After a trio of duals against small conference schools resulted in dominating wins, the Cyclone Wrestling team (3-0, 0-0 Big 12) will take on its first opponent from a power five conference in Michigan State on Nov. 23.

Michigan State comes out of the Big 10 conference, which is well known for strong wrestling programs such as Penn State, Iowa and Minnesota.

“Anytime you’re wrestling a Big Ten school, they’re going to hand fight hard and compete at a high level,” said ISU coach Kevin Jackson. “They’re used to really strong competition throughout the year.”

InterMat has four Big Ten teams in their top five ranking and nine Big Ten teams in the top 20. While Michigan State is not one of those ranked teams, the program is battle-tested year-in and year-out by facing such a high level of competition.

“The Big 10 always has some good wrestling programs so it’ll be a good test for us early in the season,” said redshirt sophomore Gabe Moreno. “They’ve been around and they know how to wrestle, especially in duals. Their wrestling season is a lot of duals and they’re always seeing the best competition so they’re constantly being tested.”

Iowa State has not been tested much in the early season after dominating wins against Utah Valley, Boise State and Central Michigan. Iowa State out-dueled their first three opponents of the season by a combined score of 105-15.

While the team expects a boost in the competition level during the face-off against Michigan State, Jackson said he expects the same results they achieved in the previous duals this season.

“We’re looking to go in there and do the same thing,” Jackson said. “I think we match up real well. I think our guys have a chance to dominate the dual and we’re going to hopefully dominate the matchup, but you have to go out there and you have to make it happen.”

Michigan State is 2-1 on the season with wins against Kent State and Olivet College and a loss against Chattanooga State.

While the Cyclones come in to the matchup after a dominating 30-3 victory against Central Michigan on Nov. 19, Michigan State will have a showdown with Big 10 powerhouse and top-ranked Minnesota the night of Nov. 21.

Regardless of the outcome of that match up, the Cyclones expect to be tested by the Spartans on Nov. 23.

“I think it should be a test,” said 141-pounder John Meeks. “Nothing is easy.”

Iowa State and Michigan State will hit the mats at 12:00 p.m. on Nov. 23 in East Lansing, Michigan.