Coming off of three tournament wins and a close dual against Iowa, the Iowa State wrestling team will finally get to host a dual on Sunday.

The Cyclones will take on Ohio University at 6 p.m. on Sunday for their first matchup of the season in Hilton Coliseum.

“It’s not anything different than any other dual,” said redshirt senior Willie Miklus.

Miklus last competed against star Iowa freshman Jacob Warner and lost on a late reversal.

Miklus will have a much easier matchup this weekend, and he’ll look to use that to get back on track before 2019 rolls around.

At 165-pounds, redshirt senior Skyler St. John made his return last weekend but had to be pulled out of the tournament due to injury concerns.

Starting redshirt junior Brady Jennings was also injured during the same tournament, but his injury is much more severe.

Jennings is looking at a few weeks in recovery time, while St. John will likely start for the Cyclones this weekend.

“I’m guessing six weeks, best case,” said coach Kevin Dresser regarding Jennings. “We have some freshman in there that we could use.”

While the Cyclones might end up being shorthanded at 165-pounds, they have started to gain national recognition across the board at almost every other weight.

Austin Gomez (133), Ian Parker (141), Jarrett Degen (149), Sam Colbray (184) and Willie Miklus (197) received rankings inside the top 20 this week from InterMat, FloWrestling, and Trackwrestling.

Marcus Coleman (174) was included inside the top 25 by Trackwrestling as well.

The rankings don’t mean much to the coaches, but the athletes like to see themselves earning recognition for their accomplishments.

“It’s just entertainment,” Dresser said about the rankings. “It’s a little bit of a pat on the back.”

On the other side of the mat, the Bobcats are coming in with much less national recognition.

Ohio has one ranked wrestler according to InterMat, and that is junior Shakur Laney at 125-pounds. Laney will take on redshirt sophomore Alex Mackall this Saturday, whose last bout came against the No. 1 wrestler in the country for their weight class: Spencer Lee.

Mackall will have something to prove as he goes into another tough matchup.

“I’m really excited to get another match in this weekend,” Mackall said.

The Rutgers transfer has had a rocky start to his season but has a chance to turn some heads if he is able to beat Laney.

Mackall and the Cyclones will take a two-week break from competing after the Ohio dual, and then they’ll head to Chatanooga, Tennessee for the Southern Scuffle.

With the first dual in Hilton Coliseum, Dresser has two words for what he’s hoping for from the atmosphere.

“Big and loud.”