With 5 finalists, Iowa State wrestlers surge into second at Big 12 Championships

The Iowa State wrestling team surged into second place by the end of the first day of the Big 12 Championships at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday — but first, let's get to the important stuff, which is NCAA tournament qualifiers, and the Cyclones have plenty of those, too.

By the end of Saturday, 8 Cyclone wrestlers and 5 from the Northern Iowa wrestling team punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships, set for March 16-18 at the same BOK Center where they're competing this weekend. All who did not automatically qualify will be left to the NCAA's at-large process, which takes place early next week.

The 8 Cyclone qualifiers: Zach Redding (133), Casey Swiderski (141), Paniro Johnson (149), Jason Kraisser (157), David Carr (165), Marcus Coleman (184), Yonger Bastida (197), Sam Schuyler (285).

The 5 Panther qualifiers: Kyle Biscoglia (133), Colin Realbuto (149), Austin Yant (165), Parker Keckeisen (184), Tyrell Gordon (285).

OK, back to the team race, where the Cyclones scored 112 points for second. They're well behind first-place Missouri, which scored 135 points behind six finalists. Oklahoma State sits third, at 102.5, thanks to three finalists. Oklahoma (78) and South Dakota State (69.5) round out the top five. Northern Iowa is eighth with 57.

The Cyclones climbed from third after Saturday's first session to second entering Sunday behind five finalists, its most since 2015: Redding, Johnson, Carr, Coleman, and Schuyler. Another three are alive for third, Swiderski, Kraisser, and Bastida, and two more, Corey Cabanban (125) and Julien Broderson (174), will go for seventh.

Missouri finished Saturday with six finalists and three more wrestlers alive for third while Oklahoma State finished with three finalists and another six alive for third — making the team race an intriguing plot to follow during Sunday's first session, which includes final wrestlebacks followed by 3rd-, 5th-, and 7th-place matches.

It was a wholly rough day for Northern Iowa, with one finalist, Parker Keckeisen (184), and just four more alive for third, in Kyle Biscoglia (133), Colin Realbuto (149), Austin Yant (165), and Tyrell Gordon (285). The Panthers also went a combined 0-6 against their Cyclone counterparts in head-to-head matchups on Saturday.

Sunday's action begins 12 p.m. CT.

Team Scores after Day 1 of the Big 12 Wrestling Championships

1. Missouri, 135

2. Iowa State, 112

3. Oklahoma State, 102.5

4. Oklahoma, 78

5. South Dakota State, 69.5

6. North Dakota State, 67.5

7. Air Force, 57.5

8. Northern Iowa, 57

9. Northern Colorado, 42

10. West Virginia, 31.5

11. Wyoming, 30

12. Utah Valley, 26

13. California Baptist, 1

Weight-by-Weight analysis from Day 1 of the Big 12 tournament

125lbs: In his first action in more than two months, Iowa State's Corey Cabanban went 1-2, but thanks to a bye in the wrestlebacks, that was enough to sneak into the seventh-place match. He likely won't earn an auto-bid to the NCAA Championships, but ending the season on a high note could go a long ways. Northern Iowa's Kyle Gollhofer went 0-2.

133lbs: It was an Iowa State-Northern Iowa matchup in the semifinals here, and just like he did in the dual last month, Zach Redding defeats Kyle Biscoglia, this time via 4-1 decision. Big win for Redding, a finalist as a 3-seed. He'll face Oklahoma State's top-seeded Daton Fix in the finals. Biscoglia opened with a bye then notched a 12-2 major decision in the quarterfinals. He's qualified for the national tournament, but a strong finish will help his seeding at the national tournament. He'll face North Dakota State's McGwire Mifkiff, from Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson, in Sunday's initial wrestleback match.

141lbs: Another Iowa State-Northern Iowa matchup took place here, but it was in the wrestlebacks — and unlike the dual last month, Casey Swiderski beat Cael Happel, 8-6, thanks to a trio of takedowns. Swiderski won again in the wrestlebacks, 3-1 over Wyoming's Job Greenwood, to reach the top six and earn an automatic bid to the national tournament, which is very good.

Happel, unfortunately, finished 0-2 for the second-straight Big 12 tournament (lost to Missouri's Allan Hart 10-4 in the quarterfinals). He should be fine for an at-large bid, but he had previously beaten both of those guys, so this was still probably a frustrating experience.

149lbs: For the third weight in a row, another Iowa State-Northern Iowa matchup … and for the third weight in a row, Iowa State won. Paniro Johnston over Colin Realbuto, 3-2, in the semifinals, thanks to a second-period takedown. Johnson, the 3-seed, won twice Saturday and will face Missouri's Brock Mauller in Sunday's finals. It will be one of two finals matches between Iowa State and Missouri, which could be important for the team race.

Realbuto, the 2-seed, opened with a 14-1 major decision over Northern Colorado's Chris Sandoval, but is now wrestling back for third after losing to Johnson. He'll get North Dakota State's Kellyn March in his first wrestleback match on Sunday.

157lbs: Iowa State's Jason Kraisser picked up a pair of wrestleback victories to secure a top-six finish and punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships on Saturday. After an 8-3 quarterfinal loss to Oklahoma State's Kaden Gfeller, Kraisser rallied with a 9-1 major over West Virginia's Alex Hornfeck, then an impressive 5-2 victory over Missouri's second-seeded Jarrett Jacques. Kraisser remains alive for third entering Sunday.

Northern Iowa's Derek Holschlag did not fare as well, finishing 1-2 after entering as the 5-seed. Holschlag dropped a 5-4 first-round matchup to Oklahoma's Jared Hill, recorded a 58-second pin in his first wrestleback match, then lost to Jacques, 5-1, to get bounced from the tournament. His NCAA life is now left to the at-large process.

165lbs: Iowa State's top-ranked David Carr cruised back into the Big 12 finals, with a 21-6 technical fall over Northern Iowa's Austin Yant in the quarterfinals, then a 3-1 win over West Virginia All-American Peyton Hall in the semifinals. Carr is seeking to become Iowa State's second four-time Big 12 champ (Cael Sanderson is the other). He'll face Missouri's second-ranked Keegan O'Toole in another 1-2 matchup in Sunday's finals. Carr beat O'Toole, 7-2, last month, when O'Toole was ranked No. 1 and Carr was No. 2. Should be epic.

Yant rallied from that quarterfinal loss with a back-to-back shutout victories, 10-0 over Air Force's Seamus Casey, then 2-0 over Oklahoma's Gerrit Nijenhuis. He's in the top six and alive for third, and will face North Dakota State's Michael Caliendo III in Sunday's first wrestleback round.

174lbs: Another Iowa State-Northern Iowa matchup here, but it happened in the wrestlebacks. Julien Broderson scored a takedown and four backs in the first period and ultimately won 6-2 over Lance Runyon. That eliminated Runyon (finished 1-2) from the tournament and pushed Broderson into the top eight. But Broderson then lost to South Dakota State's Cade DeVos, 3-2, and dropped to the seventh-place match. DeVos, a Southeast Polk grad, is into the top six, which is what was needed to qualify for the NCAA Championships at 174.

184lbs: It's an Iowa State-Northern Iowa final here, between Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen and Iowa State's Marcus Coleman. Keckeisen outscored his three opponents 45-14 to reach the finals out of the top half of the bracket. Coleman won 20-5 in the quarterfinals, then beat Oklahoma State's Travis Wittlake, 5-3, in the semifinals. Keckeisen owns the series between these two, but this should be a tremendous finals bout.

197lbs: Yonger Bastida reached the semifinals here after winning his first two matches by a combined 33-14, but then lost 6-0 to Missouri's Rocky Elam. Bastida still qualified for the national tournament and remains alive for third, but that could've been a huge team race win for the Cyclones. Bastida will face North Dakota State's Owen Pentz in Sunday's first session. Northern Iowa's Noah Glaser went 0-2.

285lbs: Sam Schuyler was Iowa State's fifth finalist, with two wins on Saturday — a 6-0 quarterfinal win over Northern Iowa's Tyrell Gordon, then a hard-fought 3-2 semifinal win over Missouri's Zach Elam, which helped keep the Cyclones within striking distance in the team race. He'll face Air Force's Wyatt Hendrickson in Sunday's finals. Gordon rallied with a pair of wrestleback wins to qualify for the national tournament and stay alive for third.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: With 5 finalists, Iowa State in 2nd at Big 12 Championships