The time has finally arrived as Iowa State announced their schedule for the upcoming season, the only thing we knew for certain were that the Iowa dual would be November 29th, and UNI would be coming to town February 15th thanks to those schools releasing their schedules earlier this month.
Iowa State will of course be hosting their annual Harold Nichols Open to start the season in early November. From there they have an interesting trip out west as they will face Boise State and Utah Valley (where former Hawkeye Ethen Lofthouse is now working these days), and they follow that up with a trip to Michigan to face MAC opponent Central Michigan, and then Big Ten foe Michigan State. The Central Michigan dual presents what should be two great lightweight battles as CMU’s Corey Keener could face All-American Earl Hall at 125, and at 141 one of the former top rated high school recruits John Meeks could face Zach Horan in what should be a top 15 battle.
Of course the date everyone is circling is the Iowa dual which follows close to Thanksgiving this year. ISU will be looking to put a win back in their column for the first time in 11 years. It will be a hard win to come by, as Iowa rarely drops a dual at home, though Iowa State returns a healthy amount of wrestlers with NCAA experience.
In December they head west to Las Vegas and will be in the same Cliff Keen tournament as UNI and that will be their only action in December. In years past Iowa State traditionally competed at the Midland tournament, but recently they have switched to the Southern Scuffle out in Tennessee. The Scuffle usually features teams from the East Coast, headlined by Penn State, but has its Midwest teams that are regulars as well such as Minnesota. Iowa State will see some of the best competition in the country before second semester resumes as they should face wrestlers from Iowa, Penn State, Minnesota, and Cornell, four of the top teams in contention for the 2015 NCAA team title. Last year Iowa State finished 8th (full results) at the Scuffle.
Iowa State then finishes with six of their next eight duals at home, before getting the Big 12 championship in their backyard. The two road trips will feature Oklahoma and West Virginia, but when you look at the home duals to start 2015, fans will see their return on their season ticket money. In January they get Penn, Oklahoma State, and Virginia Tech. They follow that with Zeke Jones’s Arizona State squad, UNI, and Wisconsin in February.
A pretty slow schedule to start the season, but by the flip of the calendar, Cyclone fans will be in for some high quality wrestling and they will get the opprotunity to stay home to watch their conference tournament.
| Sat, Nov 08 | Harold Nichols Cyclone Open | Ames, Iowa | All Day | ||
| Fri, Nov 14 | Boise State & Utah Valley | Boise, Idaho | TBA | ||
| Thu, Nov 20 | Central Michigan | Mt. Pleasant, MI | 6:00 p.m. | ||
| Sun, Nov 23 | Michigan State | East Lansing, MI | 12:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Nov 29 | Iowa (Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series) | Iowa City, Iowa | TBA | ||
| Fri, Dec 05 – Sat, Dec 06 |
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational | Las Vegas, NV | All Day | ||
| Thu, Jan 01 – Fri, Jan 02 |
Southern Scuffle | Chattanooga, TN | All Day | ||
| Sun, Jan 11 | Penn | Ames, Iowa | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Sun, Jan 18 | Virginia Tech (Beauty & the Beast Event) | Ames, Iowa | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Sun, Jan 25 | Oklahoma State * | Ames, Iowa | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Jan 31 | Oklahoma * | Norman, OK | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Feb 07 | West Virginia * | Morgantown, WV | 5:00 p.m. | ||
| Fri, Feb 13 | Arizona State | Ames, Iowa | 7:00 p.m. | ||
| Sun, Feb 15 | Northern Iowa | Ames, Iowa | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Sun, Feb 22 | Wisconsin | Ames, Iowa | 2:00 p.m. | ||
| Sat, Mar 07 | Big 12 Championships * | Ames, Iowa | All Day | ||
| Thu, Mar 19 – Sat, Mar 21 |
NCAA Championships | St. Louis, MO | All Day |