AMES, Iowa — Iowa State wrestling is off to it's best start under sixth-year head coach Kevin Dresser. The Cyclones are ranked No. 4 and have four wrestlers ranked in the top five, including grey shirt freshman Paniro Johnson.
Johnson is 7-2 and is the No. 3 ranked wrestler in the country at 149 pounds. He recently emerged onto the scene with an upset over No. 2 Austin Gomez in Iowa State's 26-6 win over No. 12 Wisconsin on Nov. 5.
Confidence is one of the biggest reasons that Johnson has made such a big jump this season.
"He's ranked third the nation and you know, he thinks he should be ranked first in the nation," Dresser said." And that's the beauty of Paniro, he thinks he should be first all the time."
His teammate and three-time All-American David Carr also raved about Johnson's swagger.
"Nothing shakes that dude, nothing really rattles him and that's super cool to see," Carr said. "And a lot of the other freshmen see that too and they just kind of keep that confidence going, keep it rolling."
Last year, Johnson was a "grey shirt," meaning that he was on the roster, but not enrolled in classes. He did live in Ames and was able to practice as much or as little as he wanted.
"I felt like I didn't have nothing to do but get better at wrestling," Johnson said.
His rise to stardom came as a surprise to Dresser.
"He surprised me. He has," Dresser said. "I mean, I knew the potential was there, but there's a lot of potential sitting in that room that aren't as committed."
Despite the early success, there have been some setbacks. On Sunday, Johnson lost to No. 6 Kyle Parco 7-5 in overtime. On Dec. 19, he nearly upset No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis, but fell short in overtime 3-1.
"I missed opportunities because I feel like I had a couple of opportunities already (and could've) really capitalized and put myself in a better position to win that match," Johnson said.
Johnson will have plenty of opportunities to keep climbing up the rankings. Iowa State wrestles next at Utah Valley on Jan. 14 in Orem, UT.