Journeymen Wrestling is back once again with another massive college wrestling bonanza. Nashville, Tennessee will once again play host to the Collegiate Wrestling Duals, bringing together nine top tier programs for an NCAA slobberknocker. 

Iowa State will be one of the headliners, as the 2025 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational team champs will try and keep their momentum going against both Ohio State and Lehigh. 

The Cyclones will wrestle on Saturday, the second day of the event. The number three dual meet team in the country will wrestle twice on Sunday, December 21, 2025. At 3:00PM they’ll face #2 Ohio State and at 5:00PM they’ll see Lehigh.

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Potential Iowa State Lineup

125: #12 Stevo Poulin

133: #3 Evan Frost

141: #4 Anthony Echemendia

149: #7 Jacob Frost

157: #3 Vinny Zerban

165: #21 Connor Euton

174: #13 MJ Gaitan

184: #13 Isaac Dean

197: #1 Rocky Elam

285: #1 Yonger Bastida

The Cyclones have some options at their middleweights. Paniro Johnson is currently the odd man out, despite being a two-time national qualifier. That’s a ‘good problem’ for head coach Kevin Dresserm who also has All-Americans at 141, 149 and 157 as projected starters. 

Additionally, Coach Dresser has been upfront about having Rocky Elam on a ‘pitch count’ this season, as the four-time All-American and Missouri transfers is coming off a season that he missed entirely due to injury.

Potential Ohio State Lineup

125: #5 Nic Bouzakis

133: #2 Ben Davino

141: #1 Jesse Mendez

149: #4 Ethan Stiles

157: #5 Brandon Cannon

165: #12 Paddy Gallagher

174: #4 Carson Kharchla

184: #6 Dylan Fishback

197: #9 Luke Geog

285: #3 Nick Feldman

Ohio State also has a ‘good problem’ with more quality starters than they have weight classes, and Brandon McCrone is an All-American contender at 125 and defeated Bouzakis in a wrestle-off. 

Potential Lehigh Lineup

125: #4 Sheldon Seymour

133: #12 Matty Lopes or Mason Ziegler

141: Carter Bailey

149: Anthony Evanistky

157: #12 Logan Rozynski

165: #8 Max Brignola

174: Bekhruz Sadriddinov

184: #30 Rylan Rogers

197: #22 JT Davis

285: #7 Nathan Taylor

Lehigh also has All-Americans Ryan Crookham and Luke Stanich on the roster at 133 and 141. Both are recovering from injuries and have yet to take the mat this season, though they both plan on getting back to competition before the postseason. Additionally, Matty Lopes is an option at 133, though if he maintains his redshirt, expect to see Mason Ziegler man the 141lb spot for the Mountain Hawks. 

Cyclones In 2025

Iowa State finished a disappointing 27th at the 2025 NCAA Championships last March in Philadelphia. Injuries took their toll, as the Clones limped into the postseason missing several starters, including All-Americans Anthony Echemendia and Yonger Bastida. 

ISU returned to campus this fall not just healthier, but reinforced with four new starters from the transfer portal. All-Americans Stevo Poulin and Vinny Zerban arrived from Northern Colorado, while Isaac Dean was previously at Rider and Rocky Elam was a four-time AA at Missouri. 

The refreshed and revived Cyclones eased into the season, with a tournament they hosted to kick things off in November and then a dual meet against Division II powerhouse Nebraska-Kearney. Things picked up in a hurry, however, as Iowa State wrestled their in-state rivals in the annual Cy-Hawk dual the Sunday after Thanksgiving. 

That proved to be a historic dual for the Cyclones, as Iowa State beat Iowa for the first time in over 20 years. Quite a few people watched that contest live on ESPN as well. 

Last Sunday's @CycloneWR-@Hawks_Wrestling dual delivered ESPN's most-watched regular season college wrestling match EVER!

🤼‍♂️ 350K avg. viewers
📈 Up 44% from previous best (2023 Cy-Hawk)#NCAAWrestling pic.twitter.com/jwK6g3IrWS

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) December 5, 2025

The Cyclones followed up that momentous dual meet with a team title-winning performance at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the toughest in-season tournament of the year. 

Sunday will be their fifth competition of the season, and Iowa State faces perhaps their most difficult assignment yet. Ohio State, in particular, is trying to keep their own momentum going after they won the inaugural National Duals Invitation that saw them defeat the likes of Wyoming, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa on the way to collecting $200,000 in prize money. 

Predictions

Iowa State vs Lehigh

125: Seymour dec Poulin - LU 3, ISU 0

133: Frost maj Ziegler - ISU 4, LU 3

141: Ecehemendia dec Bailey - ISU 7, LU 3

149: Frost maj Evanitsky - ISU 11, LU 3

157: Zerban dec Rozynski - ISU 14, LU 3

165: Brignola dec Euton - ISU 14, LU 6

174: Gaitan maj Sadriddinov - ISU 18, LU 6

184: Dean dec Rogers - ISU 21, LU 6

197: Elam dec Davis - ISU 24, LU 6

285: Bastida dec Taylor - ISU 27, LU 6

Even though this dual is happening second, we are predicting it first, just 'cause. 

Things would definitely play out differently if Ryan Crookham and Luke Stanich are healthy enough to go at 133 and 141, respectively. Lehigh would not be guaranteed wins there by any stretch of the imagination, but both Crookham and Stanich are elite, and you'd turn strong favorites for Iowa State into toss-ups. 

Speaking of toss-ups, 125 looks to be one of the most evenly matched bouts of the day. Poulin got the better of Seymour back in November of 2022, but more recently Seymour outplaced Poulin at the 2025 NCAAs. I lean Seymour here but only slightly, as it's about as close to a 50/50 as you can get. 

165 is the only other weight where I think Lehigh has an advantage over their Cyclone counterparts, though I do think Bastida over Taylor is anything but a gimme. Though Bastida has looked better this season, winning both the All-Star Classic and CKLV, I also think Taylor has the potential for an upset. 

Things could get ugly for the Mountain Hawks if the Cyclones are on their game, especially if Lehigh is again without the services of Crookham and Stanich. Iowa State might also decide to sit Elam if this dual is out of reach by the time they get to 197. 

Iowa State vs Ohio State

125: Poulin dec Bouzakis - ISU 3, tOSU 0

133: Davino dec Frost - ISU 3, tOSU 3

141: Mendez dec Echemendia - tOSU 6, ISU 3

149: Stiles dec Frost - tOSU 9, ISU 3

157: Zerban dec Cannon - tOSU 9, ISU 6

165: Gallagher dec Euton - tOSU 12, ISU 6

174: Kharchla dec Gaitan - tOSU 15, ISU 6

184: Fishback dec Dean - tOSU 18, ISU 6

197: Elam dec Geog - tOSU 18, ISU 9

285: Bastida dec Feldman - tOSU 18, ISU 12

The Cyclones will have their hands full against the Buckeyes in the first match of the day. Very few bouts feature a heavily favored wrestler, but a larger percentage do favor the Ohio State grapplers nonetheless. 

Assuming the dual starts at 125, the lead-off bout could very well be the pivotal matchup. I'm favoring Poulin, whether it's McCrone or Bouzakis, but it's quite the opposite of a sure thing for Stevo. Bouzakis, in particular, presents challenges to any opponent and has the pinning-potential to drastically alter the trajectory of the entire dual. 

Evan Frost likewise has the potential to defeat the true freshman phenom of Ben Davino. However, after the lights-out performance Davino put together at the National Duals Invitational, which included a 10-4 win over 2025 NCAA finalist Drake Ayala, I have to give the nod to Ben.

Mendez has defeated Echemendia twice in folkstyle, at the 2024 NCAAs and at the 2025 All-Star Classic. I expect that streak to continue next Sunday. 

Jacob Frost will have an opportunity to swing the entire dual back in the Cyclones' favor, though for now I'm favoring the dynamic Stiles. If Frost can't get the victory, however, the next bout may be do-or-die for Iowa State. 

Zerban may be listed ahead of Cannon in the rankings but this bout is very much a toss-up. The stakes will be high, even if the wrestlers don't agree to have the loser shave their head, as our own JD Rader suggested the two wild-maned competitors do. 

149 and 157 will be crucial for ISU because the next four weights all favor the Buckeyes. If the Cyclones can't build a big enough lead, then it may not matter if Bastida is able to win a top-three matchup with Feldman. Bastida won the only folkstyle meeting between the two wrestlers in December of 2023 by major decision. Feldman is looking very solid this season, but Bastida has the current number one ranking for a reason and will be favored to finish the dual with a victory for the Cyclones, whether it earns his team the dub or not. 

Let's See What AI Says

Artificial Intelligence is good at scraping the internet for information human beings created and regurgitating it back without compensation to the original writers, so why not copy and paste what ChatGPT says about the dual here? There's no reason why not, so that's what I will do. 

Here's what ChatGPT said when I asked who was going to win in Iowa State's duals this weekend.

For the duals this Sunday:

Iowa State vs. Ohio State: I predict Ohio State will win. They typically have a stronger overall lineup and depth in key weight classes.

Iowa State vs. Lehigh: I predict Iowa State will win against Lehigh. They are often competitive at home and have a solid team that can match up well against Lehigh.

These predictions are based on team strengths and past performances, and actual results may vary on the day of the competition. Enjoy the matches!

So that was fairly useless. ChatGPT also doesn't seem to realize that these duals aren't ISU home duals, and in fact will be wrestled at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville. Looks like our soon-to-be robot overlords are not quite ready for a takeover yet. 

I do concur with computer brains in wishing everyone an enjoyable weekend of duals. See you in Nashville!