The preparation, skill and mental toughness of the second-ranked ISU wrestling team will be tested by the best this Saturday.

No. 1 ranked, reigning NCAA champion Iowa will host this year’s rivalry dual in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which received permission from the Iowa City Fire Department to expand its capacity in an attempt to break the all-time NCAA attendance record (15,646).

More than 13,500 tickets have been sold as of 9 a.m. Thursday morning. The tenor of a normally frenzied meet was already heightened by both team’s talent. Sixteen of the 20 total starters will likely be ranked in the top 10.

“The rivalry is huge. I like to think it’s the biggest non-football, non-basketball rivalry in college sports,” said ISU head coach Cael Sanderson. “So we take a lot of pride in that, and we’re excited for the opportunity. I think it steps it up about 10 notches that they’re ranked No. 1 and we’re ranked No. 2.”

The first three matches will likely pit wrestlers ranked in the top five. In what could be the most telling sign of Iowa’s return to prominence, returning NCAA runner-up and No. 1 ranked Joe Slaton (133) is still competing for his starting job against junior Daniel Dennis.

The Hawkeyes (8-0) feature five other wrestlers ranked third or better, including No. 1 ranked Brent Metcalf (149), second-ranked Charlie Falck (125) and Jay Borschel, and third-ranked Alex Tsirtsis (141) and Phillip Keddy (184).

Iowa State has three wrestlers ranked in the top three and six others in the top 10. Fifth-ranked Nick Fanthorpe (133) said he thought the environment of the dual compares to that of the NCAA Tournament finals, but he is approaching his match like any other.

“Our team is preparing the same way,” said third-ranked Jon Reader (165). “We’re just going in there to wrestle. We feel gifted to have this opportunity to wrestle these guys right now, and we’re going to be aggressive, and wrestle our style and go home.”

Iowa stole the No. 1 ranking from Iowa State in Hilton Coliseum last season, soundly beating the Cyclones though wrestling without two-time NCAA champion Mark Perry. Fifth-ranked Cyclone sophomore Tyler Clark (125) was still redshirting during last season’s rivalry dual but attended the team’s 24-6 loss in Carver-Hawkeye two years ago.

“The hostility is going to be 10 times the level I’m used to,” Clark said. “I’m going to be in a stadium full of boos, but it’s going to be fun because I’m going to go out in front of their home crowd and tear someone’s head off. So I’m pumped.”

Clark, Northern Illinois transfer junior Duke Burk (174) and freshman Jerome Ward (184) will all be getting their first true tastes of the rivalry.

Sanderson said practice has prepared those wrestlers for matches like this, but nothing replaces experience.

“They’re ready for it. Experience is obviously key, and being in big matches with big crowds — that experience just helps you to realize that, regardless of what is going around you, there is one mat, one opponent, seven minutes, and you to go out there and you do the best that you can, and you focus on what you control … but it takes experience to realize that.”

Before Sanderson and Iowa’s Tom Brands were installed as head coaches, both programs had fallen on hard times. In the five seasons prior to the hiring of both coaches, each program had just one top-three NCAA Tournament finish — a fact that contradicts the two programs’ illustrious traditions.

Iowa has 21 NCAA titles in the past 35 seasons, which easily tops the next best program — Oklahoma State, which has seven titles over that span. Iowa State has just two during that period and lost 30 straight rivalry duals to Iowa from 1987 to 2002.

Iowa has won 55 of the teams’ 69 meetings, not including two ties. Iowa State won the duals in 2003 and 2004 but has lost the last three.

“It’s a big dual for the sport of wrestling and the state of Iowa,” Fanthorpe said. “Both schools have great wrestling traditions, so that just adds to the excitement and the fun and the adrenaline that comes with wrestling those guys.”

The two teams will also wrestle in the Midlands Championships on Dec. 29 and 30 — an individual tournament that fields many of the best teams in the country. They also could meet at the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals, which plots 16 of the nation’s best schools on a bracket for a dual tournament.

“It’s going to be in two different ways: We’re going to see ’em in a dual; we’re going to see ’em in a tournament [Midlands],” Clark said. “I feel we’re stronger in both categories, and now I think it’s just time to prove it to everybody. Everybody just says how untouchable they are, and everyone is kind of just keeping us out of it. It’s going to be good to show everybody we’re the best dual team, we are the best tournament team in the country.

“And if we meet ’em again in January, we’ll beat ’em again. It’s just going to make it sweeter. I’m excited for the next two months.”