When the Iowa State wrestling team was delayed in California, a thought popped into the mind of assistant coach Brent Metcalf.

The Cyclones had just finished blowing out Fresno State 34-9 for their third Big 12 dual win. All three have come away from Ames.

“I thought about how much it sucked,” Metcalf said. “[But] Dresser has talked about how tough that is and how these guys had to go through some adversity, to just not be comfortable. This team is becoming comfortable away, that will help us in the long run.”

Eighteenth-ranked Iowa State will travel to Norman for its last road conference dual of the season to face Oklahoma Sunday at 2 p.m.

Coach Kevin Dresser views this as the best way to prepare for March, where hotel rooms are going to be all too common for his team.

“We’re looking for progress,” Dresser said. “If this team hits its stride in the next three or four weeks going into March, it’s a pretty talented team.”

No better preview of what’s to come for the final month of the season than the matchup at 141 pounds.

Defending Big 12 Champion and fifth-ranked Dom Demas will look for his third career win against sixth-ranked Ian Parker. The two split meetings a season ago and Demas defeated Parker at Cliff Keen in December, a 19-4 tech fall win in 5 minutes, 5 seconds that secured the returning All-American a third place finish.

Since that match, Parker has won his last eight matches and hasn’t been taken down.

“Staying the course every week,” Parker said of his successful run. “Cliff Keen, I had the best competition I’ve wrestled all season long. That’s probably part of it too.”

Demas is as simple as it gets: The redshirt sophomore is an upper-body machine and he pairs it well with a slick inside trip. He’s 19-3 on the year and has one really bad loss in which he got pinned by West Virginia’s Caleb Rea. Demas has also fallen to top-ranked Luke Pletcher of Ohio State and Minnesota’s Mitch McKee.

And in the eyes of Metcalf, preparing for what Demas is capable of is a daunting task.

“What’s tough about it is, when you know it’s coming and it still comes, that’s what’s tough to swallow,” Metcalf said. “Wrestle where you’re good. If you’re in an area where it doesn’t feel good, get out of there.”

Still, Parker is confident in his abilities. Since the loss in the third-place match, the redshirt junior has accumulated a major decision, two pins and has scored over five match points three times. 

He has beaten a pair of top-20 foes during the winning streak.

“Getting to my positions – where I want to be not where he wants to be – then firing off my attacks from there,” Parker said.

While the top-six battle at 141 is going to grab the attention, the Sooners and the Cyclones have three other toss up battles that could affect the outcome of the dual.

If David Carr can’t make the trip to Norman, backup Grant Stotts will likely fill in to face 19th-ranked Justin Thomas, who Carr beat in the quarterfinals at Vegas. Right now, Carr is questionable for this weekend.

“He blew out a fender, but the spot engine and the chassis are fine,” Dresser said. “He’s going to be kind of day-to-day, what I think they call a low grade sprain. Air on the side of caution, what you have to do in February.”

At 133, 16th-ranked Todd Small might get a crack at 15th-ranked Anthony Madrigal. At 174, now unranked Sam Colbray will look to win his first dual in three weeks possibly against 14th-ranked Anthony Mantanona.

Oklahoma should be favored at 197 if 16th-ranked Jake Woodley wrestles, but that is the last of four ranked grapplers in its lineup.

12th-ranked Alex Mackall (125), seventh-ranked Jarrett Degen (149), Marcus Coleman (184) and 14th-ranked Gannon Gremmel (heavyweight) all should be favored in their respective matches for Iowa State, likely needing bonus points to separate itself on the scoreboard.

“I like where we’re at right now,” Dresser said. “We’ve had some bumps, we’ve had some hiccups. If we get this thing running efficiently by March 1, it’s going to be a heckuva team down the stretch.”