Berths for the NCAA tournament will be on the line when Iowa State competes in the Big 12 Championships Saturday at the Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb.

The Cyclones, ranked third, wrapped up their regular season with a dual mark of 20-2 and now look to start on the path toward a national title.

The top two finishers at each weight in the Big 12 tournament will qualify for the national tournament which is March 16-18 in St. Louis.

After those spots are earned, 16 wildcards also will be chosen to move on.

The Cyclones finished third at last year’s meet. Cyclone coach Bobby Douglas has never won the Big 12 tournament title during his years at Iowa State but has finished second twice.

“I think we’re where we need to be right now. Everything up to this point has been about getting better, but now it’s time to win,” Cael Sanderson said. “This is an important meet for us as a team because it’d be a huge step towards nationals. Plus I don’t know if Coach Douglas has ever won the Big 12, so that’d be good too.”

Sophomores Cael Sanderson and Joe Heskett enter the tournament as the Cyclones pair of No. 1 ranked wrestlers.

Sanderson is 33-0 at 184, and Heskett is 25-1 at 165.

Both are defending champs in this meet. Sanderson is a defending national champ while Heskett placed third at nationals last year.

Heskett suffered an early season loss to Wisconsin’s Don Pritzlaff but since then has been on a 20-match winning streak heading into Saturday’s competition.

“I feel really good,” Heskett said. “Each week has gotten better for me and the last couple of weeks I’ve felt really strong. It was a hard first half of the year with injuries, but my health and confidence are great and my focus is better than ever.”

Heavyweight Trent Hynek has been battling injuries over the second half of the season but appears to be at full strength for the stretch run. Hynek is 19-0 and ranked second.

“I’ve put in some extra time and really worked hard over the last couple of weeks with my conditioning, and I feel like I’m just about all the way back,” Hynek said. “By the time Big 12 rolls around in a couple of days, I should be close to 100 percent and I’ll definitely be at that point for nationals.”

1999 national runnerup Cody Sanderson is 25-2 and ranked third at 133 while fourth-rated Zach Thompson is 25-4 at 197. Thompson won the 197-pound title at the Big 12 meet last year before placing eighth at nationals.

Other Cyclones that have at least 20 wins are Sonny Marchette at 141 and Billy Maldonado at 149.