#1 vs #2 is on Sunday....

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What's in a number??

For two of the nation's most distinguished wrestling programs -- Iowa and Iowa State -- nothing.
Not in December, anyway.
"If you put all your eggs in one basket in just this match and you lose, you don't want it to ruin your whole season," said Iowa State's NCAA champ Jake Varner, whose No. 2 Cyclones host the top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Hawkeyes at 6 p.m. Sunday at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.
According to rankings used by The Des Moines Register, this dual will be the first since 1999 in which the in-state rivals have occupied the No. 1 and No. 2 spots.
"There's a lot on the line for the future, being the No. 1 guy at your weight class or moving up in that direction," said Iowa coach Tom Brands, who played a key role in helping the Hawkeyes win two No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups over the Cyclones in 1992.
"There's opportunities there. You're going to see a lot of the best wrestlers in the country. Other than that, it's a very interesting dual from a fan's point of view. That is important, but from our point of view it's very much a proving ground. It's very much a midterm, so to speak. It's a test."
• In 1999, the Cyclones stood atop the rankings and Iowa's Mike Zadick wanted to knock them off.
He got his wish by starting the dual with a 9-6 victory over Bill Maldonado. The Hawkeyes went on to win 24-12.
"Back then, Tom Brands was an assistant at the time and was very influential, kind of a personal coach to me," Zadick said. "He always talked about a spark plug, getting off on the right foot ... It was a positive that we had somebody who started things off right, and it was an opportunity for me at that meet because at the time they had Cael Sanderson and Joe Heskett."
Sanderson and Heskett posted wins for Iowa State, but Iowa's Doug Schwab helped the Hawkeyes prevail.
• Cyclones coach Kevin Jackson will experience the rivalry for the first time as a coach. He captained Iowa State's last national championship team in 1987, a season in which the Cyclones split duals with Iowa.
At that time, his roommate was two-time national champ Tim Krieger, who enjoyed the home-and-away series Iowa and Iowa State wrestled each season.
"They were all good," Krieger, now in Minneapolis, said of the matchups. "They were always a lot of fun, and we usually filled it up pretty good."
The tenor of the rivalry hasn't changed from then to now -- and it usually begins with a pen in hand.
"It's just a great opportunity to find out where you're at as team against the No. 1 team in the country, the two-time defending champions," Jackson said of Sunday's matchup. "So, definitely we circled it. I know they circled it on their calendar. It's a big part of the sport and its one of the reasons that I'm happy to be here, because it is a strong challenge."
• Another set of No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups took place in 1992. Iowa won both, and eventually secured one of its 22 national titles.
Steve Hamilton furnished the Cyclones a key victory in the Feb. 9, 1992, dual loss to the Hawkeyes, upending then-defending national champ Mark Reiland -- who now is the coach at Class 3-A power West High.
Terry Brands, now an Iowa assistant, started Iowa's charge with a pin of Rick Williams and his brother, Tom, added fuel with a 21-6 win by technical fall.
More intensity about the rivalry exists now for Terry Brands, at least.
"This is way more important for me than it was as a competitor," he said. "And it's way more important to me than it was last year, and it's way more important to me than it was when I flew in for the first (Tom) Brands vs. Sanderson one (as coaches), when I flew in from Colorado for that. And next year ... It has to be that way. I have to be more excited next year, and I'm sure I will be, although I can't speak for next year yet."
• As for this season, Iowa State hopes to end a four-dual skid in the series. The Cyclones have been close, losing by seven or fewer points in three of those defeats.
But those numbers also fade into history as wrestlers gear up for another go-round in the nation's top rivalry.
It's important -- but it's December.
"Like coach (Jackson) was saying the other day, it's probably going to take an hour and a half for the entire dual meet," Varner said. "After that hour and a half, it's over. It's the past, it's history. Whatever happens, happens, win or lose.
"You have to look forward to the NCAA Tournament and your next match coming up. It's something you have to force yourself to bounce back from, win or lose, and learn from it."

This will be a good test for the Hawkeyes.

Wish I could attend the match.

Is this on the BIG TEN NETWORK?

The scales have tilted in one direction when it's been time to weigh college wrestling's current heavyweight programs during their last three meetings.
And the tipping point has been easy to identify.
Thirteen matches during the last three dual clashes between Iowa and Iowa State have been decided by two points or less.
The Hawkeyes have won 12.
Iowa has come away with a critical takedown here or key reversal there, winning virtually every tight match on its way to three dual victories under coach Tom Brands.
"It's come down to a couple weight classes, it's come down to a couple positions, and when those positions or weight classes hit, Iowa's been able to win them, and that's why they've won the dual meet," first-year Iowa State coach Kevin Jackson said. "We have to change that when those positions occur. They're called must-win positions, and if we don't change those positions, we're going to lose this dual."
The outcome of tonight's dual showdown between the top-ranked Hawkeyes (7-0) and No. 2 Cyclones (1-0) once again could hinge on which team prevails in the close matches. Iowa has won four straight and 34 of the last 36 duals in the series going into the 6 p.m. meet at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.
"The rivalry brings the best out of you, and it's important to get ready to wrestle in a big environment," Brands said. "That's what we're about."
The Hawkeyes have tightened their grip on the series recently by winning the close ones. The dual score was lopsided in 2006, but Iowa's 24-6 victory was the result six individual wins by a collective nine points.
Iowa State's Cyler Sanderson won a 9-8 decision at 149 pounds against Alex Grunder in the second-to-last match in 2006. Since then, the Hawkeyes have won all seven of the matches decided by two points or less.
"There's probably a lot of reasons for it, and a lot of it stems from what happens here in the practice room, what's preached by our coaching staff," Iowa 149-pounder Brent Metcalf said. "Take any of our weight classes, the number two guy could probably step right in and still be top 15, 20 in the country, so you're in that training environment daily.
"To say, 'I've got a tough match this weekend.' Well, what does that mean? I've got a tough match today when I go and workout. That's the advantage we have maybe. We have guys in our practice room who are fighting hard who are going to give you the same feel or the same competitiveness of a lot of the other guys you're face."
Iowa won all four of last year's bouts that were decided by a takedown or less on its way to a 20-15 win in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes came out on top 20-13 in their last trip to Ames, getting a one-point win by Joe Slaton at 133 pounds and a late takedown from Dan LeClere in a 3-1 win against Nick Gallick at 141.
Metcalf is one of three No. 1 wrestlers who will be heavy favorites for the Hawkeyes tonight. Iowa's lineup also features top-ranked Jay Borschel and Phil Keddy at 174 and 184. The Cyclones will counter with NCAA champ Jake Varner at 197 and second-ranked David Zabriskie at heavyweight.
"There's no automatic," Brands said. "Based on the past, are we going to do well? No. The past doesn't factor into this. What factors into this is how we get ready going into Sunday at 6 p.m., which is zero hour. I believe in our guys. I wouldn't trade these guys for anybody, and that includes 197."
The first six weights feature five matches between wrestlers ranked 11th or better, starting with the 125-pound bout between No. 10 Andrew Long of Iowa State and No. 11 Matt McDonough of Iowa, a pair of freshmen who won three Iowa state high school titles.
The best match on the bout card might be at 165 when Iowa's fourth-ranked Ryan Morningstar and No. 5 Jon Reader square off in a battle of returning All-Americans. Morningstar won all three head-to-head meetings against Reader last year, and his success has been emblematic of his team's in the series.
Morningstar used an escape and a riding-time point to beat Reader 2-0 in last year's dual. He won in overtime in the Midlands finals and NCAA consolation finals.
"We had some areas that I think we were technically flawed in that I think we've improved in," Jackson said. "Those areas of improvement have to show in (this meet). If they don't show, we'll lose again."