As Big 12 teetered, ISU's Jackson stood firm

AMES - Iowa State wrestling was going to survive. Kevin Jackson was convinced of that much even as the Big 12 Conference teetered on extinction.

“I never thought our program was in jeopardy,” Jackson said. “I think some heads would roll if Iowa State ever lost its wrestling program. I don't think that was ever in anyone's thought process. ... We are a wrestling state. There definitely was concern, but I could control only what I could control, which was nothing.”

With Nebraska leaving for the Big Ten after the 2010-11 season, the Big 12 will be left with only four wrestling programs: ISU, Missouri, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

The league had been grandfathered in by the NCAA, which requires conferences to have at least six schools participating for automatic qualifying status to the national meet. The Big 12 had the third-most automatic qualifiers (37) among 11 conferences/regionals for last year's NCAA Championships.

Assistant Big 12 Commissioner Bob Burda said coaches and administrators are working toward keeping the conference intact. Adding schools is a possibility, he said.

Coaches held a conference call last week to discuss the league's future.

“Our goal is to see it continue,” Burda said. “These programs have competed historically at the highest level. The Big 12 is one of the premier conferences nationally. Right now all options are on the table for consideration. We haven't ruled out the possibility that we can continue with four.”

The league was set to begin a double round-robin schedule starting with the 2011-12 season in which teams would wrestle dual meets against one another home and away.

ISU has been wrestling two teams at Hilton Coliseum and the other two in their buildings.

Coaches wanted to crown regular-season and conference-tournament champions. That plan now may be altered once the Huskers switch leagues in a year.

Jackson's mind raced as talk of the conference's demise grew louder back in late May. Where was ISU going to fit in to the wrestling landscape?

“If the Big 12 would have been dropped I would have loved to go the Big Ten,” Jackson said. “That would have been my first choice, if you could choose.”

He believes the four-team setup can work, one reason being other leagues would not be eager to invite wrestling powers.

“I don't think the Pac-10 or any other conference wants Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Missouri to show up on their doorstep and bid for NCAA qualifiers,” Jackson said. “And I don't see too many other schools knocking on our door to start a new conference.”

Jackson said he thinks eventually all the movement will be moot. Large-scale regional qualifying for the NCAA meet is the direction that wrestling is headed in, he said.

“That will probably be the method that's going to be used,” Jackson said. “That makes sense for us to do that as the sport continues to evolve.”

Burda said there is no firm timeline for a decision on the Big 12's fate. The structure for this season is not affected.

“This will be an ongoing process,” Burda said. “We are able to look at it and don't have the constraints of time.”

Jackson is feeling much more secure with where things stand, though he always knew there would be a place for Cyclone wrestling, in the Big 12 or elsewhere.

“We were always going to be a powerhouse in wrestling with our mission to win a national championship,” he said. “The rumors turned out to be totally false. ... I hoped for the best, and I think the best happened.”