The UNI wrestling team has been making waves in the wrestling world recently.

The No. 5 Panthers are a perfect 9-0 on the year, and have several top ranked wrestlers. On Saturday, that’s exactly where the ISU wrestling team is headed.

“They have had a strong performance up to this point in the year,” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson. “We performed really well against them last year, and our guys kind of celebrated on them a little bit. They’re looking for a little revenge, but our focus is to just go out there and wrestle. If we go out and compete, we’ll be fine.”

The meet Feb. 8 will be held in UNI’s West Gym, which holds nearly 2,100 fans. The venue is a smaller, more compact gym than most, and has been known to get loud fast.

With projections of a sold-out crowd for the upcoming dual, the Cyclones know that they will need to stay focused.

“It can’t be worse than Carver,” said Kyven Gadson on UNI’s West Gym. “They’re going to come out tough and looking to fight. We just have to match their toughness, wrestle for the full seven minutes, and not let the environment get to us.”

The No. 17 Cyclones (8-3, 1-2 Big 12) have been looking forward to this meet for a long time. For one wrestler in particular, however, this meet means a lot more than a usual dual.

Gadson, the ISU All-American who is from the neighboring town of Waterloo, will be wrestling in front of what he considers his hometown.

“I’m going to be back home in the Cedar Valley, right down the street from my house,” Gadson said. “I just want to go put on a show for the people who have been there for me since high school and what not. It’ll be nice to be home and wrestle in front of people I have before, and just have some fun.”

Gadson will head to the mat Saturday looking to keep his dual win streak alive. He currently has won 25 in a row, and Jackson doesn’t see the trend stopping anytime soon.

“He’s got a match this weekend in a hostile environment, but a match that he is supposed to win,” Jackson said. “He’s going to be challenged in this situation, and also against Minnesota and the National Dual. It’s something that he probably doesn’t think much about, but it’s something nice to have.”

The Cyclones have not lost to the Panthers since 2004, and won last year’s dual 23-12 at Hilton Coliseum.

With Northern Iowa’s perfect record this season, many wrestling fans are looking at Iowa State as a pretty big underdog this time around. Instead of focusing on that, Iowa State is trying to ignore the hype and just focus on what they need to do to win.

“I feel no reason to not go out and wrestle the best we’ve wrestled all year,” said Tanner Weatherman. “I think this is a team we match up well with, and even though we’re underdogs, I don’t feel like we are as a team. Sooner or later we’re going to have to wrestle a good dual, and I see no reason why it couldn’t be this week.”