Iowa State head coach Kevin Dresser’s learned a lot of things about wrestling during his more than four-decade relationship with the sport.

You can plan and prep and grind and grapple, but when fate takes a hand, resistance is futile.

Case in point, this season: Four Cyclone starters have been forced to sit out indefinitely because of injuries, and several others have missed time because of various maladies. Dresser said he’s been “scratching his head” as the unfortunate chain of events unfolded — not grousing or complaining, just adapting and patching holes in the lineup any way he can.

“(Last) year, just about everything went right and we probably had the same lineup 90 percent of the time,” said Dresser, whose team took home a trophy from the 2024 NCAA Championships for the first time since 2010. “And this year it completely flipped. I think what it does is it forces you to get tough, and it forces you to put guys in there that in the long run will be better now because we’ve had some guys who never would have got reps, and now they’re getting reps. So you always try to find a silver lining, and that’s my silver lining.”

Dresser eclipsed the 250-career dual wins mark last weekend as the patchwork Cyclones beat Arizona State and Pitt. Iowa State’s nearing full strength in terms of its remaining wrestlers, but will still be without veteran 125-pounder Kysen Terukina Friday at South Dakota State and Sunday at intrastate rival Northern Iowa.

As for that “silver lining,” Dresser said Terukina should be back before the Big 12 Championships — and top 157-pounder Cody Chittum will wrestle this weekend after battling a stomach bug.

“I was pretty bummed out sitting on the couch and vomiting,” said the 10th-ranked Chittum, who’s fought through an array of injuries and illnesses to be a bright spot for the Cyclones this season. “So, it’s way better.”

Chittum will face #18 Cobe Siebrecht of the Jackrabbits and fifth-ranked Ryder Downey of the Panthers this weekend, so he’ll need to be at his best to improve on his 13-2 mark this season.

“This (will) be a great test because this guy from UNI wrestles really smart,” Dresser said. “He’s really savvy, so you’ve got to beat him on the mat and you’ve got to beat him in the head game, so I’m really excited to see that match and I know Cody is, too.”

Iowa State may also see 14th-ranked 184-pounder Evan Bockman return to the lineup after being stricken with mono  — and if he can go, he’ll also face stiff competition in South Dakota State’s #5 Bennett Berge and second-ranked Parker Keckeisen of UNI.

“We’ll definitely take two guys at ’84, but he’s feeling a lot better,” Dresser said of Bockman, who will be a match-time decision along with backup Caleb Helgeson. “I let him choose the week before and he went out there and wrestled with mono, so I’m not giving him any more choices.”

Dresser’s had to make some difficult choices with All-Americans Yonger Bastida (heavyweight), Anthony Echemendia (141/149) and Casey Swiderski (141/149) out for the season, along with up-and-coming freshman 165-pounder Connor Euton. But that spate of misfortunate has opened up opportunities for 141-pounder Jacob Frost and heavyweight Daniel Herrera, among others, and they help form that “silver lining” Dresser mentioned.

Frost — whose brother, Evan, earned All-American honors at 133 as a freshman last season — replaced Echemendia in the lineup and has risen to #9 at 141.

“He’s definitely a top-10 guy,” Dresser said of Frost, who will face #5 Cael Happel on Sunday. “This is gonna be a great test for him this weekend.”

Herrera — formerly a “fast food king” per Dresser — has completely transformed his body while sharpening his skills on the mat. The freshman from Indio, Calif., showed that last weekend when he went toe-to-toe with #5 Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State before falling, 3-0, and did the same with Pitt’s #17 Dayton Pitzer before dropping a 5-3 decision.

 “(He took) a lot of butt-kickings in the room early,” Dresser said of Herrera. “Not that he still doesn’t take a few, but I found out — I think I said Sunday (after the dual) — what a competitor he is. He doesn’t like to lose and he competes really well.”

None of that would have revealed itself until Bastida suffered a knee injury that failed to heal up as expected, forcing him to join three of his teammates in seeking a medical redshirt. So Dresser will gladly take that “silver lining” along with several others, and won’t let the phrase “what might have been” creep into his mind. He’s excited about what’s happening now — as is Herrera, whose gas tank and potential grows stronger every day.

“Early in the year, I would get so tired, and it was really bad,” the 30th-ranked Herrera said. “One thing I’ve learned about that is it’s more of a mindset than it is physical. I developed that mindset of you’re not tired — and one way to get rid of that is just to be excited and compete. Be grateful for the opportunity and just go out there and show it.”