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Iowa State University Athletics
Breaking Down Iowa State's NCAA First-Round Matchups
03.12.2026 | Wrestling
AMES, Iowa - Iowa State's 10 qualifiers for the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships received their seeds and brackets during Wednesday night's selection show. Let's dive into the Cyclones' First-Round matchups.
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.
Six wrestlers in Iowa State's lineup have reached the podium in their career: Stevo Poulin (125), Echemendia (141), Jacob Frost (149), Vinny Zerban (157), Elam (197) and Bastida (285). Two Cyclones - Garrett Grice (133) and Connor Euton (157) - will make their NCAA Championship debut next weekend in Cleveland.
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.
Full seeds and first-round match-ups can be found below. To view the full brackets, CLICK HERE.
Below is a weight-by-weight breakdown for all 10 of Iowa State's First-Round matches.
MATCH-BY-MATCH BREAKDOWN
125: No. 13 Stevo Poulin (15-7) vs. No. 20 Diego Sotelo (MICH, 13-12)
Collegiate History: Fourth Meeting; Poulin leads 3-0
Poulin, a four-time qualifier who placed eighth at last year's NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, looks to make a return trip to the podium this year in Cleveland. He'll get the No. 20 seed Diego Sotelo out of Michigan, a three-time NCAA Qualifier, in the First Round.
This will be the fourth career meeting between Poulin and Sotelo and the second this season. The pair met in the Cliff Keen Invitational quarterfinals where Poulin pinned Sotelo from the neutral position in the second period following a scoreless first. The two prior meetings occurred at the 2023 and 2024 NCAA Championships where Poulin eliminated Sotelo, then at Harvard, from the tournament by scores of 11-4 and 4-2, respectively.
Against common opponents in their careers, Poulin is 25-9 while Sotelo is 18-22.
Poulin is 7-7 against the 125-pound field this season.
133: No. 28 Garrett Grice (6-3) vs. No. 5 Kyler Larkin (ASU, 18-2)
Collegiate History: First Meeting
Grice will be making his NCAA Championship debut against star Arizona State freshman Kyler Larkin. The pair have not met.
Grice was a late addition to ISU's postseason lineup and missed most of the season due to an injury suffered at the first tournament of the season. At the Big 12 Championships, Grice fell to top-seeded Jax Forrest in the first round before rattling off three-straight wins to earn his trip to Cleveland. Larkin is the Big 12 runner-up and turned in a near perfect regular season, going 15-1 with his lone loss coming via medical forefeit in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational championship match.
Against common opponents in their careers, Grice is 2-2 while Larkin is 4-1.
Grice is 4-3 against the 133-pound field this season, including a medical forfeit loss at the Big 12 Championship.
141: No. 4 Anthony Echemendia (19-3) vs. No. 29 Jordan Titus (WVU, 16-14)
Collegiate History: Third Meeting; Echemendia leads 2-0
Echemendia, a two-time NCAA Qualifier and 2024 All-American, has his sights set on another podium finish after a fifth-place performance in his most recent tournament appearance. That journey will begin in the First Round with West Virginia's No. 29 Jordan Titus, a redshirt-senior competing in his fourth NCAA Championships.
This will be the third meeting between Echemendia and Titus and the second this season. Echemendia defeated Titus, 12-3, in this year's ISU-WVU dual and 14-4 at the 2024 Big 12 Championship.
Against common opponents in their careers, Echemendia is 19-4 while Titus is 17-21.
Echemendia is 8-3 against the 141-pound field this season.
Anthony Echemendia is into the finals with a 14-4 major decision over Jordan Titus!
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 9, 2024
🌪🚨🌪 pic.twitter.com/TUymSvYzok
149: No. 16 Jacob Frost (17-7) vs. No. 17 Lucas Kapusta (LH, 25-4)
Collegiate History: First Meeting
Frost, making his second NCAA Championship appearance, looks to make it back-to-back podium finishes after placing seventh at last year's tournament. He'll open against Lock Haven's No. 17 Lucas Kapusta, a redshirt-sophomore and making his NCAA Championships debut.
Frost placed fourth at the Big 12 Championship while Kapusta won the MAC title.
Against common opponents in their careers, Frost and Kapusta are both 4-1.
Frost is 5-6 against the 149-pound field.
157: No. 12 Vinny Zerban (15-4) vs. No. 21 Charlie Millard (MINN, 18-9)
Collegiate History: First Meeting
Zerban, a four-time NCAA Qualifier, aims to achieve All-America status for the second-straight year after placing sixth a season ago. His path starts with Minnesota's Charlie Millard, a redshirt-freshman making his NCAA Championships debut.
Zerban medically withdrew from the Big 12 Championship last week in Tulsa after suffering a concussion in his first match. The Cyclone had an impressive regular season with a 15-4 record with two of those losses being medical forfeits. Millard placed eighth as the No. 6 seed at the Big Ten Championships after medically forfeiting in the seventh-place match.
Against common opponents in their careers, Zerban is 7-5 while Millard is 6-5.
Zerban is 5-4 against the 157-pound field this season, including a pair of MFF losses.
165: No. 15 Connor Euton (17-7) vs. No. 18 Gunner Filipowicz (ARMY, 19-6)
Collegiate History: First Meeting
Euton makes his NCAA Championships debut against Army's Gunner Filipowicz, a junior three-time NCAA Qualifier from Army.
Euton placed third at the Big 12 Championship as the No. 5 seed while Filipowicz finished third at the EIWA Championships as the No. 2 seed.
Against common opponents in their careers, Euton is 5-3 while Filipowicz is 1-4.
Euton is 4-6 against the 165-pound field this season.
EUTON!!! 🤓🥉
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 7, 2026
Connor Euton gets the highest ranked win of his career over No. 6 Ryder Downey (UNI), 13-12, in the third-place match!
🌪️🚨🌪️ pic.twitter.com/cwSQpHSYEP
174: No. 11 MJ Gaitan (16-6) vs. No. 22 Brody Baumann (PUR, 16-8)
Collegiate History: First Meeting
Gaitan's third appearance at the NCAA Championships will begin against Purdue's No. 22 Brody Baumann, also a three-time NCAA Qualifier.
Gaitan once again placed above his seed at the Big 12 Championship, placing third as the No. 4 seed. In his two prior NCAA Champinship appearances, Gaitan finished in the Blood Round in 2024 and the Round of 24 in 2025. Baumann placed eighth at Big Tens as the No. 8 seed and is 1-4 in his two prior nationals appearances.
Against common opponents in their careers, Gaitan is 18-11 while Baumann is 11-14.
Gaitan is 8-5 against the 174-pound field this season.
184: No. 13 Isaac Dean (17-7) vs. No. 20 Brian Soldano (OKLA, 13-8)
Collegiate History: Third Meeting; Soldano leads 2-0
Dean, a two-time NCAA Qualifier, will begin his final NCAA Championships against a familiar opponent in Oklahoma's Brian Soldano, a three-time qualifier.
Dean and Soldano have met twice in their collegiate careers, including once earlier this season, with the Sooner winning by decision both times. In the ISU-OU dual in late January, Soldano squeaked out a 4-1 win in overtime. Both New Jersey natives, the pair share even more history as Soldano pinned Dean in the 2021 state title match.
Against common opponents in their careers, Dean is 12-17 while Soldano is 20-13.
Dean is 9-7 against the 184-pound field this season.
197: No. 2 Rocky Elam (18-0) vs. No. 31 Kael Bennie (UVU, 15-16)
Collegiate History: Second Meeting; Elam leads 1-0
Elam and Bennie meet for the second time this season but, this time, they'll square off in the First Round of the NCAA Championships. Elam is a four-time All-American with career finishes of sixth, third, fourth and fifth while Bennie makes his NCAA Championships debut.
The pair met at the Cyclone Invitational presented by Daily's Premium Meats on the very first weekend of the season with Elam prevailing via 13-2 major decision. Elam was the Big 12 champion while Bennie placed 10th.
Against common opponents in their careers, Elam is 15-1 while Bennie is 7-14.
Elam is 12-0 against the 197-pound field this season.
285: No. 1 Yonger Bastida (25-0) vs. No. 32 Emmanuel Ulrich (AU, 21-14) -or- No. 33 Mason Rebuck (BLOO, 22-8)
Collegiate History: vs. Ulrich: First Meeting; vs. Rebuck: First Meeting
Bastida's first opponent for his fourth and final NCAA Championship appearance is not yet known as he'll get the winner of the pigtail match between American's No. 32 Emmanuel Ulrich and Bloomsburg's No. 33 Mason Rebuck. Bastida has fallen short of the podium in each of his last two tournament appearances (2023, '24) after placing fifth in his first try (2022).
Top-seeded Bastida is 25-0 and the Big 12 champion. He is 53-2 in his last 55 matches dating back to the 2023-24 season, with both losses occurring on the Friday of the 2024 NCAA Champinships.
Ulrich, an at-large selection to the tournament, is making his first NCAA Championship appearance following a fifth-place EIWA finish. Against common opponents in their careers, Bastida is 8-0 while Ulrich is 2-3. Rebuck automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships thanks to a third-place performance at the MAC Championships. He is making his first career appearance at the national tournament. Against common opponents in their careers, Bastida and Rebuck are 1-1.
Bastida is 12-0 against the heavyweight field this season.
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+.
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
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Kevin Dresser Interview (Big 12 Championships, Session 3)
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