BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech wrestling squad, ranked sixth in the country at 8-1, will head west to for a pair of dual matches this weekend, taking on Northern Iowa and Iowa State. The Hokies and Panthers will battle on Friday night at 8 p.m. (Eastern) in Cedar Falls inside West Gym, where UNI has a 12-match winning streak. Tech and the Cyclones will match up on Sunday at 3 p.m. (Eastern) in Ames inside Hilton Coliseum.

Northern Iowa, which is receiving votes in the national poll, is 6-3 overall, 3-0 in the MAC after blanking Buffalo last weekend at home. Virginia Tech is 1-2 all-time against the Panthers, 0-1 in Cedar Falls (32-10, 2005). The two last met in 2012 at the National Duals in Ames, Iowa, a 20-17 Virginia Tech win. Northern Iowa head coach Doug Schwab served two seasons as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech under Tom Brands and Schwab’s wife, Allyson, played softball at Tech. UNI has three ranked wrestlers: No. 6 Dylan Peters (125), No. 12 Cooper Moore (165) and No. 15 Blaize Cabell (heavyweight).

Tickets may be purchased thru unipanthers.com or at the door. A limited number of tickets are still available to non-season ticket holders. They are $7 at the door or $5 online, but have several service charges added on.

Iowa State is 5-1 and ranked 13th in the country after rolling past Penn last weekend at home. Virginia Tech is 0-5 all-time against the Cyclones, 0-2 in Ames. The two last met in 2012, a 20-14 ISU win in Ames. Six Cyclone wrestlers are ranked: No. 6 Earl Hall (133), No. 15 Gabe Moreno (149), No. 5 Michael Moreno (165), No. 11 Tanner Weatherman (174), No. 17 Lelund Weatherspoon (184) and No. 3 Kyven Gadson (197).

Tech’s Sunday match will be a part of the Beauty and the Beast event, which features a simultaneous Cyclone gymnastics meet and Cyclone wrestling meet in Hilton Coliseum (picture above). The Iowa State gymnastics team will welcome Oregon State and Southeast Missouri for a tri-meet while the Cyclones and Hokies battle. Tickets are on sale thru cyclones.com. The Hilton Coliseum Ticket Office, and Hilton Coliseum doors will open at 1 p.m. (Central). Wrestling season ticket holders will be seated in sections 109-112 and 132-135, all other seating will be general admission.

UNI Video ($)

Iowa State Video ($) NOTE - This broadcast will be a dual wrestling/gymnastics broadcast. The action on screen will be determined by what's important at the time. There will not be a split screen feed. It will not be on wrestling the entire time.

Live Stats: www.trackwrestling.com

#6 Virginia Tech (8-1)
125: #4 Joey Dance (20-2)
133: #18 Kevin Norstrem (15-9)
141: #3 Devin Carter (21-3)
149: #13 Sal Mastriani (18-7)
157: Jake Spengler (12-5)
165: Chad Strube (6-7)
174: #9 Zach Epperly (15-3)
184: Austin Gabel (11-8)
197: Jared Haught (13-11)
285: #7 Ty Walz (20-4)

Northern Iowa (6-3)
125: #6 Dylan Peters (15-2)
133: Leighton Gaul (7-10)
141: Jesse Etherington (8-4) OR Jake Hodges (9-9) OR Tyler Willers (0-7)
149: Gunnar Wolfensperger (17-5) OR Zach Witte (12-5)
157: Jarrett Jensen (15-8)
165: Taylor Berger (12-6) OR #12 Cooper Moore (14-3)
174: Curt Maas (18-4) OR Kyle Lux (9-8)
184: Cody Caldwell (12-2)
197: Cody Krumwiede (13-9) OR Basil Minto (16-7)
285: #15 Blaize Cabell (17-4)

#13 Iowa State (5-1)
125: Kyle Larson (16-7)
133: #7 Earl Hall (18-4)
141: John Meeks (7-5) OR Dante Rodriguez (12-4)
149: #16Gabe Moreno (18-4)
157: Luke Goettl (15-4)
165: #5 Michael Moreno (15-1)
174: #9 Tanner Weatherman (17-5)
184: #17 Lelund Weatherspoon (11-2)
197: #3 Kyven Gadson (16-1)
285: Quean Smith (13-6)

rankings taken from InterMat

The following Tech wrestlers will compete in the Purple Raider Open in Alliance, Ohio, on Sunday.

125: Brandon Olsen (unattached)
133: Jackson Myers (unattached)
141: Dennis Gustafson (unattached)
141: Jerry Ronnau
149: Solomon Chishko (unattached)
149: Chad Saunders (unattached)
149: Brent Waterman (unattached)
157: Cameron Bowen (unattached)
157: Carter Page (unattached)
157: Justus Weaver (unattached)
157: David Wesley
165: David Bergida (unattached)
174: Tae Leary
174: Brooks Morrison
184: Zack Zavatsky (unattached)
197: David Reck (unattached)
285: Dan Garwood
285: Brandon Taylor

For updates on Virginia Tech wrestling, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Wrestling