Wrestling: Iowa State beats California Baptist, plus takeaways from Luther, Grand View Opens

AMES — The Iowa State wrestling team beat California Baptist, 38-9, on Saturday night at Hilton Coliseum. In doing so, the Cyclones improved to 4-0 this year and have now won 17 consecutive duals dating to last season.

The only surprise, perhaps, was that the final result wasn't a shutout. That's not a shot at the Lancers, who are 1-2 this season and new wrestling affiliate members of the Big 12 Conference. That's more indicative of the lens through which this Iowa State team will be viewed for the rest of the season.

The Cyclones began their 2022-23 campaign with a thunderous opening last weekend at the Battle in the River City event, where they went 3-0 with lopsided wins over Arkansas-Little Rock, Campbell, and Wisconsin. It was such a strong performance that Iowa State jumped to 10th in InterMat's new Division I rankings this week.

Saturday night was Iowa State's home opener, and an announced crowd of 5,009, most clad in cardinal and gold, filled Hilton's lower bowl and watched the Cyclones win 8-of-10 weights for a lopsided win. Jason Kraisser (157), David Carr (165), and Sam Schuyler (285) all recorded pins. Casey Swiderski (141) and Yonger Bastida (197) both won by technical fall. Paniro Johnson (149) and Julien Broderson (174) both won by major decision.

The Lancers picked up a pair of wins at the two lightest weights. At 125, Elijah Griffin scored a second-period takedown for a 4-2 win over Kysen Terukina. Then at 133, Hunter Leake locked up a cradle and pinned Zach Redding in the second period. The Iowa State crowd roared for their guys, but went quiet in those moments.

Both results are reminders of the constant ebbs and flows of a wrestling season, that anybody can be beat on any given day. Just last weekend, both Terukina and Redding provided glimpses of their ceilings when they beat All-Americans. After the dual on Saturday, Iowa State coach Kevin Dresser pinned their specific ups and downs on their inconsistent off-the-mat habits — something he believes can be fixed.

Outside of those two blips, the Cyclones rolled. Swiderski scored 12 takedowns in his Hilton debut. Bastida scored eight more. Kraisser led 10-0 when he turned Joey Mora for a first-period fall. Carr scored four takedowns before he locked up his own cradle. Iowa State was, and is, the better team. For the most part on Saturday, that proved true.

Iowa State will face NAIA powerhouse Grand View next Sunday, Nov. 20, at Humboldt High School.

Observations from the Iowa Hawkeyes' performance at the Luther Open

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Iowa State's dual against Cal-Baptist on Saturday night came beforehand, when it wasn't yet known if Mitchell Mesenbrink, the Lancers' star true freshman, would wrestle. Mesenbrink, a top-tier recruit from Wisconsin who won silver at the Under-20 men's freestyle world championships this past summer, was listed on the probable lineups at 165 pounds. A matchup between him and David Carr would've been must-watch.

Mesenbrink did not wrestle, so much of the statewide wrestling interest on Saturday came from other places — most notably at a couple of open tournaments, like the Luther Open.

A handful of Iowa Hawkeye wrestlers made their season debuts on Saturday in Decorah. Eight Hawkeyes competed, including six true freshmen, marking Saturday as their first of five available dates to compete attached while still maintaining their redshirt eligibility.

But arguably the most noteworthy entrant for Iowa on Saturday wasn't a true freshmen, but a sophomore who is expected to battle for a starting spot this season.

Cullan Schriever went 4-0 and won the Luther Open at 133 pounds. He did so while competing unattached, but looked the part of a guy that's going to compete for a starting role. He recorded two technical falls and a major decision. He outscored his four opponents 60-16. He scored 17 takedowns in four matches and allowed one.

Of the six true freshmen, three competed in the "Elite" division, which was the tougher of the two contested divisions at the Luther Open (Schriever won his title in the "Elite" division):

• Mickey Griffith, originally from Des Moines Lincoln, went 3-1 and took third at 184. He outscored his first two opponents 28-3, then dropped his semifinal match to Loras College's Shane Liegel, a two-time Division III All-American and 2021 national champ. Griffith rebounded for third with a 5-4 win over Augsburg's Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann thanks to a first-period takedown, third-period reversal, plus riding-time.

• Kolby Franklin went 3-1 and took second at 197. He steamrolled his way to the finals, with a 35-second pin, a second-period technical fall, then a 19-6 major decision over Coe's Jared Voss in the semifinals. Then Franklin dropped a 9-4 decision to Wisconsin-Oshkosh's Beau Yineman, in which Yineman, another Division III All-American, scored seven unanswered points in the third period to rally and win.

• Bradley Hill went 3-1 and took third at heavyweight despite weighing in under 230 pounds. Hill recorded a first-round pin and a 7-3 quarterfinal win before dropping his semifinal bout 3-2 to Augsburg's Tyler Kim, who is a two-time Division III All-American heavyweight who also outweighed Hill by nearly 20 pounds.

Quick takeaways from the Grand View Open

The Grand View Open, held in Grimes on Saturday, was the other in-state open tournament of note. In previous years, it has been an intriguing proving ground for both redshirting wrestlers and those in the mix for lineup battles. This year's tournament may not have had the same heightened interest, but a bunch of freshmen from both Iowa State and Northern Iowa hit the mat — including some for the first time this season.

Here's a quick rundown of who stood out:

• From Iowa State: Ethan Perryman (125), Jacob Frost (141), Andrew Huddleston (157), Manny Rojas (174) and Cody Fisher (184) all won titles in the Freshman/Sophomore Division. Both Frost and Rojas won all-Cyclone finals, Frost over Drew Woodley 5-1; Rojas over Caleb Helgeson, 7-5.

• From Northern Iowa: Cory Land (133), Ryder Downey (149) and Wyatt Voelker (197) all won Freshman/Sophomore Division titles. Land went 5-0, recorded 3 pins, outscored his five opponents 45-5. Downey went 6-0 with two majors, two technical falls, a pin, and outscored his opponents 73-9. Voelker went 5-0 with two pins, a technical fall, a major, and a 14-8 finals win over Iowa State's Rowan Udell.

• In the Open Division: Iowa State crowned three more champs: Cam Robinson (149), Grant Stotts (165), and Joel Devine (174). Robinson went 5-0 and outscored his opponents 36-16. Stotts went 5-0 and beat teammate Carter Schmidt in the finals via the rideout overtime tiebreaker. Devine, in his season debut, recorded a pin and two majors en route to a 4-0 day.

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: Wrestling: ISU beats Cal-Baptist, plus takeaways from Luther, GV Opens