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No. 3 Iowa State hopes to stay Frosty during showdown with No. 2 Ohio State
Frost twins have a lot in common, including big matches Sunday against the Buckeyes
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AMES — Sixteen pounds.
Officially, that’s what separates otherwise joined-at-the-hip Iowa State wrestling twins Evan and Jacob Frost at weigh-in time.
Evan is ranked third nationally at 133 pounds by FloWrestling. Jacob is seventh at 149. And while their dietary do’s and don’ts now vary, that’s about the only thing that distinguishes the Frost twins from one another.
“Everything (else) is all the same,” said Evan Frost, who is slated to face No. 2 Ben Davino of No. 2 Ohio State at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Journeymen Collegiate Duals in Nashville. “Same classes, same schedule, same everything, essentially.”
No kidding. Both Frosts are majoring in mechanical engineering. Both seek to become two-time All-Americans. And both serve as key cogs for a finely-tuned, but somewhat nicked up, third-ranked ISU team that will take on No. 20 Lehigh later Sunday after the top-three bout with the Buckeyes.
“Usually I’m Mr. Transparent, so I’m gonna be really transparent and tell you that I’m not gonna be transparent today,” Cyclone head coach Kevin Dresser said Tuesday. “So we’ve got some maybes, but we also have some tough guys and it’s only Tuesday, and we don’t wrestle until Sunday, so it’s gonna be hard for me to even project a lineup right now.”
On paper, several highly-ranked ISU wrestlers will face foes of similar or higher stature in the bout with Ohio State. There could be as many as six top-10 matchups in the event’s marquee dual, including one between the Cyclones’ top-ranked heavyweight, Yonger Bastida, and the Buckeyes’ No. 3 Nick Feldman.
Bastida — who is 10-0 this season with six wins by technical fall or fall — then could tangle with No. 7 Nathan Taylor of Lehigh.
So what does the senior from Cuba need to do to rack up a pair of wins in Music City, U.S.A.?
“Just wrestle hard, man,” said Bastida, who missed almost all of last season because of a knee injury. “That’s all I have to do. Just keep the focus going. I know what to do. Just focus and get ready to battle.”
Bastida has faced Feldman before, winning by major decision en route to his first Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational title in 2023. Bastida earned his second title in that prestigious event earlier this month, while Feldman is coming off a 5-1 loss to second-ranked Isaac Trumble of North Carolina State — his only setback of the season.
“Now he’s better,” Bastida said of Feldman, who owns a win over Nebraska’s fourth-ranked AJ Ferrari this season. “He already beat a few good guys and he just lost last weekend. He’s a different guy, too. (I’m) looking forward to that matchup and seeing how it will end up being, but I’m ready, man.”
So are the Frost brothers, even though Evan’s endured some struggles while cutting weight. Hunger pangs can fuel on-the-mat gains, however, and he’s eager to test his mettle yet again in a highly-touted matchup.
“Initially it’s really hard mentally, but once you’re in it you’re in it,” Frost said. “I had a long talk with (ISU assistant and two-time national champ Brent) Metcalf about it. I was feeling sorry for myself and, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I can make it, blah, blah, blah.’ Metcalf pretty much sat me down and shot me straight and said, ‘If we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna do it.’ … It’s really just a switch of mindset. That’s all it is.”
Comments: robgray18@icloud.com
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