Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard isn’t content with the state of the Iowa State wrestling program.

Pollard said Tuesday that he hadn’t given up on coach Kevin Jackson but made clear that the wrestling team needs to improve.

“In the end, if that doesn’t change, then we’ll have to give someone else another shot at it,” Pollard said.

Iowa State’s dual with No. 21 Northern Iowa at 7 p.m. Friday could be the turning point for Jackson’s team to prove it can compete at a high level.

The meet at Hilton Coliseum will feature at least two matches with ranked contestants — one at 133 pounds between No. 12 Earl Hall and No. 10 Josh Alber, and another at 174 pounds between No. 9 Lelund Weatherspoon and No. 11 Taylor Lujan.

There could also be a possible matchup between No. 8 Pat Downey and No. 15 Drew Foster, but Iowa State currently has Downey projected to wrestle at 197 pounds for the second dual in a row.

With a 1-6 record, the Cyclones aren’t wrestling for much else besides getting their wrestlers prepared for championship season.

The Panthers also have ranked wrestlers at 149 and 165 pounds.

Despite the down year, the 1-6 dual record does not reflect Iowa State, which has dealt with multiple injuries and illnesses over the course of the season along with NCAA sanctions on Earl Hall.

“I think this is a great [dual] to find that late-season success,” Jackson said. “I think the matchups are pretty close and pretty tight at 149, 157 [and] 165, where we’ve struggled from a win-loss standpoint in the last couple of duals.”

Jackson said the middleweight classes must do better. With the latter half of the season in full swing, the wrestlers from 141 to 165 have a chance to prove themselves in front of a hometown crowd.

Heavyweight Quean Smith said there’s not really much else for the team to do but go out and wrestle.

He has confidence in his teammates who are struggling, believing they could all win their matches.

“Just be yourself,” Smith said. “You just got to wrestle seven minutes.”

Smith and Hall shared a similar ideology when going out onto the mat this late in the season: think and prepare.

Hall knows how difficult it can be to dig down and not find the desired result. He said that those struggling may need to change their gameplan on the mat.

“I think these guys need to stop looking for the same things they were looking before at the beginning of the season and start doing new things,” Hall said. 

As the season progresses, wrestlers start to recognize the patterns of their opponents. Hall said it’s crucial to be able to adapt.

Hall said there’s more to this dual than trying to raise confidence for the team.

Hall doesn’t want Iowa State to be the worst wrestling team in Iowa. After being beaten by rival Iowa earlier this season, Northern Iowa and Iowa State seem to be fighting for second place on Friday.

“We need to dig deep, ’cause we can’t lose to these guys, they’re like our little brothers,” Hall said.

Not only would Iowa State be losing to its “little brother,” but it would also be doing it in front of a home crowd.

This dual may build confidence, but it could also have the opposite effect.