CEDAR FALLS -- In Tom Brands' eyes, there is a title on the line.

Therefore, the head coach of the top-ranked Iowa will have his Hawkeyes firing on all cylinders Saturday when the 2009 Cliff Keen NWCA National Duals kick off at the UNI-Dome.

Iowa is the defending NWCA National Duals Division I champion.

"This is a national championship," Brands said. "It's a wrestling bonanza with all divisions and championships on the line. You want to be at your best … peak for it. It's an important event, and we're not going to leave anything on the table."

Some question whether the Hawkeyes will be at their peak, at least lineup-wise.

Charlie Falck, 125-pound starter, injured an ankle at the Midlands and defaulted his final two matches, while 197-pound starter Chad Beatty has been out since suffering a knee injury during the Journeymen/Brute Northeast Duals Nov. 29.

Brands expects both wrestlers to be ready to go for Iowa's opener with Wyoming. If not, he says the Hawkeyes will still be ready.

"We're concerned with us being in the right frame of mind and things we can control," Brands said. "I feel we are a go. But we will also evaluate as we go.

"We feel good about all our guys. We feel good about the guys we can fill our lineup with. We've had a lot of guys who've stepped up on a consistent basis and are performing at a high level for us."

While Iowa earned the top seed, many feel a number of teams could pull out the win, including second-seeded Iowa State, third-seeded Cornell and fourth-seeded Nebraska.

The Cyclones enter the tournament coming off a second-place finish to Iowa at the Midlands Championships.

ISU will also be looking to erase bad memories of last year's seventh-place finish. The Cyclones were upset by Hofstra in the first round, 19-18 on criteria, and finished 3-2 overall in the championships.

ISU is 5-1 with its only loss coming at Iowa, 20-15, on Dec. 6. The Cyclones open with Indiana and would most likely face Wisconsin in the quarterfinals.

Northern Iowa won't enter the tournament completely healthy, either.

The Panthers lost 149-pound starter Charlie Ettelson to a trio of arm injuries last weekend at the Cleveland State duals, while 157-pound starter Tyson Reiner has a cracked rib.

Brett Robbins will fill Ettelson's spot, while Trevor Kittleson is slated to replace Reiner if he can't go.

"Yeah, we're a little shorthanded," UNI head coach Brad Penrith said. "We've got Robbins and Alex Dolly back, but they're not in peak shape yet. It is good to have them back.

"We have a lot of confidence in Trevor at 157, and Brett is more than capable at 149.

UNI opens with sixth-ranked and sixth-seeded Ohio State in the first round.

The Buckeyes feature two defending national champions � J Jaggers at 141 and Mike Pucillo at 184 in addition to having three other wrestlers ranked in the top ten.

The featured bout will be at 165 between the Panthers' second-ranked Moza Fay and fourth-ranked Colt Sponseller.

Fay beat Sponseller, 14-9, at the NWCA All-Star Classic in November.

"We're going to put our best face forward and see what the outcome is … nobody says it's not going to be a challenge. That is what we want," Penrith added.

The tournament has a definitely Big Ten flavor with eight of the conference's 11 teams entered.

"We take a lot of pride in our conference, as does the Big 12," Brands said. "Cornell, the third seed, I know they are excited and fired up to get after it."

Three of the Big 12 wrestling members are entered � Iowa State, fourth-ranked Nebraska and fifth-ranked Missouri.

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com

Team

1. Iowa, 2. Iowa State, 3. Cornell, 4. Nebraska, 5. Missouri, 6. Ohio State, 7. Illinois, 8. Lehigh, 9. Wisconsin, 10. Oklahoma, 11. Minnesota, 12. Central Michigan, 13. Oklahoma State, 14. Penn State, 15. Edinboro, 16. Boise State, 17. Michigan, 18. Hofstra, 19. Indiana, 20. Northwestern, 21. Northern Iowa, 22. Penn, 23. Old Dominion, 24. Kent State, 25. Pittsburgh.

Individual

125 - 1. Angel Escobedo (Indiana), 2. Paul Donahoe (Edinboro), 3. Brandon Precin (Northwestern), 4. Charlie Falck (Iowa), 5. Tyler Clark (Iowa State), 6. James Nicholson (Old Dominion), 7. Rollie Peterkin (Penn), 8. Zach Sanders (Minnesota), 9. Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan), 10. Anthony Robles (Arizona State).

133 - 1. Franklin Gomez (Michigan State), 2. Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State), 3. Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois), 4. Jayson Ness (Minnesota), 5. Daniel Dennis (Iowa), 6. Nick Fanthorpe (Iowa State), 7. Joe Baker (Navy), 8. Reece Humphrey (Ohio State), 9. Steve Bell (Maryland), 10. Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra).

141 - 1. Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa), 2. Nick Gallick (Iowa State), 3. Corey Jantzen (Harvard), 4. Kellen Russell (Michigan), 5. Zach Tanelli (Wisconsin), 6. Chris Drouin (Arizona State), 7. Ryan Williams (Old Dominion), 8. Mike Thorn (Minnesota), 9. Cody Cleveland (UT-Chattanooga), 10. Marcus Hoehn (Missouri).

149 - 1. Brent Metcalf (Iowa), 2. Bubba Jenkins (Penn State), 3. Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State), 4. Lance Palmer (Ohio State), 5. Bryce Saddoris (Navy), 6. Kyel Ruschell (Wisconsin), 7. Jake Patacsil (Purdue), 8. Steve Brown (Central Michigan), 9. Matt Cathell (Delaware State), 10. Cesar Grajales (Penn), 11. Mitch Mueller (Iowa State).

157 - 1. Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro), 2. Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska), 3. J.P. O'Connor (Harvard), 4. Jordan Leen (Cornell), 5. Cyler Sanderson (Iowa State), 6. Adam Hall (Boise State), 7. Michael Chandler (Missouri), 8. Dan Vallimont (Penn State), 9. Matt Moley (Bloomsburg), 10. Newly McSpadden (Oklahoma State).

165 - 1. Mack Lewnes (Cornell), 2. Moza Fay (Northern Iowa), 3. Ryan Morningstar (Iowa State), 4. Colt Sponseller (Ohio State), 5. Jon Reader (Iowa State), 6. Jarrod King (Edinboro), 7. Stephen Dwyer (Nebraska), 8. Nick Marable (Missouri), 9. Luke Manuel (Purdue), 10. Trevor Stewart (Central Michigan).

174 - 1. Steve Luke (Michigan), 2. Brandon Browne (Nebraska), 3. Steve Anceravage (Cornell), 4. Michael Cannon (American), 5. Jay Borschel (Iowa), 6. Raymond Jordan (Missouri), 7. Mike Miller (Central Michigan), 8. Duke Burk (Iowa State), 9. Jeff James (Oklahoma), 10. CHris Henrich (Virginia).

184 - 1. Jake Herbert (Northwestern), 2. Mike Pucillo (Ohio State), 3. Phil Keddy (Iowa), 4. Kirk Smith (Boise State), 5. Dustin Kilgore (Kent State), 6. Doug Umbehauer (Rider), 7. Louis Caputo (Harvard), 8. Kyle Bressler (Oregon State), 9. Rocco Caponi (Virginia), 10. Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming).

197 - 1. Craig Brester (Nebraska), 2. Dallas Herbst (Wisconsin), 3. Jake Varner (Iowa State), 4. Tyrel Todd (Michigan), 5. Max Askren (Missouri), 6. Cayle Byers (George Mason), 7. Brandon Halsey (CS-Bakersfield), 8. Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State), 9. Eric Lapotsky (Oklahoma), 10. Hudson Taylor, 14. Andrew Anderson (Northern Iowa), 20. Chad Beatty (Iowa).

HEAVYWEIGHT - 1. Jared Rosholt (Oklahoma State), 2. Mark Ellis (Missouri), 3. David Zabriskie (Iowa State), 4. Zach Sheaffer (Pittsburgh), 5. Jermail Porter (Kent State), 6. Kyle Massey (Wisconsin), 7. Konrad Dudziak (Duke), 8. Scott Steele (Navy), 9. Mitch Monteiro (CS-Bakersfield), 10. John Wise (Illinois), 12. Dan Erekson (Iowa), 20. Christian Brantley (Northern Iowa).