The ISU wrestling team will start its season Friday with a doubleheader when it hosts Minnesota State-Mankato and Boston at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones open the competition at 5:30 p.m. against Division II Minnesota State and wrap up the competition against Boston at 7 p.m.

Iowa State will come into the season ranked No. 6 by Amateur Wrestling News.

Last season, the Cyclones posted the worst record in head coach Bobby Douglas’ tenure at Iowa State, going 8-10 in dual meets.

The team’s schedule for the season features dual meets against Lehigh (No. 10), Iowa (No. 3), Minnesota (No. 1), Oklahoma (No. 4), Oklahoma State (No. 2), Nebraska (No. 8) and Missouri (No. 12).

The Cyclones have some veterans on the squad, but many of the weight classes have been filled by underclassmen.

Four redshirt freshmen — Trent Paulson, Travis Paulson, Grant Turner and Kurt Backes — will start for the Cyclones, barring a last-second change made by Douglas.

Another redshirt freshman, Richard Schopf, could start as the heavyweight but is currently battling junior Woodley Milord for the spot. Scott Coleman, the Cyclones’ heavyweight last year, is recovering from off-season knee surgery. Douglas said he should be ready to wrestle sometime during the second half of the season.

Douglas said he doesn’t usually start freshmen and hasn’t liked to in the past. In his coaching career, Douglas has always leaned toward starting veteran wrestlers who have been in the program for a while.

“They are exceptionally talented freshmen, but a freshman is still a freshman,” Douglas said.

Douglas also has four 2003 NCAA qualifiers back on the team, including two-time all-American Zach Roberson at 133 pounds. Roberson, a four-time undefeated high school champion from Overland Park, Kan., has yet to win a collegiate national championship. He finished seventh two years ago as a sophomore and fourth last year in his junior season.

Sophomore Nate Gallick will wrestle at 141 pounds. Gallick finished with a 16-16 record while wrestling at both 141 and 149 pounds.

He earned a fourth-place finish at the Big 12 championships at 149 pounds last year. Gallick was also named the 2003 Men’s FILA Junior Freestyle World National Championships’ Most Outstanding Wrestler after a 5-0 tournament and first place in the 132-pound division.

Sophomore Grant Nakamura reached the NCAA Championships on a wildcard bid last season. The 125 pounder finished the year 17-15 and took fourth place at the Big 12 Championships.

Two-time NCAA Championships qualifier Nick Passolano will again wrestle at 165 pounds. After finishing 20-12, Passolano said he looks to win the Big 12 Championships after finishing second a year ago. He finished last year ranked seventh at 165 pounds.

With an almost equal number of veterans and freshmen in the starting lineup, Roberson said the team could struggle at the start of the year.

However, he said, the team has enough talent to compete for the national championship at the season’s end.