Andrew Alirez was ranked #1 in the country at 141 pounds when the college wrestling season began. 

Jacob Frost was ranked second on Iowa State’s depth chart. 

Day after day, though, Frost leaned on his mother’s advice — keep showing up at practice, keep putting in the work and keep getting better. 

A commitment to that approach allowed the Cyclone sophomore to make steady gains — first as Casey Swiderski’s backup and later as the Iowa State starter after an injury shelved the All-American for the season. 

Eleven days after dropping an 8-2 decision to Alirez at the Big 12 Championships, Frost toppled the 2023 national champion 6-1 Thursday night in Philadelphia to advance to the quarterfinals at the NCAA Championships. Frost broke a 1-1 tie when he finished a takedown with 54 seconds remaining and rode the Northern Colorado grad student the rest of the way. 

“I knew as soon as I hit the leg I had to keep everything tight and be super disciplined because he’s obviously really scrappy in there — he’s really tough to finish on,” Frost said. “I knew if I hit my checkpoints — keep my head tight, keep my hands tight — I was going to be in a good spot. He’s really hard to finish on.”

Frost learned some lessons from his previous encounter with Alirez. 

“I gave up a takedown pretty early,” he said. “He hit me with an arm drag and I wasn’t really ready to go and kind of gave up a free takedown. Then I wasn’t super disciplined when I did shoot and he was just able to re-attack me.”

Frost’s process-driven approach helped him unpack the loss to Alirez in the third-place match at the Big 12 Championships and make adjustments that proved to be pivotal Thursday night. 

“I tried not to think about it as winning and losing too much,” he said. “I know a lot of people say that, but I really just try to focus on how did I wrestle that match? How much energy did I bring to that match? Was I disciplined? Was I kind of getting lazy? It’s really hard to learn from things if you’re too focused on winning and losing. As long as you have that growth mindset … that’s what can kind of propel you forward to make little adjustments like that.”