Generations of ISU wrestlers have gone without a conference title, but this Saturday presents an opportunity to reverse a trend of disappointment and misfortune.

If weather permits, the second-ranked Cyclones will travel to Columbia, Mo., as the favorites in the Big 12 Championship after sweeping the four conference teams in the dual season.

Iowa State hasn’t won a conference title since tying with Oklahoma State in 1987. Its last outright championship came in 1982, before anyone on this team was born.

“As a team, we definitely expect to win the Big 12s,” said Nick Fanthorpe (125), one of six freshman starters in the lineup. “We expect to win the national tournament, but Big 12s are first. We’ll try to get all 10 guys to the national tournament, wrestle our best and take that into NCAAs.”

The top-three qualifiers at each weight earn automatic NCAA Tournament berths, while a coaches’ meeting will determine the other eight wild card selections.

Coach Cael Sanderson said he expects to qualify all 10 members of the lineup. Iowa State qualified only five last year and finished fourth in the Big 12 Championships.

The Cyclones have two returning Big 12 champions, seniors Trent Paulson (157) and Kurt Backes (197), and will likely have at least eight of 10 wrestlers seeded in the top three.

“The first round is going to be real big,” Sanderson said.

“It’s going to be that semifinal round. We can do real well there, and I think we will, but that’s really the round that’s going to decide the team title.”

Oklahoma State, the four-time defending Big 12 and NCAA champions, are ranked fourth – behind third-ranked Missouri – and enter the tournament as underdogs after an extended period of dominance in the conference.

The Tigers field a potent lineup and already have two tournament titles to their name this season, winning the Las Vegas Invitational and beating No. 1 Minnesota at the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. Even No. 14 Oklahoma appears to be a factor in the tournament after rehabilitating their lineup after a rash of injuries.

While qualifying the team for the NCAA Tournament is the ultimate goal, Sanderson said, winning a Big 12 title is necessary for the program.

“We want to go out and show what we can do and really leave it all on the mat,” he said.

“We’ll take what we get after that.”