Consolidating general information into one place.

First and most notably, women's college wrestling is freestyle, as opposed to men's college, boys HS and girls HS.

Weight classes: 10
103, 110, 117, 124, 131, 138, 145, 160, 180, 207

Scholarships available: 10

Roster limit: 30

At present, there are no divisions in NCAA Women's Wrestling. A total of 112 teams -- not counting future additions -- are listed on the NCAA sport sponsorship site for 2025-26 (up from 76 in 2023-24). If we were to count them by their "typical" division, however, the breakdown would be:
Division I - 6
Division II - 39
Division III - 67

Number of NCAA programs in Iowa and nearby states (2025-26):
Iowa - 10
Illinois - 8
Wisconsin - 4
Missouri - 3
North Dakota - 2
Kansas - 1
Minnesota - 1
Nebraska - 1
South Dakota - 1

How the Postseason Works (for 2025-26 and 2026-27):
*Teams are split into 6 geographic regions of 17-20 teams each
*Each region gets 30 qualifiers (top 3 at each weight)
*Regional competition is held two weeks before nationals
*A total of 180 qualifiers (18 at each weight) at nationals

Recent Timeline:
2020 - Women's wrestling becomes an NCAA "emerging sport"
2022-23 - Minimum sponsorship count met
January 2025 - NCAA announces that women's wrestling will have an official championship, starting in 2025-26
December 2025 - Kent State (D-I #7) announces addition of program, starting 2027-28
January 2026 - NCAA approves establishment of a D-3 championship, starting in 2027-28
January 2026 - Mercyhurst (D-I #8) announces addition of program, starting 2026-27
March 2026 - The inaugural NCAA women's championship is held in Coralville
April 2026 - Iowa State (D-I #9) announces addition of program, starting 2027-28

Keaton Roskop talks about his decision to become the first Cyclone of the Jimmy Rogers era and tight end coach Seth Hestness shares why it's valuable to have him in the program. Jake Brend also explains the importance of developing big men in college basketball going forward. Presented by Whiskey River in the Northwest Bank Studios. Login to view embedded media

Hey cool kids,

I just wanted to share that ISU has sent a media advisory that there will be an official press conference held tomorrow at 10 a.m. at Hilton Coliseum. I will be in attendance to bring you all the coverage.

The release was short and sweet but said "major announcements" to be shared.

Giddy up!

Found this over the weekend, 1983 ISU-Missouri game, considered de-facto "Hilton Magic" origin, full telecast, sans breaks/commercials.

Probably has been posted on CF from time to time, worth a look regardless.

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Among numerous fun throw-back details:
* No shot clock or 3-point line
* Few fans are wearing Iowa State sports clothing, other than a few wearing cardinal or gold shirts. A lot of "everyday clothes."
* Ron Falenschek!
* (And, of course, the short-shorts uniform era)

No one in Ames knows Jaylen Raynor better than quarterbacks coach Keith Heckendorf, who was his offensive coordinator at Arkansas State. Heckendorf shares how Raynor became the quarterback he is today. Plus, how did Raynor learn every teammates name in less than two weeks? Jake Brend gives his take on Audi Crooks to Oklahoma State. Presented by Fareway Meat & Grocery in the Northwest Bank Studios. Login to view embedded media

Looking for recommendations on garage shelving units. Specifically looking at something that's metal and has doors so "hide" all the junk.

Leaning towards Gladiator Gear Boxes, but wondering if anyone has other recommendations.

Many reports floating out there that the guy is broke. Over $1.2 BILLION in career earnings and at the age of 49... broke and in serious debt.

Lol.

Now it makes sense that he's un-retired and booking fights again. Couldn't have happened to a bigger fraud.

Iowa State is in the final week of spring football and kicked it off with some Monday availability.

Watch everything Keith Heckendorf, Seth Hestness, Jaylen Raynor and Keaton Roskop had to say below.
https://cyclonefanatic.com/2026/04/...or-and-keaton-roskop-at-mondays-availability/

Spring Football Series: Jake Brend, Rob Gray and Jackson Pence break down the defensive side of the ball. What's next after the loss of Braden Awls? Why have the corners been so impressive? Who stands out up front? All of that and more, presented by A+ Lawn and Landscape. https://cyclonefanatic.com/podcasts/spring-football-series-defensive-breakdown/

Four massive announcements regarding wrestling signal a bright and exciting future for Cyclone wrestling.

Just how bright could that future be? Andrew Harrington has more in this week's Monday Musings.
https://cyclonefanatic.com/2026/04/...ng-changes-signal-healthy-future-for-program/

Oklahoma State transfer Brayden Thompson is headed to Ames.

• 184 pounds
• 2024 NCAA qualifier as a true freshman
• Redshirted in 2024-25, went 9-0 in open tournaments
• Three years of eligibility remaining
• Former No. 3 pound-for-pound recruit in the 2023 class

More on the Illinois native in update below:

Surprised there hasn't been more discussion about this. Personally I'm really excited to see this. This will be the first time out of low earth orbit in over 50 years.

Now that the roster is finalized for the most part, who do you think will be the starters?

G: Toure
G: Johnson
G: Batemon
F: Singleton
F: Buchanan

Rotational Players:
G: Bond
G: Prather
F: Manning
F: Pleta

Bench (limited Minutes):
Mitchell
Rinaldo-Komlan
Wiggins
Kiss

Possible Redshirt (due to injury):
Gray

I think Bond is a starting candidate, but not sure who that pushes to the bench.

As expected, commits on Instagram while tailgating. Literally, tailgate with a Cyclone cooler on it behind hm.

Grinnell native. I believe he missed his junior year. A huge get!

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What are some weird movies that just flopped or are generally not loved by the public that you enjoy?

What are you making at home that is awesome???

Post it here!


Thit Heo Nuong Xa, Nuoc Cham, and Jasmine Rice

Five Cheese and Pancetta Mac and Cheese

Crispy Garlic Parmesan Wings

Anyone heard if going to be Tailgate Tour this year? Any dates being mentioned? Know has usually been in mid to late May time period. Especially important with new coaches in FB, MW, and WW.

Jimmy Butler said on a Bill Simmons podcast that he was coming to Ames until Wes Johnson transferred

Billboard released an article detailing the tracking Luminate (the tracking company Billboard uses to create all their charts) did for the entirety of 2025. I'll post a link to the whole thing but will copy a few bullet points as well.

• Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl was Luminate’s top album of 2025 in the U.S. It’s the fourth time Swift has captured Luminate’s year-end No. 1 album, and her second-consecutive title. She also had the year-end No. 1 album in 2024 with The Tortured Poets Department, in 2014 with 1989 and in 2009 with Fearless.
• For the first time since Luminate began tabulating the year’s top albums by equivalent album units in 2014, two albums exceeded 5 million units earned in a calendar year: The Life of a Showgirl (5.607 million) and Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem (5.125 million).
• On-demand audio streams drove 85% of all U.S. audio album consumption in 2025. Pure album sales (purchases of physical and digital download albums) totaled 14% of consumption and track sales accounted for 1%.
• Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” was the most-streamed song in the U.S. in 2025 by on-demand audio streams: 746.2 million.
• U.S. vinyl album sales increased for the 19th consecutive year, growing by 8.6% in to 47.9 million copies sold in 2025. (I found this stat particularly fascinating: 19 years of growth.)

The 2025 UFL season kicks off Friday, March 28 with St. Louis at Houston, 7 p.m. CT on FOX.

FOX will have a Friday night game each week. Other regular-season games will be split among FS1, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2.

Active rosters are limited to 50 players. Here are the Cyclones on active rosters to start the season:


Also, Anthony Becht (HC) and Seneca Wallace (QB) are on the St. Louis staff and Marc Lillibridge is the GM for San Antonio.

There a lot of nice vintage or retro ISU clothing options out there now but always curious for some hidden gems. I know the usual spots (Cy’s, ISU Bookstore, Scheel’s, ****’s, CF Store, Vintage Apparel, Fanatics, Homefield, Charlie Hustle, etc) but if there are others please post!

I found these two items recently and had to get.