A little over a month ago, first-year ISU football coach Paul Rhoads found success in Tempe, Ariz., when he led his Cyclone football team to a 14-13 victory over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl. Flash forward to this Sunday, when first-year ISU wrestling coach Kevin Jackson will be seeking the ISU wrestling program’s 1,000th all-time dual victory in the very city where Rhoads led his team to victory.

Iowa State (10-2, 2-0 Big 12) is coming off an impressive victory over sixth-ranked Cornell, 24-13, in which seven Cyclone wrestlers recorded victories en route to the dual win. The Cyclones will continue to build momentum with a win against an Arizona State team that dropped from the top 25 after a 35-5 loss to Pac-10 rival No. 21 Oregon State.

With a win, Iowa State will become the first school in the nation to win 1,000 dual matches in the sport of collegiate wrestling.

“It says a lot about our program,” Jackson said of the potential 1,000th dual victory. “A thousand dual wins says that we’ve won a whole lot of matches. We’ve been doing it for a lot time and to have that thousandth win says a lot about our program, a lot about the tradition and what’s expected of our wrestlers and our coaches.”

The Sun Devils (8-5, 3-1 Pac-10) have suffered losses to Oklahoma State and Oklahoma earlier in the season and proceeded to fall to Ohio State and Wisconsin at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in late December before their recent loss to Oregon State. They have been beaten by at least 13 points in each loss.

“Arizona State is struggling this year a little bit with the changeover in coaches, so we’re hoping to go there and perform at a higher level than we did this weekend and [get] our 1,000th win as a university,” Jackson said. “That’s motivation enough for our guys to go out there and perform.”

The marquee matchup of the dual will be the 125-pound match, pitting the Cyclones’ Andrew Long against third-ranked Anthony Robles. The fifth-ranked Cyclone grappler is 21-4 on the season with six major decisions, five pins, and four technical falls – three of which came in dual meet action. Long is coming off a crushing loss against Cornell’s Troy Nickerson, who won by fall with a fall time of 2:03.

“He’s lost to some quality kids,” Jackson said of his 125-pounder. “I don’t think we have to do a whole lot to get him back on track because he knows he has to step up against a kid that’s one of a kind.”

Questions still arise as to whom will be given the starting spot at 174 pounds. Duke Burk started the season ranked nationally, but lost nine straight matches after sustaining a couple of injuries, which has sidelined him from action. Chris Spangler stepped in for Burk in two dual meets, losing both matches.

“We’re not satisfied with either one of those guys’ performance at this point and we think they can wrestle better,” Jackson said of his competing 174-pounders. “I wouldn’t say it’s an open competition at this point. At this point right now I think Burk would meet the standards to qualify for the NCAA tournament, so that becomes a bit of an issue as well. Obviously Duke is a veteran, he’s a senior and we expect him to perform like seniors are supposed to perform and right now he’s got some work to do to get there.”

Both Burk and Spangler are listed on the program for the second-ranked Cyclones.

Bobby Douglas, who coached the Cyclones for 14 years, discussed the significance that this victory would have on the wrestling community as a whole.

“I think the significance is the fact that Iowa State has set the standards for wrestling from the very beginning of the American Wrestling program,” said Douglas, whose 198 coaching wins ranks second all-time among Cyclone coaches. “It’s a worthy tribute in that it pays tribute to all of those coaches who played a role and all of the athletes who played a role. It also shows the landmark accomplishments of a storied program that has set the standards for all to follow.”

Douglas, who is now the assistant athletic director for ISU wrestling, attributes the program’s success to its leadership in the field of diversity among collegiate athletic programs across the country.

“Iowa State has led the nation in diversity, and as a young athlete when I was being recruited, the first things I took into consideration was the tradition and the diversity of the programs that were recruiting me,” Douglas said. “At that time, Iowa State had, by far, the most diversity. Since that time, it has shown by its efforts to develop its wrestling program that it stands at the front as far as tradition and accomplishment.”

Douglas spent 18 years as head coach of the Sun Devils before beginning his coaching tenure at Iowa State in the 1992-93 season.

The Cyclones will begin their quest for their 1,000th win this Sunday at 3:00 pm at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz.

“Too bad it’s not going to be at home, but hopefully we can celebrate it at home,” Jackson said of the potential 1,000th dual victory. “I don’t want to motivate the Sun Devils in any way, but we expect to do what we’ve done for years and that’s win dual meets.”