MJ Gaitan dug deep, stung by a loss in his opening-round match at last year’s NCAA Championships, but steeled for what would come.

The then-174-pound freshman for Iowa State won three consecutive matches after that initial defeat — and prepared to face #3 Edmond Ruth of Illinois in the blood round with a chance of procuring All-American honors on the line.

Gaitan shot and shot, but couldn’t overcome Ruth, losing, 8-6, before entering soul-searching mode.

“I think the main thing I learned is I’m right there,” said a slightly slimmed-down Gaitan, who will wrestle at 165 for the Cyclones in this weekend’s prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational largely because freshman Connor Euton sustained a season-ending ACL injury in the 21-15 dual meet loss at second-ranked Iowa. “There (were) little adjustments that I needed to make, and I believe I can be one of those top eight, and be national champion at 165.”

Gaitan feels comfortable at 165. He wrestled as a light 174-pounder last season for good reason. He’s a skilled and powerful pinner, though raw and malleable. Oh, and two-time NCAA champion David Carr was Iowa State’s top 165-pound wrestler, so Gaitan cracked the lineup any way he could.

“I feel like (Gaitan) lost a match in the first round of the NCAAs last year just because we had a boy against a man,” said Cyclone head coach Kevin Dresser, who also lost All-American Casey Swiderksi to a season-ending injury early this season. “MJ was the better wrestler, but when you get a fifth-year senior (who’s) a man, he felt what a man felt like. So we need him to be the bigger, stronger guy, and hopefully 165 will prove that. We’ll see.”

Gatain enjoyed not having to strain to cut weight much as a freshman, but being at 165 has helped him lock into his disciple while sharpening his focus. Winning on the mat is supposed to be hard — but it starts off the mat with exacting daily habits.

“I think I kept my same strength as I (had) at 174,” said Gaitan, who closed the 2023-24 regular season with 10 straight wins. “Now I’m just trying to trim off the little excess fat. I mean, I’m a lot taller than these guys at 165 and I’m gonna have that same grippy strength, or wired strength that I use a lot.”

Dresser said Euton should receive a medical redshirt, so his future remains bright. Gaitan’s second-season shot comes right now and regardless of how this weekend goes, he’ll definitely entertain the crowd.

“High flyer,” said Dresser, whose team won the Cliff Keen Invitational last season for the first time since 1996. “He’s a turbulent guy. This weekend is a great opportunity for him to get it. I think he’s at the right weight, obviously. But there’s this guy named David Carr that was at 165, so (Gaitan) didn’t have many options. I think he’s at a weight he can really get something done. So if he does this last (final) prep work, his nutrition and his weight cut, I think he’s gonna have a really good weekend.”

Iron Sharpens Iron

Dresser said his top 157-pounder, Paniro Johnson, is slated to compete in Vegas, while Cody Chittum — a former FloWrestling’s Big Board #1 prospect — will compete at the Cleveland State Open.

Johnson won Iowa State’s first 149-pound Big 12 title two seasons ago but sat out last season because of being caught up in a now-embattled state investigation into sports gambling on the Iowa and Iowa State campuses.

 “The reason we’re sending some guys another direction to another Division I tournament is because we want to get a feel for where they’re at in December,” Dresser said. 

Johnson said competing against Chittum in the wrestling room has bolstered his already considerable confidence.

“Cody’s been trying to push a lot of guys,” said Johnson, an NCAA qualifier in 2023. “Sometimes it’s little much, but he’s been helping me a lot in this. That’s my friend. We’re competing for the same spot right now. We want the same job or whatever. What I say is I’m gonna wrestle my best, and I would never blame the coaches for putting the best guy out there. I want the best guy out there. I believe in myself always. I always feel like I’m the best guy, but if that weren’t the case, I would never complain about it.”

Bastida’s Back On The Bench

Dresser said senior heavyweight Yonger Bastida will not wrestle at the Cliff Keen Invitational because of lingering effects from an injury. Bastida, Flo’s fourth-ranked 285-pounder, will be replaced by Daniel Herrera in the lineup.

“Yonger went (into the Iowa dual) and probably wasn’t quite ready to go,” Dresser said. “Didn’t injure anything worse but didn’t help ourselves there. So we’re gonna sit Yonger until probably Nashville, which is Dec. 21. That’s when he’s scheduled to be released by the doctors. So we didn’t injure anything, but if I held my cards on anything, Yonger didn’t get to train at all before that match in Iowa City. Just wanted to go out there and compete.”