie (UVU, 15-16)
285: No. 1 Yonger Bastida (25-0) vs. No. 32 Emmanuel Ulrich (AU, 21-14) or No. 33 Mason Rebuck (BLOO, 22-8)
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
March 19 – 11 a.m. – Session 1 – 1st Round – ESPN2
March 19 – 6 p.m. – Session 2 – 2nd Round – ESPN
March 20 – 11 a.m. – Session 3 – Quarterfinals – ESPNU
March 20 – 7 p.m. – Session 4 – Semifinals – ESPN2
March 21 – 10 a.m. – Session 5 – Medal Matches – ESPNU
March 21 – 5:30 p.m. – Session 6 – Finals – ESPN
*All times central
Players Mentioned
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
/ Wrestling
Rocky Elam - Big 12 Championships Interview
Saturday, March 07
Kevin Dresser Interview (Big 12 Championships, Session 4)
Saturday, March 07
Yonger Bastida Interview - Big 12 Championships
Saturday, March 07
Kevin Dresser Interview (Big 12 Championships, Session 3)
Saturday, March 07
