COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The West Virginia University wrestling team embarks on another Big 12 road trip this weekend, as the Mountaineers (3-5, 2-3 Big 12) travel to Colorado for a pair of league duals.
 
The team starts off in USAF Academy where it will face Air Force (6-2, 1-1 Big 12) on Friday, in a 9 p.m. ET tilt, at Clune Arena. The Mountaineers will then turnaround and head to Greeley on Saturday for a 9 p.m. ET matchup with Northern Colorado (2-7, 1-3 Big 12) at Bank of Colorado Arena.
 
Live stats for both duals will be provided on TrackWrestling. Friday's dual with the Falcons will be available to subscribers at FloWrestling.
 
"We haven't wrestled these teams in a dual setting before," said fourth-year coach Sammie Henson. "I'm worried about the altitude a little bit, but you prepare for it as much as you can.
 
"Everyone is working hard. We need to go out there and perform. We need to do what we know we can do as a team. We had some great matches in the lower weights at Iowa State a couple weeks ago, but we need it to be a total team effort this time around."
 
Friday's match between the Mountaineers and Falcons marks the first-ever meeting between the two squads. WVU also will take on UNC for the first time in league play, after the first-ever meeting took place five years ago in 2013. West Virginia rolled to 35-4 victory over Northern Colorado at the Hoosier Duals in Bloomington, Indiana.
 
Previously competing in the Western Wrestling Conference, Air Force and Northern Colorado joined four other schools as affiliate members of the Big 12 during the 2015-16 academic year. Last year marked the Falcons' second season in the Big 12, as the squad posted a 6-6 overall dual record and a 1-4 mark in league play. The Bears went 2-10 overall and finished with a 1-6 conference mark.
 
Most recently, the Mountaineers dropped a pair of Big 12 road matches at then-No. 5 Oklahoma State and Iowa State on Jan. 19 and Jan. 21, respectively. West Virginia suffered a 29-6 setback to the Cowboys before dropping a heartbreaking 25-17 loss to the Cyclones two days later.
 
Redshirt junior Zeke Moisey (125) and redshirt freshman Matthew Schmitt (133) are tied for the team lead with 16 wins on the year, with each of them boasting a 16-7 overall record in their respective weight classes. In addition, Moisey paces the Mountaineers with 24 match points and sports a team-best 19 takedowns on the year. Freshman Nick Kiussis, who wrestles at 165 pounds for the Mountaineers, has a team-best five pins.
 
Of note, four wrestlers appear in the top 33 of their respective weight classes in the first of four coaches' panel rankings for the 2017-18 season, released on Jan. 18. Moisey ranks 14th at 125 pounds, while redshirt senior Jacob A. Smith ranks 17th at 197 pounds. Schmitt (133) and redshirt sophomore Zachary Moore (157) each enter the coaches' panel rankings for the first time in their careers at No. 32 in their respective weight classes. The final rankings will be used in determining qualifiers for the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, at Quicken Loans Arena, from March 15-17.
 
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers return home for a match against South Dakota State on Sunday, Feb. 11. West Virginia will host its annual Cradles for Cancer event against the Jack Rabbits for the second straight year. The match was started by Henson in 2015 in honor of his wife, Stephanie, a breast cancer survivor, as a way to raise awareness for cancer.
 
WVU Medicine will be sponsoring the match and collecting donations to the WVU Cancer Institute. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match and can get the WVU sports official "pink" t-shirt with a donation of $10 or more to WVU Medicine.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUWrestling on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.