Iowa State wrestling defeats Bucknell in Brent Metcalf's first dual

AMES − Iowa State wrestling’s Brent Metcalf-era has started 1-0. In a season-opening dual vs. Bucknell on Nov. 1 at Hilton Coliseum, the Cyclones defeated the Bison by a 29-12 score. Iowa State won seven of 10 bouts, including a pair of technical falls by the Frost twins and a major decision for Paniro Johnson.125-pounder Dru Ayala won in his Cyclone debut, defeating Jackson Heslin in a 5-2 decision with a nice single-leg takedown in the first period.Metcalf said after the dual that 125-pounder Rin Sakamoto was the wrestler who stood out as the starter ahead of the dual from the program's evaluations leading up to the match, but he had a minor injury. Metcalf said he expects Sakamoto to wrestle next week vs. Utah Valley.133-pounder Garrett Grice followed with an 8-2 win by decision over Blue Stiffler to give the Cyclones a 6-0 advantage.The Frost brothers led the night, as Evan Frost had five takedowns and three near-fall points in a 19-3 technical fall win over Bryce Manera in his 141-pound debut. 149-pound twin Jacob Frost followed with a 21-3 technical fall over Cade Wirnsberger with four takedowns and eight near-fall points. Johnson closed the dominant stretch with a 16-5 major decision over Ryan Lawler to give the Cyclones a 20-0 lead.After battling a neck injury last year, this was Johnson's first return to the mat. With a scary injury, timidness could be expected, but Johnson got a takedown right off of the starting whistle and looked explosive offensively. That bodes well for the two-time Big 12 champion who is looking to become a NCAA All-American for the first time."That's great progress," Metcalf said. "Because Paniro Johnson should be scoring five takedowns."The teeth of the Bison's lineup came from 165-197 pounds, as the Cyclones went 1-3 vs. ranked opponents. Iowa State 165-pounder Connor Euton led 10-3 in the third period against No. 15 Noah Mulvaney, but got turned to his back and lost by fall.Iowa State’s Tate Naaktgeboren got the call at 174 pounds, as MJ Gaitan dealt with a hand injury that will leave him out "day-by-day and week-by-week" according to Metcalf. Naaktgeboren defeated No. 17 Myles Takats by injury default. Naaktgeboren led 4-1 late in the third period with a takedown via a scramble in the first period, but Takats suffered a leg injury late and could not continue.Iowa State's 184-pounder Sawyer Bartelt and 197-pounder Brayden Thompson both dropped narrow bouts. Bartelt lost in tiebreakers (4-1) to No. 29 Tyler Bienus in his first match in 644 days after several knee injuries. He got a 30-second ride-out to start tiebreakers, but from neutral, Bartelt gave up a takedown in the loss. Thompson also lost in his Cyclone debut to No. 21 Dillon Bechtold, giving up a takedown in sudden victory to lose in a 4-1 decision.True freshman heavyweight Coby Merrill closed out the bout with a 6-2 decision in his college debut, recording a takedown and garnering two points for stalling against Lucas Lawler. Merrill did a tremendous job controlling the center of the mat as his skillset coming into college suggested, but wants to looks for more offense."He walked off the mat, he was not satisfied," Metcalf said of Merrill. "That's kind of what we ask of him, but from a performance point of view, he wrestled really hard, looked to score, continued to look to score, was moving forward. That's what we ask."As a result, Metcalf moves to 1-0 as head coach of the Cyclones. While a 1-3 record vs. ranked opponents will be something to improve upon vs. Utah Valley, Metcalf said he liked his team's effort as his tenure as head coach began."I don't know if I had jitters," Metcalf said. "You don't really know what you've got. I've been really, really happy with the way that these guys have been training and competing in the room. Like, really happy. They've done an awesome job, they've bought into all the different things that we're challenging them with, they're really doing a great job. To me, it's like, 'I wanted to see this.' I was more just excited, like, 'Hey, what are we going to face? What challenges are we going to get knocked upside the head with and so we can go back to work.' I think that was accomplished today."Iowa State wrestling vs. Bucknell resultsRankings from Intermat.125 - Iowa State's Dru Ayala over Bucknell's Jackson Heslin, 5-2 decision133 - Iowa State's Garrett Grice (No. 15) over Bucknell's Blue Stiffler, 8-2 decision141 - Iowa State's Evan Frost (No. 2) over Bucknell's Bryce Manera, 19-3 technical fall149 - Iowa State's Jacob Frost (No. 9) over Bucknell's Cade Wirnsberger, 21-3 technical fall157 - Iowa State's Paniro Johnson (No. 13) over Bucknell's Ryan Lawler, 16-5 major decision165 - Bucknell's Noah Mulvaney (No. 15) over Iowa State's Connor Euton (No. 13), fall (6:12)174 - Iowa State's Tate Naaktgeboren over Bucknell's Myles Takats (No. 17), injury default (6:42)184 - Bucknell's Tyler Bienus (No. 29) over Iowa State's Sawyer Bartelt, (TB-1 4-1)197 - Bucknell's Dillon Bechtold (No. 21) over Iowa State's Brayden Thompson, 4-1 sudden victory285 - Iowa State's Connor Euton (No. 15) over Bucknell's Lucas Lawler, 6-2 decisionEli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State wrestling defeats Bucknell in Brent Metcalf's first dual