Men’s wrestling tops Bucknell in season opener
The No. 9 Iowa State men’s wrestling team opened its season on a strong note Sunday night, building an early 20-point lead en route to a 29-12 victory over Bucknell at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones (1-0) flexed their muscles across the lower weight classes, sweeping the first five bouts of the dual. Dru Ayala kicked […]
No. 9 Iowa State men's wrestling team kicked off their season with a resounding 29-12 victory over Bucknell at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday night. The Cyclones controlled the match from the start, building a 20-point lead and sweeping the first five bouts. Dru Ayala opened the scoring at 125 pounds with a 5-2 decision over Jackson Heslin, who was making his collegiate debut.
Garrett Grice followed at 133 pounds with an 8-2 decision against Blue Stiffler. Iowa State's momentum continued to surge in the middle weights, with Evan Frost securing a 19-3 technical fall over Bryce Manera at 141 pounds and Jacob Frost with a 21-3 technical fall at 149 pounds. Johnson then stretched their lead to 20-0 at 157 pounds with a major decision over Ryan Lawler.
Bucknell responded at 165 pounds when Noah Mulvaney pinned Connor Euton at 6:13, but the Cyclones quickly regained their lead at 174 pounds. Tate Naaktgeboren was awarded a victory by medical forfeit over Myles Takats due to an injury, adding six team points to Iowa State's tally. The Bison managed to secure consecutive overtime decisions in the upper weight classes, with Tyler Bienus winning a double-overtime tiebreaker at 184 pounds and Dillon Bechtold earning a late takedown for a 4-1 sudden-victory decision at 197 pounds.
Coby Merrill capped off the Cyclones' opening win at heavyweight, earning a 6-2 decision over Lucas Lawler.
Written by urgent.news from Yahoo Sports's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
