Aaron Holker doesn’t mind the underdog status placed on the ISU wrestling team heading into this weekend’s National Duals in Columbus, Ohio. In fact, he enjoys it.

Holker, a senior ranked No. 1 at 141 pounds in the latest rankings released by Intermat, is one of the many Cyclone wrestlers competing for an individual title and hopes to help bring home a team title as well.

“We’ve been working on resting up for this weekend. Last week in practice, we practiced hard,” said Holker, who has an overall record of 16-0. “People have been saying that we’re going to get killed by Minnesota but we’re going in there confident. We like being the underdogs.”

Iowa State, which has a dual record of 4-4 and is ranked No. 15, will square off against No. 3 Minnesota at 11 a.m. The winner of the Iowa State-Minnesota meet will wrestle either Oklahoma or No. 6 West Virginia. If the Cyclones lose, they will face the loser of the Oklahoma-West Virginia meet.

Minnesota is 6-2 overall and is coming off its eighth consecutive win over Nebraska. The Golden Gophers handled the Cornhuskers 27-12 on Jan. 7.

ISU head coach Bobby Douglas said his team is upbeat and in a positive mood.

“We’re trying to develop our people for the National Championships. Minnesota is a good challenge for us,” Douglas said. “We’re making progress right now and we’re ready to wrestle right now. Our shape, technique and attitude has improved since the new year.”

Also ranked for the Cyclones are junior Zach Roberson (No. 7, 133 pounds) and senior Austen Palmer (No. 15, 184 pounds).

“We’re still learning as a team. Our shape is getting better,” said Roberson, who boasts a 12-2 record. “We’re a young team and we want to get better for March because that’s the important thing right now. We still have a lot of improvement to do.”

Both Roberson and Palmer will wrestle against ranked Minnesota opponents. Roberson will square off against No. 1-ranked Ryan Lewis, who is 12-1. Palmer will face 10th-ranked Damion Hahn, who has a 3-1 record.

“I need to wrestle well against my opponent,” Roberson said. “I need to keep the match on feet and not on the mat.”

Iowa State is coming off two wins at Pittsburgh on January 4. The Cyclones defeated Slippery Rock 38-6 and Pittsburgh 25-15.

Against Slippery Rock University, Holker and 165-pounder Nick Passolano led the Cyclones with pins and Roberson recorded a 15-0 technical fall.

Roberson’s 21-7 major decision over Pittsburgh’s Mike May pushed Iowa State’s lead to 16-7. Pittsburgh cut the lead to 19-15 before Passolano got a pin in 58 seconds to end the score at 25-15.

Also on that day, the Cyclones were defeated by No. 6 West Virginia 22-14. The Cyclones got wins from Palmer, Roberson, Holker and Passolano.