Iowa State head wrestling coach Kevin Dresser always tells his incoming freshman to attack drills with an “I’m already the guy” mentality.

Some get that. Some don’t. Count the Cyclones’ 141-pound rising star, Jacob Frost, as one of the latter. His trajectory seems to be mirroring that of his twin brother, Evan, who went from a relatively unknown 133-pound redshirt freshman last season to a sixth-place finisher in the NCAA Championships seemingly in the blink of an eye.

“I think they’re very similar,” Dresser said recently of Evan Frost, FloWrestling’s third-ranked 133-pounder, and Jacob Frost, who’s ranked ninth at 141. “I mean, Evan kind of came out of nowhere last year and every week started knocking off guys. And now you see that with Jacob.”

The sophomore from Metairie, La., got his prime-time opportunity this season primarily because of injuries to All-Americans Casey Swiderski and Anthony Echemendia, but he’s pounced on it, compiling a team-best 26 wins. 

“Obviously, they say getting thrown into the fire, it’s really hard, and you’ve gotta pretty much put them back-to-back every week,” Frost said. “I mean, there’s not gonna be a guy who lays down for you. Every week they’re gonna throw a guy out there (who’s) gonna try to kill you. But it’s been fun. A lot of fun.”

That’s because Frost’s rapidly developing his kill shots, too. 

His five losses this season have come against wrestlers ahead of him in the rankings, including a recent 10-7 setback to Northern Iowa’s #5 Cael Happel.

“They’d wrestled before and Happel blew him out of the water,” Dresser said. “I thought he competed really well — and you could tell he went in to win that match. I have a lot of respect for Happel. He’s tough, he wrestles hard, but we had him on the ropes. He was tired. We had him on the ropes, but I think a lot of him. He figures out how to win those matches and he snuck one in on us and caught us flat-footed, and good for him.”

Frost got back on track last weekend by edging #13 Josh Edmond of Missouri in a 9-8 thriller that closed out Iowa State’s dual-meet season — and he’s now won 13 of his last 14 bouts. Mere days from March, he and Evan are poised to peak as planned, determined to make some noise at the national tournament.

Jacob Frost credits their mother, Stacey, for instilling a relentless work ethic in both of them. Both Frosts pride themselves on possessing seemingly unlimited gas tanks, and that’s what’s powered them from relative obscurity to national prominence.

“Even (when) I was redshirting it didn’t matter, just go in, keep getting better, keep trying to accomplish your goals,” Jacob said. “And don’t waste days. Just keep going in and grinding every day. So I’d give a lot of credit to her, for sure. That was the mindset, just every day, keep going.”

So how did mom specifically pass that mentality down to Evan and Jacob?

“She’s just really gritty,” Jacob said. “It’s as simple as that. She competed (at the University of New Orleans) in track and field. She threw the javelin. … I mean, she was a stud. She moved a lot of those values through sport and obviously through life into all of us — not just me and Evan. I don’t really know what more to say. Pretty much everything you see from us is from her. I wouldn’t be here or be living like I’m living without what she’s instilled in us.”

That’s discipline. That’s resilience. And that’s a tunnel-vision nestled within a gnawing desire to never settle for anything less than one’s best — in drills, in the classroom, and on ever-growing national stages.

“I don’t really try to look too far ahead,” said Jacob Frost, who will compete in his first Big 12 Championship on March 8-9 in Tulsa. “Just next day, next practice, next guy ahead of you. You get too far ahead and that’s when you start overlooking guys. And my grandma texts me before every dual, or every tournament, or whatever and she says, ‘Don’t overestimate your guy and don’t underestimate him.’ So just taking it day-by-day and match-by-match.”

Cyclones Finally Getting Healthier

Iowa State’s injury-decimated lineup could get a boost at the Big 12s, as senior 125-pounder Kysen Terukina remains poised to return. As expected, he didn’t wrestle in the regular season-closing dual win over Missouri but he is on track to compete in the postseason.

“He’s excited,” Dresser said of the three-time NCAA qualifier. “He’s done a good job. Talk about a professional, his whole career we’ve had to fuss with him about his weight and his discipline, and not one time this year. So I’m excited. I hope he’s got enough reps in him than he can do what I think he can do at the Big 12s.”