Iowa State captured its first Big 12 title in 15 years, Yonger Bastida knocked off Wyatt Hendrickson thanks to an epic feet-to-back counter in an incredible heavyweight clash, and the Cyclones finished the night by drenching coach Kevin Dresser with a Gatorade bucket of ice water. 

It wasn’t all championships and celebrations for the Cyclones during the final round at the Big 12 Championships, though. 

Iowa State came up short in two history-making finals and another lengthy one Sunday night in Tulsa. 

Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix defeated Cyclone Evan Frost in the 133-pound title bout to become the first five-time Big 12 champion and Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole denied Iowa State’s David Carr of his fifth conference title in a battle of 165-pound superstars. 

Here’s a look at five things that happened Sunday at the Big 12 Championships: 

Cyclones Ride Bonus Points Back To Top Of Big 12

Iowa State locked up its first conference title since 2009 midway through Sunday night’s final round and finished the tournament with 152.5 points — nine more than second-place Oklahoma State. 

The Cowboys won all five head-to-head matches against Iowa State on the weekend, but a massive bonus-point advantage helped the Cyclones prevail in the team race. Iowa State scored 28 of them during the two-day tournament to Oklahoma State’s 13. 

“We didn’t lose the tournament,” Oklahoma State coach John Smith said. “Iowa State won it. We scored a lot of points. If you would’ve told me we were going to score in the 140s, I’d say we’re going to win it.” 

O’Toole Evens The Series

David Carr took the early lead in college wrestling’s hottest individual series, notching wins over Keegan O’Toole last February in the Iowa State-Missouri dual meet before scoring an overtime fall in the 2023 Big 12 finals. 

But O’Toole evened the series Sunday night with an 8-2 victory — the same score he posted last March when he defeated Carr in the NCAA finals. 

The fourth meeting was originally scheduled for Feb. 25, but O’Toole and several other Tigers were battling the flu and didn’t make the trip to Ames for this year’s dual between the two programs. 

So college wrestling fans had to wait until Sunday night for Chapter 4, which tipped in O’Toole’s favor on a scramble in the final minute. Leading 4-2, the two-time NCAA champ from Missouri wiggled out of trouble and came up with a takedown that cemented his victory. 

“We got out of position,” Dresser said. “He got us in his good position. Our good position is head-to-the-inside single, his position is head-to-the-outside and he capitalized. We’ve got to make sure we take care of that detail.” 

When the match, O’Toole reached out to offer a handshake, an apology for missing the dual showdown and a wish for one more battle at the NCAA Championships in Kansas City. 

“I’m just grateful for this opportunity to compete,” O’Toole said. “I missed my match with him in the dual, which really sucked, but I had to do what was right. I was wrestling really sick through a lot of January and February and I knew if I kept pushing it I wasn’t going to feel good here. I’m OK to sacrifice and be called like I’m ducking him, it’s alright, it’s no big deal. I told him afterward let’s run it back one more time (in folkstyle) and I’m sorry I couldn’t make it in February.” 

Bastida Hands Hendrickson First Big 12 Loss Since 2021 

One moment, Wyatt Hendrickson had Yonger Bastida’s right leg in the air in an attempt to finish a second-period takedown. The next, Bastida had the Air Force heavyweight on his back. 

A wicked counter-attack led to six points for Iowa State senior and shifted the tide in a battle between two of the nation’s top heavyweights, leading Bastida to a 10-7 victory. 

It was Hendrickson’s first loss to a fellow Big 12 heavyweight since the 2021 conference tournament. 

“Yonger Bastida can score and man, you’ve gotta be careful when you shoot on him too because he’s so darn dynamic,” Dresser said. “I’ve seen him hit everything. His countering ability is off the charts. He continues to amaze me with the stuff he can pull off. I don’t know what the hell he did. I want to watch it.” 

OMG YONGER! pic.twitter.com/5lQvMuFwcB

— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 11, 2024

Downey And Chittum Put 12 In Big 12 Title Bout

Northern Iowa’s Ryder Downey and Iowa State’s Cody Chittum staged one of the longest — and most spellbinding — matches of the college wrestling season in the 157-pound title bout, going 12 minutes before the Panther prevailed 5-3 in the second set of tiebreakers. 

To recap it all: After a scoreless first period, Downey gained the upper hand by riding Chittum out in the second. Chittum momentarily grabbed the lead on a takedown midway through the third period but elected to cut Downey loose, effectively making it 3-3. 

The third period ended with a wild exchange in which Chittum nearly scored a neutral-danger takedown on at least two occasions. 

Chittum fended off a pair of Downey leg attacks in the first sudden victory and then rode the Northern Iowa freshman out in the first 30-second tiebreaker, which ended with the Cyclone almost scoring a near-fall count when he pulled Downey back on a side headlock. 

At that moment, it appeared Iowa State’s corner wanted the officials to look for near-fall points on a video review while Northern Iowa’s coaches wanted to see if Chittum jumped the start on what would’ve been his third caution. 

Had he elected to pick neutral for the second 30-second tiebreaker, Chittum would’ve only needed to avoid getting taken down to win the match. Instead, he picked down and got ridden out to force another sudden-victory period. 

“Too much craziness in the corner — way too much craziness,” Dresser said. “There was way too much going on. I was kind of focusing on taking a (near-fall) call to the table and (Iowa State assistant Brent) Metcalf’s talking to Chittum and all sorts of stuff is going on here. We probably didn’t do a great job with that because of all the chaos that was going on. We’ll own that.” 

Both wrestlers picked top in the second set of tiebreakers. Downey rode out Chittum again, hanging on to avoid a reversal as time expired. Then Chittum got hit with a third caution to put Downey ahead 4-3, forcing the Iowa State freshman to cut him loose for another point. 

Chittum got in deep off the whistle, but Downey scrambled to grab a leg and held on as time expired. 

Fix The First To Five, Keckeisen Still On Track 

Daton Fix grew up in the Tulsa suburbs and never lost a match in high school on his way to four Oklahoma state titles. His career at the Big 12 Championships has followed a similar pattern. 

The Oklahoma State senior ran his career Big 12 tournament record to 20-0 with an 8-5 win in the 133-pound title bout against Iowa State’s Evan Frost. Overall, Fix has six career losses in five seasons with the Cowboys and he’s unbeaten against Big 12 opponents. His win Sunday night made him the conference’s first five-time champion. 

Fix might not be the lone member of the club for long, though. 

Northern Iowa’s top-ranked Parker Keckeisen — who has another year of eligibility remaining — won his fourth Big 12 title by racking up four takedowns on his way to a 14-5 major decision against #2 Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State.  

“It was a clinic,” Oklahoma State coach John Smith said. “(Plott) came out of his stance a couple times. He really took it to him, and that’s the guy you’re going to have to beat at nationals, there’s no question.”