Stevo Poulin and Vinny Zerban used to discuss who had to do the dishes.

Or whose turn it was to clean the bathroom. 

Now the former Northern Colorado teammates and roommates don’t need to divvy up household chores on top of the rigors of school and wrestling. The Iowa State teammates are no longer roommates, but their bond remains tight as their senior day dual against Missouri looms at 2 p.m. Sunday at Hilton Coliseum.

“You know how it is,” Poulin, FloWrestling’s 10th-ranked 125-pounder, said of rooming with Zerban, who’s ranked seventh at 157, for two years. “I would say if anything, we’ve gotten closer (by) not being roommates.”

That’s because they’re both thriving in the #4 Cyclones’ wrestling room instead of arguing about who vacuums the living room. And the fact that both Poulin and Zerban — who didn’t coordinate their trips to the transfer portal — both ended up at Iowa State, call that serendipity, not just dumb luck.

“I had just seen that he entered the portal, and I was like, ‘Yup, I need to enter the portal,’” said Zerban, who could face Missouri’s 17th-ranked Teague Travis on Sunday. “So when I hit the portal, I knew where I wanted to go. … I didn’t know where he wanted to go, but I knew that I wanted to follow him if I could.”

Both 2025 All-Americans committed to head coach Kevin Dresser’s Cyclone program last summer. Poulin pledged to join Iowa State on June 13. Zerban announced his commitment on June 16. Now both will be wrestling in the final dual meet of the season at Hilton as one-and-done seniors convinced the best is yet to come as February dissolves into March.

“I took a little break after NCAAs last year and came to Ames and started training,” said Poulin, who recently avenged an early-season overtime loss to #11 Jett Strickenberger of West Virginia by beating him by major decision in a recent dual. “The season hit fast and I’ve just been progressing all the way. So we’ve got another month here and I’m hoping to make some more gains.”

The same goes for Zerban, who owns wins over three top-16-ranked wrestlers this season. He’s 13-3 overall and eager to create some stirring senior day moments at Hilton alongside Poulin and three other seniors likely to be in the Cyclones’ lineup.

“I kind of sense that everybody’s working at a different level right now,” Zerban said. “I haven’t seen a team as locked in as this, ever. I don’t know what to expect, but I know they’re gonna finish out very strong and they’re not gonna have any regrets.”

Dresser said plucking both Poulin and Zerban from the portal instantly made his team better in more ways than one — and not just because they’re All-Americans.

“I just love for guys that come in at the age to be as coachable as they are because you’re pretty set in your ways,” Dresser said. “You’re not gonna learn a lot more technique when you’re 23 years old. I think our job in those situations is just to get them in really good shape and sharpen things up, and I think we’ve done that, and I think they’ve done that.”

Senior Day Salute

Iowa State’s two highest-ranked wrestlers — Yonger Bastida and Rocky Elam — will both end their dual meet careers as teammates after being longtime adversaries. Bastida, the nation’s top-ranked heavyweight, used to tangle with Elam, a Missouri transfer and four-time All-American ranked #2 at 197. Now they’re friends instead of foes and both will go out wearing Cyclone singlets.

“You just have to go out there and have fun (each meet) because the work is done,” the unbeaten Bastida said recently. “So just have fun, be excited and do what you’ve gotta do to win.”

Elam, the former Tiger, was undergoing treatment during Iowa State’s media availability this week, so it’s unsure precisely how he’s viewing this senior day showdown with his former team, but Dresser offered a good synopsis.

“I don’t know how he’ll react to that,” the Cyclones’ head coach said. “It’s kind of interesting how that fell (on the schedule). In fact, I even asked him, because (he was) at Missouri for so many years if this was kind of freaky for (him), and he’s like, ‘No, I really want to, it’s my last one, senior night.’ He didn’t have any reservations wrestling Missouri.”

Dresser also has no reservations about praising this crop of seniors.

“I told our guys one more rep; you get a chance to get out at Hilton Coliseum one more time and shot your stuff,” Dresser said. “I kind of look at it like we’re in the postseason already. .. .We really need to have a postseason mentality and treat Sunday like we’re in the postseason. It’s one last rep, it’s a fun place to wrestle and let’s go.”

Bastida’s fully adopted that mindset as one chapter closes, but several remain unwritten as he chases not just his second All-American award at nationals, but a long-awaited ascension to the top of the podium.

“Just be disciplined, focused and stay hungry,” he said. “And be excited about the future.”