From meeting in 2019 to Iowa State teammates, Bastida and Carr relish last season together
AMES − Wrestlers David Carr and Yonger Bastida met for the first time at the 2019 Junior World Championships. Carr won a gold medal at 74 kilograms, while Bastida finished with a silver medal at 97 kilograms.
Carr and Bastida watched each other from afar. Carr, particularly impressed with Bastida, approached him after the events concluded.“Let’s get a picture, you’re a champion!” Carr told Bastida.
Only problem was, Bastida didn’t understand what he was saying. From Cuba, Bastida didn’t speak English at the time. As a couple of young guys with cell phones, they improvised, using Google Translate’s talk-to-text function to communicate. Carr got his picture.
Fast forward to 2023, Bastida and Carr are Iowa State teammates. They have enjoyed a lot of success together, with Carr a 2021 national champion and Bastida an NCAA All-American in 2022.
This season is a bit different. For the previous three years, Bastida and Carr spent late nights together trying to cut weight. Now Bastida has made the shift up to heavyweight, much to the dismay of his former weight-cutting buddy. Meanwhile, Bastida's English has improved by leaps and bounds.
“When we were always losing weight and we're here late at night, he was there,” Carr said. “Now I’m here late at night and he’s eating more food. I don’t know if I like that, but I’m happy for him.”
Bastida relishes the move to heavyweight. Plane rides and trips across the country to compete are more enjoyable when you don’t have to worry about the amount of food you are consuming.
“I told (Carr), ‘Hey I will be there eating with you after the weigh-in,’” Bastida joked.
Bastida has wanted to wrestle at heavyweight for quite a long time. Not just so he can eat more, but also because he felt it was a class where he could really thrive. He spent the whole offseason persuading coach Kevin Dresser for this opportunity.
“He kept telling me all offseason that, ‘Coach you'll see I'm a different guy when I don't have to cut weight, I have my energy and I got a big gas tank,’” Dresser said.
On Nov. 5, he got his first chance to show that he’s up for the challenge against Cleveland State’s Daniel Bucknavich. With Bastida hovering around 230-240 pounds and Buckanavich weighing in around 270-275, it was going to be a telling match whether Baatida could compete with the bigger guys.
Early on, a bad shot attempt at Bucknavich had Bastida conceding an early takedown. Despite that, Bastida quickly turned the match on its head, flashing that athleticism with ankle picks to flop Bucknavich down for several takedowns and eventually a 26-10 technical fall victory.
“I feel like with my speed, they are not used to a move like that,” Bastida said “They get a little bit more tired.”
His success is compounded by the NCAA's transition to a three-point takedown vs. the traditional two-point takedown. For a wrestler as explosive and offensive as Bastida, having takedowns worth three times as much as an escape was always going to favor a guy like him.
“I think those rules are made for me, Bastida said.We’re going to find out quickly just how good Bastida is before the postseason rolls around, with potential matchups against NCAA Championships contenders like Penn State’s No. 1 Greg Kerkvilet, Iowa’s No. 3 Tony Cassioppi and No. 4 Michigan’s Lucas Davison all on the docket.
After seeing Bastida's first performance, Dresser has confidence in his heavyweight.
“He made me a little bit of a believer this weekend,” Dresser said.
Cyclone updates
Other news from Dresser’s media availability on Tuesday:
Cody Chittum is expected to wrestle this weekend at either the Grand View Open on Saturday or against Davidson in a Sunday dual. Dresser wants to see a full week of practice before he decides between Chittum or Jason Kraisser at 157 pounds for this weekend’s slate of action.
Julian Broderson was originally slated to wrestle at 197 against Cleveland State, but Nando Villaescusa filled in after Broderson became ill on Friday before the dual.
Will Feldkamp is still a week away, according to Dresser, as he continues to battle an injury.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State wrestling: David Carr and Yonger Bastida's long friendship
