After sitting out for nine-straight matches due to a concussion, Chris Drouin returns to the mat to face a familiar foe.

Drouin — who is No. 15 at 141 pounds by Intermatwrestle.com — will face his former teammate and roommate, No. 12 Todd Schavrien, in Iowa State’s dual meet against Missouri on Sunday.

“A lot of times people will be nervous because they know the guy they’re wrestling, know stuff about them and you know stuff about him and it kind of takes you out of your game,” Schavrien said. “But I’m just going to stick with my game plan and what’s been working for me all year.”

Drouin and Schavrien were teammates at Arizona State from 2006 to 2008 before Schavrien transferred to Missouri following their second year as Sun Devils after the program was initially canceled by the school.

“It made a few people mad,” Schavrien said of his decision to transfer. “Drouin was one of the leaders on the team at the time, so people like him were upset.”

The sport was reinstated shortly after its initial demise 10 days later, leading into the year where Drouin would go on to place sixth at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors as a Sun Devil.

This past summer, Drouin transferred to Iowa State for his senior campaign partly due to the close-knit relationship he had with ISU coach Kevin Jackson in the past.

Drouin and Schavrien never faced each other until this year, when they met in the consolation semifinals at the Midlands Championships in late December.

Drouin won by a close 3-2 decision, advancing to the third-place match, where he would lose to place fourth in the two-day tournament.

“It was a close match,” Drouin said. “I’m going to have to put together another good one.”

Despite passing the concussion test prior to last Sunday’s dual meet against Arizona State, which was also senior night in Hilton Coliseum, Drouin was benched for precautionary reasons.

“It’s kind of ironic,” Drouin said. “I just wanted to wrestle whether it was Arizona State or anyone else, I just wanted to wrestle.”

Despite being out for so long, Drouin said his conditioning is returning to the state in which it needs to be.

“I have a good base, my tactics will just have to be a little different my first matches back,” Drouin said.

Drouin has been cleared to wrestle this Sunday against Schavrien in a match that is likely to jog the memories of both competitors.

“I have the utmost respect for Drouin and wish him the best of luck, but I can’t really be focused on how he feels after his concussion or how he’s going to wrestle,” Schavrien said. “I’ve just got to go out there and wrestle my own match.”