As summer reaches its height, the Iowa State 2025-26 athletic season comes to an end.
Some teams soared to their highest highs, and others found their lowest lows.
Mens Basketball Iowa State mens basketball just completed its most dominant season in not just program history, but Iowa State athletic history.
The Cyclones were ranked as high as second nationally in the AP Poll and entered March Madness as a second seed.
Iowa State finished its 2025-26 season with a 29-8 record, reaching the Big 12 Tournament semifinals, where it lost 82-80 to Arizona on a game-winning buzzer-beater.
In March Madness, the Cyclones beat Tennessee State in the first round 108-74 before beating the Kentucky Wildcats 82-63 in the second round.
Iowa State bowed out of the tournament in the Sweet 16 after losing to Tennessee 76-62.
Junior forward Milan Momcilovic led the scoring for Iowa State, averaging 16.9 points per game, with Joshua Jefferson closely behind with 16.4 points per game.
Jefferson also led Iowa State in rebounds per game with 7.4.
Senior Tamin Lipsey played his final games with his hometown team, averaging 13.5 points per game and leading the team in assists with 5.1 per game.
As a team, Iowa State was elite beyond the arc, shooting 38.3% as a team, which put them 13th nationally.
Surprisingly, the Cyclones biggest struggle was also at the free-throw line, where they shot 67.5%, 337th nationally.
Jefferson and Lipsey are both projected to be picked in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Momcilovic declared for the draft before withdrawing and transferring to Kentucky.
A majority of the team will be staying in Ames for the 2026-27 season, with Killyan Toure and Dominykas Pleta both headlining the returning players.
Womens Basketball Iowa States womens basketball team wasnt as successful as the mens, but still came away as an overall success story.
The Cyclones started the 2025-26 season 14-0, before losing five straight games to start conference play 2-5.
Despite the struggles, the Cyclones ended the regular season 22-8.
Iowa State lost the Big 12 Tournament early on, losing in the first round 72-63 to Arizona State.
Iowa State made the NCAA Tournament as an eight-seed, facing Syracuse.
The tournament matchup felt like more of the same from the Arizona State game, with the Cyclones struggling and losing 72-63.
Junior star center Audi Crooks led the team in scoring with a staggering 25.8 points per game on top of 7.7 rebounds per game.
For rebounding, Crooks was just behind Addy Brown, who ended the season with 8.8 rebounds per game.
Guard Jada Williams led the Cyclones in passing with 7.7 assists per game.
The Cyclones averaged the fourth most assists per game in all of college basketball with 20 per game.
Despite the Cyclones having only a single senior on the roster, Sydney Harris, almost no players returned.
Leading scorer Audi Crooks transferred to conference opponent Oklahoma State alongside the number two transfer prospect in womens college basketball, Liv McGill.
Williams and Brown both transferred to womens basketball powerhouses.
Williams headed south to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to play for LSU, while Brown headed west to play for the UCLA Bruins.
For 2026-27, Iowa State has three returning players with seniors Arianna Jackson and Evangelia Paulk, as well as sophomore Freya Jensen.
Mens Cross Country Iowa States cross country is historically its most consistently good program, and that could be seen in how its 2025 season started.
The Cyclones came out on fire, with the men winning in the Cyclone Preview in Ames as well as the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri.
Iowa State finished 27th at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In the Big 12 Championships, Iowa State finished second, with sophomore Robin Kwemoi Bera finishing third individually.
Next up for the Cyclones was the NCAA Midwest Regionals, where once again, Iowa State finished second, with Cyclones finishing from second to fourth and sophomore Joash Ruto leading the bunch.
Finally for Iowa State was the NCAA Championships, with the Cyclones finishing third, behind New Mexico in second and Oklahoma State in first.
Bera was the highest finishing Cyclone, ending in 15th out of 259 total competitors.
Womens Cross Country The womens cross country team had successes as well, competing in the same tournaments as the men.
Iowa State won the Cyclone Preview before a seventh-place finish at the Gans Creek Classic.
A little less than a month later, Iowa State finished third at the Nuttycombe Invitational to end the regular season.
At the Big 12 Championships, the women finished as well as the men, also ending in second.
Iowa State had runners finish fifth through seventh, with freshman Mercyline Kirwa leading the Cyclones.
At the NCAA Midwest Regionals, Iowa State finished third behind Northwestern and Oklahoma State.
Cyclone freshman Betty Kipkore finished third individually in the order.
In the NCAA National Championships, the Cyclones ended the year with a 20th-place finish.
Kipkore once again led Iowa State, finishing 15th individually out of 261 competitors.
Football Iowa State football is the most followed program in Ames.
The Cyclones ended the 2025 season 8-4, not competing in a postseason bowl game.
In 2024, Iowa State had the programs best-ever season with an 11-3 record, so Cyclone fans had high expectations.
An injury-heavy season hampered any hopes at anything truly great, but wins over teams like Iowa, Arizona and Kansas State made the season better than average.
The win over Iowa was really the staple of Iowa States 2025 season, beating the Hawkeyes 16-13 to take home the Cy-Hawk trophy for the second straight year.
Junior quarterback Rocco Becht passed for 2,584 yards and 16 touchdowns with nine interceptions.
Running back Carson Hansen led yards from scrimmage for Iowa State, with 952 yards rushing and 134 yards receiving, for a total of 1,086 yards with six touchdowns.
Iowa States season was characterized by the antics off the field, with the program losing 55 players to the transfer portal after head coach Matt Campbell left the team to coach for Penn State.
For 2026, Iowa State filled in every position, with former Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor getting the keys to the locker room as the projected starting quarterback for the Cyclones.
It wasnt all bad for Iowa State; defensive tackle Domonique Orange was selected 82nd overall in the 2026 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.
Five more players went undrafted but are on NFL preseason rosters.
Iowa States 2026 season is something unknown at this point, with an entirely new roster and coaching staff; anything is possible.
Mens Golf College golf goes through two seasons of the year, with an autumn season before a winter break and the season ending through the spring.
The Cyclones fall season was above standard, with two top-five finishes through the four events.
A third-place finish at the Git-R-Done Invitational hosted by Nebraska was the best of autumn, and a fourth-place finish at the Gopher Invitational hosted by Minnesota was the second-best finish.
At the Gopher Invitational, senior Cyclone Paul Beauvy claimed an individual victory, shooting -8.
For the spring, Iowa State played in six events, with two second-place finishes at the Tiger Invitational and the Bell Bank Collegiate being the best of the year for Iowa State.
In the Big 12 Championships, Iowa State struggled, finishing 11th in the field of 16 and missing out on the NCAA Regionals.
Zachary May was the best finisher for Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship, finishing 15th.
The Cyclones ended the 2025-26 season ranked 69th nationally, peaking at 66th in mid-February.
Womens Golf Iowa State womens golf put together arguably the programs best-ever season throughout the 2025-26 season.
In the fall, Iowa State played in four events, finishing third in the Wolverine Invitational to start the year and then claiming back-to-back fourth places before ending 2025 with a ninth-place finish.
In the Wolverine Invitational, Cyclone Pammy Chookaew claimed victory in the individual table with a final score of -5.
The Cyclones start to the spring season was rocky, with a 15th-place finish in a field of 18 at the Purdue Puerto Rico Classic.
Iowa State then turned on the boosters, winning three of their next four events, with victories at the Texas Golf Throwdown, the MountainView Collegiate and the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic.
The one event that wasnt a victory was still impressive, with a fourth-place finish at the Chevron Collegiate, Iowa States most difficult event of the 2026 spring regular season.
In the Texas Golf Throwdown and the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic, Cyclone sophomore Nichakorn Pinprayoon won the individual tables, and those wouldnt be her last.
As the postseason began, Pinprayoon tied for first at the Big 12 Championships with a final score of -7.
As a team, Iowa State also won, capturing its first-ever Big 12 Championship with a final score of -5.
At the NCAA Louisville Regional, Iowa State finished fourth in a field of 12, qualifying them for the NCAA Championships.
In the Championships, Iowa State had its best-ever finish, finishing +12 to place ninth in the field of 30.
Softball Cyclone softball ended their 2026 season 32-23 and 9-15 in conference play.
Iowa States season was filled with highs and lows throughout.
The Cyclones started the year with a bad loss to Omaha, losing 13-5 through six innings of play before getting their first win the very next day in a 16-2 game versus Kansas City.
Iowa States first invitational of the year was the Doc Halverson Invite, where the team went 3-2 with losses only coming to Omaha.
The next week, Iowa State competed in the Dream City Invitational, ending the tournament with a 2-2 record with wins over Texas-Arlington and Tulsa and losses coming to Wisconsin twice.
Next up was the Gopher Indoor Classic at U.S.
Bank Stadium, where the Cyclones went 5-0, beating Minnesota, Central Michigan, North Dakota State and Long Island State twice.
Iowa State saw Long Island State two more times, just five days later at the UCSB Invite.
Iowa State played UCSB and Long Island State; the Cyclones beat Long Island State twice and went 1-2 vs.
UCSB.
Finally, for non-conference play, Iowa State played in the Missouri Tournament, with wins over Minnesota and South Dakota before losing to hosts Missouri 6-4.
As Iowa State went through conference play, they saw in-state rivals Iowa twice, beating them 9-7 in Iowa City and losing 7-2 at home in Ames.
The Cyclones finished just a game short of the Big 12 Tournament, ending the year with a 12-4 loss in six innings to UCF.
Womens Swimming and Diving Swim and dive is a womens only sport at Iowa State that stretches from October to the postseason in March.
The Cyclones regular season ended with a 4-5 record, going 0-5 at home and 3-0 away, with their fourth win being at a neutral site.
The Cyclones opened the year with losses to Nebraska and back-to-back defeats to Illinois before beating South Dakota State and South Dakota.
Iowa State then beat UNI and St.
Thomas (MN) after an eighth-place finish at the Hawkeye Invite.
The Cyclones ended the regular season with losses to Iowa and Kansas before entering the Big 12 Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Over the five days, Iowa State finished no worse than eighth.
In the national invitational championships, the Cyclones tied for 31st, putting an end to the swim and dive season.
Womens Tennis Just like swim and dive, tennis is a womens-only sport at Iowa State.
The season is one of the longest in college sports, running from September through April.
Cyclone Tennis struggled through the 2025-26 season, ending the year with a 4-15 record and a 3-10 record in conference play.
Iowa State started the season with 10 tournaments, ranging from Alabama to Kansas.
In November, Iowa State competed in the NCAA Doubles Championship, with Cyclones Stanislava Shulzhenko and Mari Paz Alberto Vilar making it to the round of 16 before being eliminated.
Iowa State started the season losing to Minnesota and Wichita State before beating St.
Thomas and UNLV.
After a loss to Illinois, Iowa State was swept by Iowa 7-0 in the Cy-Hawk series matchup.
The Cyclones lost their next 10 matches after the Cy-Hawk loss, meaning Iowa State went on a 12-game losing streak.
With three games left in the year, Iowa State beat Cincinnati 4-2 before beating West Virginia two days later 4-2.
The Cyclones ended the year with a 4-0 loss to Kansas State before a game against Oklahoma State was canceled.
Mens Track and Field Iowa State mens track and field competed in a vast amount of events throughout the 2025-26 year, with track and field being the last sport to end their season in mid-June.
At the end of February, Iowa State competed in its first major event of the 2026 season at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Lubbock, Texas.
At the event, the Cyclones finished third, qualifying them for the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
At the event, Iowa State finished 42nd.
Later on in May, the Cyclones competed in the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, finishing fifth and qualifying for the national championships.
At the NCAA National Championships, in Eugene, Oregon, the men finished 51st.
Womens Track and Field During the 2026 track and field season, the women were the team that really exceeded expectations.
At the Big 12 Indoor Championships, the Cyclones finished fifth, qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships, where Iowa State fell to just 15th.
In the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, Iowa State finished fourth, with senior Rachel Joseph finishing first in the womens 400-meter.
In the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Iowa State finished an incredible sixth, with Joseph finishing seventh in the 400-meter and freshman Mercyline Kirwa finishing second in the womens 5,000-meter.
Womens Volleyball Like tennis, as well as swim and dive, volleyball is a womens-only sport at Iowa State.
The season spans from late August to early December.
The Cyclones finished the 2025 season with a final record of 23-8 and a conference record of 12-6.
Iowa States non-conference play was almost perfect, going 10-1 and beating Iowa, with its only loss coming to another Iowa team, the UNI Panthers.
The Cyclones, as noted, went 12-6 in conference play, with notable wins over No.
16 TCU, No.
6 Arizona State and No.
23 Utah.
Iowa State qualified for the NCAA Volleyball Championship, meeting St.
Thomas (MN) in the first round of the tournament.
Versus the Tommies, Iowa State won 3-2, advancing to the next round.
The Cyclones next opponents were No.
17 Minnesota, another team from the state.
The Cyclones lost 3-0, were swept by the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis, and put an end to their season.
Mens Wrestling Finally, 2025 was the last year that wrestling was a mens-only sport in Ames, but nonetheless, they still were the lone wrestling program at Iowa State.
Iowa State opened the season with the Cyclone Invitational before beating Nebraska-Kearney 37-3.
The very next match for the Cyclones was the Cy-Hawk battle versus the Hawkeyes.
Iowa State won the duel 20-14.
Just a week later, Iowa State won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with 183.5 points.
The next match against No.
2 Ohio State came as the Cyclones first loss of the year.
Iowa State ended the season 12-2 and 8-1 in conference, with notable victories over No.
24 Stanford, No.
15 South Dakota State, No.
21 Oklahoma, No.
18 West Virginia, No.
15 UNI and No.
14 Missouri.
At the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Iowa State battled through a storm, literally and figuratively, to finish second with a score of 144.
At the National Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, the Cyclones finished eighth with a final score of 52 points, putting a close to the 2025 season.