Kevin Dresser expects a huge crowd at Iowa State for Sunday's dual against UNI

AMES — Kevin Dresser kept the funny flashcards and the usual pre-dual barbs to a minimum.

Instead, Iowa State’s head wrestling coach went bout-by-bout to help highlight how competitive and fun — from a fan’s perspective, especially— his fourth-ranked team’s dual at 1 p.m. Sunday against No. 17 Northern Iowa should be at Hilton Coliseum.

Dresser named a slew of fellow native Iowans. A couple of Cubans-turned-Cyclones. And one of the standouts for each in-state rival: ISU’s No. 2-ranked 165-pounder, David Carr, and the Panthers’ top-ranked 184-pounder, Parker Keckeisen.

“I think the people in the state of Iowa appreciate (the rivalry),” said Dresser, whose team has won four straight duals against against UNI. “When you get two Iowa schools going against each other at Hilton — and our guys love wrestling at Hilton. It was interesting hearing them talk in the locker room after (the West Virginia win) amongst themselves. They are like, ‘Man, I’m not losing here.’ They just love to wrestle at Hilton. That place does get loud, so when we’ve got a home match, you don’t need to say much. You just open the door and turn them loose.”

The Cyclones (11-2, 4-1 Big 12) carry a 12-dual home win streak into Sunday’s matchup with the Panthers (6-5, 5-1). Six of the 10 bouts could feature ranked wrestlers and three could pit top-15 foes against one another. Two of the most intriguing matches on paper will come at 141 and 157. ISU’s ninth-ranked Anthony Echemendia could face UNI’s sixth-ranked Cael Happel at 141 and the Cyclones’ 14th-ranked Cody Chittum is slated to battle the Panthers’ No. 15 Ryder Downey at 157.

“He’s pretty good,” said Chittum, a freshman who FloWrestling tabbed as the top pound-for-pound prospect in the Class of 2022. “He did better than me at (the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December), so it will be a good competition.”

Chittum won by major decision in his return to the mat from injury last Friday against the Mountaineers, but also required five staples in his scalp to repair a tooth-induced injury.

He’s fine with that, by the way.

“It’s like, gladiator, (where) blood can fly everywhere,” Chittum said. “It’s almost like UFC with just a couple rules, like, you can’t punch him and stuff.”

No you can’t — but Sunday’s dual will showcase a friendly and fierce rivalry. Dresser and Panthers head coach Doug Schwab share a deep mutual respect, which is embodied by their respective wrestlers and fan bases.

“I think we can get 10,000 (fans) in there and on Super Bowl Sunday that would be something,” Dresser said. “And I really think we can do that. In the past, I might have said it and rolled my eyes when I walked out of there, but I do think we can get that.”

So expect a big crowd and plenty of big moments on the mat.

“There’s nothing like a packed Hilton going crazy,” said ISU’s ninth-ranked 133-pounder, Evan Frost. “It really builds the energy.”

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