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Iowa State Wins First Big 12 Title Since 2009

Sports

March 11th, 2024 by Seth Tiegs

TULSA, Okla. – Iowa State clinched its first Big 12 title since 2009 Sunday night inside the BOK Center. The Cyclones crowned two champions and finished the weekend with 152.5 team points, the fourth-most in a tournament in league history and the most ever by an ISU team in the Big 12 era.

The team title marked ISU’s 17th conference championship in program history and snapped Missouri’s two-year winning streak in the tournament. The Cyclones prevailed in a tight team race throughout the entire weekend and bested Oklahoma State’s 141.5 points.

Anthony Echemendia won his first individual Big 12 title courtesy of a 4-2 decision over UNI’s Cael Happel at 141 pounds. He is the fifth Cyclone to win a conference title at 141 pounds and the first since Ian Parker did so in 2020.

Yonger Bastida was victorious in one of the most anticipate matches of the season against Air Force’s Wyatt Henrickson. Bastida hit a crafty counter while Hendrickson was in on a leg for a six-point move which proved to be the difference in a 10-7 decision.

Bonus points were key for Iowa State throughout the tournament as the Cyclones registered six falls, six tech falls and seven major decisions for 28 extra points. The Cyclones’ bonus-point tally was the difference in the team race as the Cowboys finished with just 13 bonus points.

Head coach Kevin Dresser was named Big 12 Coach of the Year for the second time in his seven-year stint at Iowa State.

Three other Cyclones were unsuccessful in their title bids.

At 133 pounds, Evan Frost was outmatched against Oklahoma State’s No. 1 Daton Fix. Frost secured a late takedown to cut his deficit to 8-5 but it wasn’t enough to dethrone the four-time defending conference champion

Cody Chittum lost a marathon match to UNI’s Ryder Downey, 5-3, in the second tiebreaker. Downey was tough on top and did not allow Chittum to escape on multiple occasions throughout the match.

In a highly anticipated national finals rematch, Missouri’s No. 1 Keegan O’Toole got the best of No. 2 David Carr once again. Carr was in on a leg several times in the match, but O’Toole’s countering ability prevailed, and the Tiger snatched an 8-2 victory.