David Carr, Yonger Bastida headline Iowa State wrestling's starting lineup, season outlook

Since coach Kevin Dresser has taken the helm at Iowa State, the Cyclone wrestlers have jumped from a 45th-place NCAA finish in his first year to as high as 11th last season. It’s a steady improvement in team results, and Iowa State is investing in the program, headlined by a proposed new facility.

Things are looking up for Cyclone wrestling fans, and Iowa State looking for a stronger finish in Dresser's seventh year in Ames. Let's take a look at the group that could get that done this season.

Some Cyclone wrestlers start the season facing NCAA suspensions related to the state's sports-wagering investigation. Paniro Johnson is the only publicly known Cyclone of that group, as he awaits his jury trial set for Nov. 14. A Nov. 8 vote from the NCAA Division I Council could reinstate all athletes facing suspensions (as long as they didn't bet on their own team).

We left Johnson out of the current projections. Johnson is still on the roster but is dealing with legal issues and an injury. His status should clear up as the season goes on. The Cyclones' first competition is Sunday at Cleveland State.

Here’s a look at Iowa State’s projected starting lineup and outlook for 2023-24:

Starters listed in bold, followed by the next likely wrestler to step up.

2023-24 projected starting lineup

125 - Kysen Terukina/Ethan Perryman

133 - Evan Frost/Garret Grice

141 - Jacob Frost/Zach Redding

149 - Casey Swiderski/Anthony Echemendia

157 - Jason Kraisser/Cody Chittum

165 - David Carr/Connor Euton

174 - MJ Gaitan/Carter Schmidt

184 - Will Feldkamp/Tate Naaktgeboren

197 - Julien Broderson/Nando Villaescusa

HVY - Yonger Bastida/Xavier Bruening

Results from wrestle-offs gave us a good look into how the lineup is shaping up, but it wasn’t the only determining factor when putting this list together. Dresser said it will be an ongoing evaluation of guys at each spot through another round of wrestle-offs once Feldkamp and Chittum are healthy and open tournaments during November.

Couple that with Dresser stating the team is down ”a few” guys from the ongoing sports-wagering probe, and we should expect to see some rotations at some of these spots over the course of the year.

“We have really good depth this year,” Dresser said. “I think our ones and twos guys at a lot of weight classes really could represent us well.”

Carr, Feldkamp and Bastida will headline this lineup for the Cyclones. Feldkamp is expected to be back soon in the lineup after dealing with injury, while Carr is the one guy on this roster currently proven to be a national title contender.

But what about Bastida?

He's making an intriguing jump to heavyweight this season, much to his delight after wanting to move up a year ago. Hanging at around 230 pounds, 240 at most, he's an explosive athlete who will be looking to use that to his advantage to take down bigger guys. He's one to watch.

"I feel more stronger and faster around this weight," Bastida said. "You're going to see on Sunday in my first match."

Now, let's address a bit more of the unknown.

Terukina is a steady hand for the 125-pound class. A two-time NCAA qualifier, his season was derailed due to injury last year, but he’ll be looking to bounce back to potentially reach All-American status in what should be a wide-open class.The Frost twins were talked about often during media day, praised by veterans and coaches alike. Carr specifically said they could surprise some this year.

“I don't know which one, they’re both really good,” Carr said. “I can hardly tell them apart.”

Both won their wrestle-offs, so they’ve got a lot of momentum heading into their redshirt freshman seasons.

Swiderski seems to be the guy at 149 pounds until we get word on Johnson's NCAA and legal status. Having him eligible would be big for Iowa State’s NCAA hopes.

Swiderski, after being an NCAA qualifier at 141 pounds, added a bit of weight to fill the hole in the lineup for now and is a good stopgap in the meantime while we await Johnson’s status.157 pounds is Kraisser’s for the time being, with Chittum being out with an injury for the next week. When Chittum returns, it’ll be interesting to watch that battle transpire. Chittum is incredibly talented, but Kraisser as a former NCAA qualifier and a fourth-place finisher at the Big 12 championships is going to be tough to upend, even if Chittum’s ceiling is higher in the long term.

Gaitan defeated Schmidt 20-6 in wrestle-offs at 174 pounds, so he seems to have a significant leg up there going forward. Broderson has a smaller advantage at 197 pounds over Villaescusa, who won 2-0 with points through an escape and riding time.

Overall, a pretty solid and deep roster for Iowa State.

Duals to watch

Nov. 26 vs. Iowa

This one needs no introduction. It’ll be the first-ever regular-season dual meet televised on ESPN, meaning it’ll be one of the most watched events of the 2023-24 college wrestling season. Dresser seems to be prepped and ready to go for this one, taking jabs at the “team down the road” in Iowa City already.

Feb. 11 vs. Northern Iowa

The Cy-Hawk dual always grabs attention, but this one has nearly as much heat. This one will give us a glimpse of how Northern Iowa stacks up against Iowa State up and down the lineup.

Feb. 25 vs. Missouri

Not only a matchup between two squads with Big 12 title hopes, but also a matchup of Carr vs. Keegan O’Toole in their final season. A fun preview of what could come in the Big 12 Championships and NCAA Championships.

Team outlook for 2023-24

An interesting nugget from Iowa State’s media day from Bastida: He believes the team can have six or seven All-Americans this season. Considering the team had two last season, that’s a high bar. Iowa State might need six or seven All-Americans to reach its goal of fifth place or better in the team race.

Last season for example, the fifth-place team at the NCAA Championships was Missouri, which had five All-Americans. The obvious candidates are Carr, Feldkamp and Bastida, all ranked ninth or higher in Flowrestling’s rankings and have been All-Americans in the past.Following that, you would need to see young guys emerge. Some combination of the likes of Chittum, the Frost twins or Swiderski would be the likely candidates. All of which were highly thought of entering the college ranks, so seeing a jump from them as freshman and sophomores isn't unreasonable.

Terukina and Kraisser have been NCAA qualifiers before, so those are veteran guys to watch take a jump as well if they start. Then if Big 12 champion Johnson returns, that's another wrestler who would boost this team's chances.

If Iowa State can get progression from guys like the ones above, a top-five finish is well within reach.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State wresting starting lineup, season projection