Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser doesn’t know his 2024-25 line-up, but he knows he has plenty to work with following a fourth-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships. The Cyclones kick things off at home with a dual against Stanford on November 1 and Navy on November 8. 

There are moving pieces with potential starters changing weights or redshirting. Christian Carroll, a two-time U20 World teamer, transferred from Oklahoma State and fills a void at 197, a weight Iowa State didn’t qualify at the NCAA Championships. Carroll has four years of eligibility remaining.

Cuban-born Osmany Diversent, a two-time Junior Pan-Am champion, will add depth at the lower weights. He has physical gifts but his transition from freestyle to folkstyle remains to be seen. 

“We’ve got an athletic team,” Dresser said. “We have some real athletes. It’s one thing to be an athlete but we have to toughen them up. The best athletes in wrestling don’t always win because it’s seven minutes long. You have to be an athlete and a tough guy. If you can get both of those going you’ll have a really good team at the end of the year.

“We’ll start looking at everybody’s weights in the mid-fall and see where everyone is weighing naturally. We don’t have any major guys watching their weight right now. Once we get to the fall we’ll start nailing it down a little more. We’ll get a better feel in September. We didn’t have 141 or 149 figured out until November so I think the underlying story is we’ll be in the same boat in terms of trying to figure out where everyone will be.

“We have a lot to figure out but we have a lot of depth and a lot of options.”

Iowa State at the 2024 NCAA Championships

Below are Dresser’s top 2024-25 line-up options. 

125 Pounds

Kysen Terukina (might move up to 133)
Ethan Perryman
Osmany Diversent (might redshirt)
Garrett Grice

133 Pounds

Evan Frost
Osmany Diversent
Garrett Grice (might move down to 125)
Kysen Terukina

141 Pounds

Jacob Frost
Zach Redding
Evan Frost (might move up from 133)
Anthony Echemendia (might move up to 149)

149 Pounds

Anthony Echemendia
Casey Swiderski (leaning toward redshirt)
Paniro Johnson

157 Pounds

Cody Chittum
Paniro Johnson

“Paniro is going to the World Championships in late October,” Dresser said. “He has three years of eligibility left because that gambling stuff was a bunch of crap. He got a two-match suspension so he’ll have to sit the first two dates.

“He’ll have to sit, as well as our new guy, Osmany. He had a couple of international dates that will count against him. He’ll have five years left when he starts competing but we don’t know if we’re going to redshirt him yet or not.”

165 Pounds

Connor Euton
Manuel Rojas

174 Pounds

MJ Gaitan

184 Pounds

Evan Bockman
Tate Naaktgeboren
Fernando Villaescusa

197 Pounds

Christian Carroll
McCrae Hagarty
Sawyer Bartelt (leaning toward redshirt)

“We heard Christian was entering the portal through the grapevine — like a lot of those Oklahoma State guys,” Dresser said. “We called him on a Tuesday and he flew in a couple of days later. He had a great visit and the rest is history.

“He really likes wrestling. As an athlete, I like his explosiveness. He’s had some big wins but he’s still super green. He’s trained with us for a couple of weeks and I think he’s got a lot more. He’s really athletic but I think he can clean up his technique and get better on top and get better on bottom. He’s got a big upside.”

285 Pounds

Younger Bastida

“I’ve had some good teams before that didn’t gel because it can get cliquey,” Dresser said. “This team is uniquely tight. They do everything together. I had a couple teams at Virginia Tech that were pretty good but they were a little cliquey.”

Know When To Walk Away. Know When To Run.

What did Dresser learn after his team was hit with gambling suspensions? Details matter. He wasn’t familiar with specific rules that led to turmoil at Iowa and Iowa State. 

“It’s probably on me, but I never paid attention to how rigid and outdated the gambling rules were until all this hit us,” Dresser said. “Even when it went down, all those guys were done forever. Then all of a sudden they said it was crazy harsh so we’re going to put rules in that if you bet on your own institution we’re going to throw the book at you but if you don’t bet on your own institution we’re just going to hit you with a couple of dates, which I think is probably good. I like that there are rules in place.

“What I learned was our DCI did a bad job of targeting our athletes at Iowa and Iowa State. I used the word witch hunt, and people didn’t really like that word, but that’s what it was.”

Same Opponent. New Coach.

Iowa State versus Oklahoma State is among college wrestling’s greatest rivalries. The Cowboys recently hired 2020 Olympic champion David Taylor as its new coach, and Dresser is ready to face a new-look team from Stillwater. 

“I think it’s exciting,” Dresser said. “Oklahoma State is going to be good. They’re investing a lot of money in that staff and that program. The pressure is on. They’re going to have to figure it out on the fly because wrestling and coaching don’t translate a lot. 

“They’re probably going to say that’s stupid but I can name a lot of guys that couldn’t coach their way out of a wet paper bag but, man, could they wrestle. One doesn’t translate to the other but I’m curious to see how they make the adjustments.”