The #11 Peacock wrestling team opened their day at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls with a big win and a near upset of the #1 team in the nation. Upper Iowa entered the dual tournament unseeded. The team defeated the #8 seed, Grand Canyon University, in its opening match 20-18 to earn a shot at #1 Nebraska-Omaha. The Peacocks gave the Mavericks all they could handle falling 21-15. After the split, Upper Iowa will move to the consolation side of the bracket and face off against the winner of the Central Oklahoma (#7 seed)-Limestone dual. That dual is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

In the Peacocks dual versus the Antelopes of Grand Canyon, who was recently voted to #10 in the country (one spot above UIU), Upper Iowa only won four of the ten matches, but the four wins were enough to score 20 points and earn the victory. Trevor Franklin (#3 NCAA) gave UIU an early 6-0 lead thanks to a first period win by fall. Kyle Pedretti (#1 NCAA) defeated Todd Wilcox (#2 NCAA) 5-4 in the primetime match of the dual. Grand Canyon climbed back to a 9-9 tie with three straight decisions. J.R. Baker lost 8-1, Blake Hilmer lost 4-2 in sudden victory, and Winston Robbins lost 8-5.  Bryce Lumzy earned the Peacocks’ third win with a win by fall in the second period to give UIU a 15-9 lead. 

GCU regrouped and took another three straight decisions and the lead 18-15. Wade Gobin dropped his match 10-3, Mitch Schultz lost a close 10-7 decision, while Carl Broghammer lost by a similar three-point margin, 8-5. Zach Rosol toed the line knowing that UIU needed a win to tie and that a bonus-point victory would give the Peacocks the win. Rosol dominated his match winning by technical fall, 19-2 (5:29), and providing Upper Iowa with five points and a 20-18 victory.

Nebraska-Omaha (#1 Seed) 21 – Upper Iowa 15

The Peacocks got their shot at the number one team in the nation this afternoon and nearly upset the the Mavericks in the quarterfinals. Upper Iowa once again only won four matches, but of the six matches that were decided by three points or less, UIU only won two of them. The Peacocks once again took an early 9-0 lead thanks to Franklin’s second win by fall of the day (6:15) and a second close decision (2-1) for Pedretti. 

The Mavericks stormed back into the lead with a pair of wins by decision at 141 and 157 around a win by fall (5:20) at 149. Baker dropped his match, 13-6, to Mario Morgan (#2 NCAA), while Robbins lost a close 6-5 decision to George Ivanov (#1 NCAA). The fall at 149 came as Esai Dominguez (#1 NCAA) pinned Hilmer.

Lumzy stopped the Maverick run as he did in the morning dual this time posting a 3-1 decision over Nathan Sigman to tie the score at 12-12 with four matches to go. Lumzy was trailing 1-0 heading into the final period but scored an escape and a takedown to get the win. UNO won three close matches at 174, 184, and 197 to establish a 21-12 lead. Gobin dropped a 9-6 decision to Ryan Pankoke (#3 NCAA), Schultz lost 2-1 to Aaron Denson (#4 NCAA), and Broghammer lost 5-4 to Matt Baker. Zach Rosol posted the fourth win for Upper Iowa with a 7-2 win to end the dual. UNO claimed the win 21-15.