Iowa State Wrestling Sensation Snags Prestigious Accolade After Breaking Cyclones’ Almost Decade Long Curse

Iowa State Wrestling was on fire this week as it won the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas (CKLV) Invitational event. While all of the ISU wrestlers significantly contributed to the success of their team, one wrestler clearly stood out, and recently, was recognized for the same.

Yonger Bastida is a senior Iowa State wrestling sensation who wrestles in the 285lbs weight class. A social media post recently revealed that Bastida has received another major honor after powering ISU to lift the prize for the CKLV Invitational. 

Yonger Bastida wins Big 12 honor after acing CKLV event

Iowa State Wrestling uploaded a post on Instagram to congratulate Yonger Bastida for his latest exploit. The post carried the caption, “Yonger Bastida is the @big12conference Wrestler of the Week!” Yonger Bastida won the heavyweight title for the ISU Cyclones with a powerful win against Michigan Wolverines’ Lucas Davison.

No. 3 Davison was bested by Bastida in the wrestling championship match with a score of 5-3. This made Bastida the seventh Iowa State Wrestling athlete to stand atop the podium in the CKLV event. This allowed the Iowa State Cyclones to score 130.5 team points to overtake the Nebraska Huskers, who stood at 125.5.

Interestingly, this victory came after a seventeen-year title draught in the CKLV invitational for Iowa State Wrestling. In fact, Yonger Bastida is the first ISU Cyclones wrestler to win the heavyweight championship title since 2014. 

While Iowa State Wrestling athletes won their matches, they also made sure to win with bonus points. Their quest for bonus points allowed them to take the contest with a close difference of just five points.

Iowa State Wrestling stars win big to ace invitational contest

Iowa State Wrestling stars worked hard to earn bonus points in their bouts. ISU wrestlers won 24 matches in this fashion, which included pinfall wins, technical fall wins, and major decision wins. Yonger Bastida went 5-0 in the contest with bonus wins as well to claim an individual title, while his team also won the event.

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The last Iowa State Wrestling star to win an individual title for the Cyclones was Kyven Gadson. Other big names of ISU, Evan Frost and Will Feldkamp, secured the second position in their weight classes. ISU’s 2x All-American David Carr also added to the team’s total by securing the third position in the 157lbs weight class. Will the ISU Cyclones carry this momentum forward throughout the 2023-24 season as well?

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