Iowa State’s Paniro Johnson makes Big 12 wrestling finals

Paniro Johnson will represent Iowa State in Big 12 wrestling finals
Paniro Johnson of Iowa State will compete for his second Big 12 title Sunday.
Paniro Johnson of Iowa State will compete for his second Big 12 title Sunday. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa State's Paniro Johnson battled his way to the finals at the Big 12 Wrestling Championships on Saturday from the BOK Center in Tulsa.

Johnson will square off with Northern Iowa’s Colin Realbuto Sunday for the title. He was the 2023 league champion and posted a 7-3 decision win in the semifinals vs. Teague Travis from Oklahoma State.

Aiden Riggins and MJ Gaitan qualified for the upcoming NCAA Championships thanks to 2-0 marks during the night sessions. In all, nine of the 10 Cyclone wrestlers are still alive, as Iowa State is fourth behind Oklahoma State, UNI and South Dakota State.

Johnson earned a 2-1 decision in the opening round and scored a sudden-victory in the quarterfinals before taking out Travis. 

Evan Frost, Jacob Frost, Cody Chittum, Evan Bockman, Nate Schon and Daniel Herrera join Riggins and Gaitan in the consolations, which air live on ESPN+ beginning at noon CT.

Jacob Frost, Chittum, Riggins, Gaitan, Bockman and Herrera are in the consolation fourth rounds while Evan Frost and Schon compete in seventh-place matches.

IOWA STATE WRESTLERS MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS FROM BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

125: No. 8  Kysen Terukina - DNP
First Round: L-D, 4-1 vs. Tristan Daugherty (NDSU)
Consis. Rd. 1: Bye
Consis. Rd. 2: L-D, 10-3 vs. No. 7 Trever Anderson (UNI)

133: No. 1 Evan Frost 
First Round: W-MD, 17-4 vs. Stockton O`Brien (WYO)
QF: L-MD, 20-6 vs. No. 8 Kade Moore (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-MD, 14-3 vs. Julian Chlebove (ASU)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D, 14-13 vs. No. 3 Julian Farber (UNI)
7th-Place Match: vs. No. 6 Cleveland Belton (OU)

141: No. 3 Jacob Frost
First Round: W-TF, 16-1 (5:21) vs. Daniel Miranda (ASU)
QF: W-D, 15-8 vs. No. 6 Josh Edmond (MIZ)
SF: L-MD vs. No. 2 Cael Happel (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 8 Julian Tagg (SDSU)

149: No. 2 Paniro Johnson  
First Round: W-D, 2-1 vs. Avery Allen (SDSU)
QF: W-D, 6-5 SV-1 vs. No. 7 Logan Gioffre (MIZ)
SF: W-D, 7-3 vs. Teague Travis (OKST)
Finals: vs. No. 1 Colin Realbuto (UNI)

157: No. 1 Cody Chittum 
First Round: vs. Bryce Shelton (AF)
QF: W-MD, 9-0 vs. Caleb Dowling (WVU)
SF: L-MD, 12-4 vs. No. 4 Cobe Siebrecht (SDSU)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 3 Ryder Downey (UNI)

165: No. 8 Aiden Riggins  
First Round: Bye
QF: L-D, 2-0 vs. No. 1 Terrell Barraclough (UVU)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-D, 10-7 vs. Cooper Voorhees (WYO)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-MD, 11-3 vs. Clayton Ulrey (UNCO)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 6 Nicco Ruiz (ASU)

174: No. 7 MJ Gaitan  
First Round: Bye
QF: L-TF, 15-0 (1:44) vs. No. 2 Keegan O`Toole (MIZ)
Consis. Rd. 2: W-D, 4-2 vs. Carter Schmidt (CBU)
Consis. Rd. 3: W-D, 15-9 vs. Aydin Rix-McElhinney (UNCO)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 5 Cade DeVos (SDSU)

184: No. 4 Evan Bockman 
First Round: W-TF, 19-4 (6:33) vs. Gage Musser (AF)
QF: W-D, 4-1 SV-1 vs. No. 5 Deanthony Parker Jr. (OU)
SF: L-Inj. Def. (3:35) vs. No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach (WYO)

197: No. 6 Nate Schon
First Round: WBF (2:26) vs. Jacob Meissner (ASU)
QF: L-D, 14-8 vs. No. 3 Wyatt Voelker (UNI)
Consis. Rd. 3: L-D. 6-4 vs. Jesse Cassatt (MIZ)
7th-Place Match: vs. Kael Bennie (UVU)

285: No. 6 Daniel Herrera  
First Round: WBF (4:36) vs. Andrew Blackburn-Forst (NDSU)
QF: WBF (5:37) vs. No. 3 Lance Runyon (UNI)
SF: L-D, 4-1 vs. No. 2 Cohlton Schultz (ASU)
Consis. Rd. 4: vs. No. 8 Sam Mitchell (WYO)

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Dana Becker
DANA BECKER

Dana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000, writing for The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others. Dana resides in north-central Iowa.

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