Brent Metcalfs First Iowa State Home Slate Brings Immediate Pressure

Iowa State University's 2026-27 wrestling season promises intense matchups and the start of a new era under head coach Brent Metcalf.

Iowa State has locked in the home side of its 2026-27 men’s wrestling schedule, and the first year of the Brent Metcalf era will feature a seven-dual slate at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones are set to welcome Bucknell, Arizona State, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Cornell to Ames. Dates and start times still aren’t out yet, and the full season schedule will come later.

What jumps out immediately is the quality of the lineup. Five of the seven opponents finished in the top 20 at the most recent NCAA Championships, and four of them landed inside the top 15.

There’s also plenty of familiar tension built into the schedule. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State stand out as the biggest names on the board, and Iowa State will bring an eight-match winning streak against the Sooners into that dual. The Cyclones have beaten Oklahoma every time since 2019, pushing their all-time series edge to 58-42-3.

The matchup with Oklahoma State carries a very different feel. Iowa State is coming off a loss in the most recent meeting in February 2026 and trails the all-time series 22-65-3.

Arizona State is another opponent where the Cyclones have had the upper hand lately. Iowa State has won four straight against the Sun Devils, including a 29-14 win in Tempe in early 2026 that moved the series to 32-11.

There’s recent success against Cornell and Stanford, too. Iowa State has taken its last two meetings with Cornell at neutral sites, and it edged Stanford 20-18 in Palo Alto last January.

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