Iowa State wrestling updates: Marcus Coleman back to Ames, redshirt decisions

Iowa State wrestling coach Kevin Dresser offered a mid-offseason update at last week's Cyclone Tailgate Tour in West Des Moines, providing some insight on a few key topics.

The most noteworthy was the news that the wrestling facility planned for the fall of 2025 is on hold for the time being. Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard cited the uneven distribution of the College Football Playoff TV money and the likelihood of revenue sharing with athletes as constraints to build a new facility.

"There's a lot of challenges in college athletics right now financially, so I'm sure Jamie's just pumping the brakes on a lot of things right now," Dresser said. "You don't know what's gonna hit you with these players getting paid in the future, how these conferences are going to shake out, who's going to get what and who's not going to get what. I still think it can happen sooner than later, but maybe I'm too optimistic. We'll keep chugging along. We got a great facility where we're at right now, but we're looking forward to getting into something like that at some point."

Practices will begin toward the latter part of May, Dresser said, with a lot of work to be done.

Here are four pertinent updates that Cyclone fans should know:

Who could redshirt for Iowa State next season?

We previewed this in our way-too-early lookahead for the Cyclones, but Dresser will have a lot of decisions to make with redshirts.

From 141 pounds to 157 pounds, there are four guys who are coming back with NCAA Championships experience in the previous two seasons. Anthony Echemendia (141 pounds) made a tough weight cut to get down in his class, but reached All-America status anyway. Casey Swiderski (149 pounds) took seventh in the NCAA Championships and the talented Cody Chittum (157 pounds) also had a stellar debut season.

Paniro Johnson returns to the fold following the state's gambling probe that sidelined him last season. Wrestling unattached, he competed at 157 pounds. Dresser also mentioned that Evan Frost, an All-American at 133 pounds, could work his way to 141 pounds since he has a tougher weight cut as well.

When Dresser was asked whether there was any clarity in that regard, he said that the wrestle-offs in the preseason will determine much of that, which was the expectation. He also mentioned that potential redshirt seasons for either Swiderski or Chittum (who are the only two who could be redshirted since Frost, Johnson and Echemendia have used a redshirt already) isn't necessarily a guarantee.

In other words, don't expect any clarity on those until the wrestle-offs, which are a public event before the season begins.

Dresser hoping to see 'mental adjustments' from Yonger Bastida

Even though Iowa State had one of its best finishes in recent memory, there is a big "what if" scenario that could have played out had Bastida reached his potential.

Going into the NCAA Championships undefeated and a trendy national title pick at heavyweight, Bastida was upset in the quarterfinals by Michigan's Brad Davison and eliminated in the bloodround, missing out on All-America status.

Dresser had some interesting comments about Bastida at the Cyclone Tailgate Tour:

"You always got to learn when you fail," Dresser said. "He obviously failed at the NCAA Tournament. You're either not getting it done because you didn't get it done mentally when things got hard or you didn't get it done physically (or) technically in the sport of wrestling. He fell apart a little bit mentally when things got hard. He hadn't been in that situation all year because he was undefeated. Sometimes there's a curse going into the championships undefeated. He got a little too comfortable, had a guy from Michigan who he'd beat before in the quarterfinals and overlooked him. That guy wanted him, the guy was out for him and he wasn't able to regroup.

"I'm curious to see what kind of mental adjustments he's made, because we know the dude can wrestle."

Following his losses, Bastida cited his broken finger as the reason he fell short. It doesn't appear that Dresser is putting much stock into that, making Bastida's growth in that area a fascinating storyline for next season.

Could a freshman make a splash next season?

This is a very talented and very deep crop of freshmen for the Cyclones. Of the eight commits on their way to Ames this summer, four are top-100 rated recruits in Sawyer Bartelt (No. 9), Andrew Meza (No. 46) Daniel Herrera (No. 62) and Kane Naaktgeboren (No. 97).

Still, Dresser expects to see most, if not all, of them redshirt barring a surprise.

Herrera, who transferred to Ames High School for his senior season, has been able to wrestle in the room with the team for a few months now. Dresser said that sooner or later Herrera will be one to reckon with at heavyweight for the Cyclones, but with Bastida here it likely means 2024-25 won't be his year.

If there is one guy who has a decent path to making the starting lineup, it's Bartelt. Projected to wrestle at 197 pounds, he would seem to have the path of least resistance to the lineup after Julian Broderson's departure. Iowa State added three-time NCAA qualifier Evan Bockman via the transfer portal, and he would project to start as of today.

Dresser likes what he has in the top-10 pound-for-pound and No. 1 ranked prospect in his weight class. Bartelt could force Dresser's hand at some point if he shows enough in practice.

"He's the real deal," Dresser said.

Marcus Coleman to return to Iowa State, join CRTC

After a one-year stint as an assistant coach with Davidson College, Coleman is returning to Iowa State to join the Cyclone Regional Training Center to return to his wrestling career.

Having exhausted his collegiate eligibility as a five-time NCAA qualifier and two-time All-American, he'll be attempting one last run at the Olympics for the 2028 cycle, Dresser said.

Dresser said he received a call from Coleman about a month ago. Coleman told him he didn't feel like his career was quite done yet.

Coleman will join David Carr and Cuba's Reineri Andeu Ortega (two-time U23 World Champion), Sam Schuyler (three-time NCAA qualifier) and Duncan Lee (Division III NCAA All-American) in the CRTC, where they will be able to practice with the current Cyclone roster as they prepare for a run at Olympic and World Championships glory.

It's a big step the CRTC has taken in adding Carr and Coleman. Making pitches to recruits to work out and learn from a two-time NCAA champion is a great selling point for future blue-chip prospects. And it will help improve the guys who are already on the roster for next season.

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 wrestling spring updates on redshirts, Marcus Coleman