The #10 Peacock wrestling team went undefeated Saturday during their seventh straight appearance at the NWCA National Duals being held at the Iowa Events Center and HyVee Hall in Des Moines, Iowa.  Unfortunately, it was a tie that pushed Upper Iowa to the consolation side of the bracket due to criteria. 

UIU opened their day with an impressive 40-8 win over #19 Lake Erie College setting up their meeting with the #4 Bronchos of the University of Central Oklahoma.  The teams tied 18-18, but based on the criteria of UCO's six wins in ten bouts during the dual, the Peacocks were forced to the backside of the bracket and stayed on the mat for a dual that began immediately following the decision.  Upper Iowa bounced back with a 25-18 victory over #15 Maryville to finish their day with a 2-0-1 record. 

The Peacocks guaranteed their third straight placing at the high-powered event with the two victories and have their sights set on two more wins and a fifth place result on Sunday.  UIU will square off with Ft. Hays State at 9 a.m. and then take wrestle for fifth or seventh depending on the result against either Lake Erie or #7 Kutztown College.

Carl Broghammer (#2 NWCA) turned heads as usual earning three wins by fall on the day; only one of the three matches reached into the second period.  In addition to the senior 197-pounder, UIU got big days from Edwin Cooper (#5 NWCA), who finished 3-0 with two falls and a 9-4 decision over the nation's #1 wrestler at 149.  Chris Paulus, Jordan Roths and Logan Hopp all won two matches, while Matt Paulus, Zak Benitz, Dalton Westerlund, Colbey Vance and Blake Sorensen (#4 NWCA) all won a match apiece.

Upper Iowa used four falls, a tech fall and two major decisions to dominate their opening dual with the Storm.  Chris Paulus opened the match with a 13-3 major decision and Roths added a tech fall (17-0) to erase one earned by Lake Erie.  Cooper put UIU ahead 15-5 with a pin in just 49 seconds and Benitz nearly pulled off the upset at 157 over Zach Vargo, but dropped a 4-2 decision in sudden victory.  The Peacocks dominated the next four matches earning three falls (Westerlund-5:19, Vance-3:38, Broghammer-1:47) and picking up an 11-0 major decision by Sorensen at 184.  Hopp wrapped up the dual with a 3-1 decision to push the final score to 40-8.

Against #4 UCO, the Peacocks fell behind 6-0 after the first two matches, but Roths tied the match with a fall (6:43) late in his bout.  In the featured match of the dual, Cooper got the better of top-ranked Jordan Basks with a late takedown and nearfall points to post the 9-4 decision and give the Peacocks a 9-6 lead.  The Bronchos rallied with four straight decisions, three of which came by a single point to lead 18-9 with two matches to go.  Broghammer came through for Upper Iowa with a fall in 3:42 giving them a chance at the outright win and pulling the team within three, 18-15.  Hopp earned a 3-2 decision at heavyweight, but since UCO won six of the ten matches, they advanced to the semifinals. 

No less than 20 minutes later, UIU climbed back into the circle to face #15 Maryville in an elimination match.  UIU claimed a 9-0 lead after Chris (Dec 11-6) and Matt Paulus (Fall :54) picked up back-to-back wins at 125 and 133 pounds.  Following a fall from the Saints at 141, Cooper (Fall 2:49) and Benitz (MD 16-3) extended Upper Iowa's lead to 19-6 midway through the dual.  Maryville made a run with wins at 165, 174 and 184 to slim the margin to four, 19-15, but Broghammer was waiting in the wings.  The Manchester, Iowa native earned his third pin of the day and 16th of the season to improve to 25-2 to shut the door on the Saint comeback.  Maryville won the final decision at heavyweight, but Upper Iowa earned the 28-15 win to stay alive and line up their 9 a.m. wake-up call with Ft. Hays State.

Match #1 Champ. Round 1: Upper Iowa defeated Lake Erie 40-8
125 - Chris Paulus (Upper Iowa) over Jeff Sloney (Lake Erie) Maj 13-3
133 - Austin Gillihan (Lake Erie) over Matt Paulus (Upper Iowa) TF 16-0
141 - Jordan Roths (Upper Iowa) over Isaac Morisette (Lake Erie) TF 17-0
149 - Edwin Cooper (Upper Iowa) over Nathan Ball (Lake Erie) Fall 0:49
157 - Zach Vargo (Lake Erie) over Zak Benitz (Upper Iowa) SV-1 4-2
165 - Dalton Westerlund (Upper Iowa) over Tyler Tesny (Lake Erie) Fall 5:19
174 - Colbey Vance (Upper Iowa) over Dylan Zivcic (Lake Erie) Fall 3:38
184 - Blake Sorensen (Upper Iowa) over Chevez Farris (Lake Erie) Maj 11-0
197 - Carl Broghammer (Upper Iowa) over Rosborough Evan (Lake Erie) Fall 1:47
285 - Logan Hopp (Upper Iowa) over Robert Zappitelli ii (Lake Erie) Dec 3-1



Match #2 Quarterfinal: Central Oklahoma defeated Upper Iowa 18-18
125 - Josh Breece (Central Oklahoma) over Chris Paulus (Upper Iowa) Dec 8-1
133 - Casy Rowell (Central Oklahoma) over Tanner Schmidt (Upper Iowa) Dec 2-0
141 - Jordan Roths (Upper Iowa) over Dustin Reed (Central Oklahoma) Fall 6:43
149 - Edwin Cooper (Upper Iowa) over Jordan Basks (Central Oklahoma) Dec 9-4
157 - Cory Dauphin (Central Oklahoma) over Zak Benitz (Upper Iowa) Dec 5-4
165 - Chris Watson (Central Oklahoma) over Dalton Westerlund (Upper Iowa) Dec 2-1
174 - Colton Gallo (Central Oklahoma) over Colbey Vance (Upper Iowa) Dec 7-6
184 - Znick Ferrell (Central Oklahoma) over Blake Sorensen (Upper Iowa) Dec 11-5
197 - Carl Broghammer (Upper Iowa) over Garrett Henshaw (Central Oklahoma) Fall 3:42
285 - Logan Hopp (Upper Iowa) over Cody Dauphin (Central Oklahoma) Dec 3-2


Match #3 Cons. Round 2: Upper Iowa defeated Maryville 25-18
125 - Chris Paulus (Upper Iowa) over Brandon Oshiro (Maryville) Dec 11-6
133 - Matt Paulus (Upper Iowa) over Keygan Foster (Maryville) Fall 0:54
141 - Darick Lapaglia (Maryville) over Jordan Roths (Upper Iowa) Fall 4:58
149 - Edwin Cooper (Upper Iowa) over Joseph Moorhouse (Maryville) Fall 2:49
157 - Zak Benitz (Upper Iowa) over Christian Loges (Maryville) Maj 16-3
165 - Marvin Tischhauser (Maryville) over Dalton Westerlund (Upper Iowa) Dec 8-7
174 - Zeb Wahle (Maryville) over Colbey Vance (Upper Iowa) Dec 5-3
184 - Nick Burghardt (Maryville) over Brock Gobin (Upper Iowa) Dec 4-0
197 - Carl Broghammer (Upper Iowa) over Ethan Sherertz (Maryville) Fall 2:20
285 - Donnell Walker (Maryville) over Logan Hopp (Upper Iowa) Dec 10-7

---

2014 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Schedule...

Saturday, January 11
9 & 11 a.m. - Championship Preliminary Round
1 & 3 p.m. - Championship Quarterfinal, Consolation First Round
5 p.m. - Consolation Second Round

Sunday, January 12
9 a.m. - Consolation Third Round
11 a.m. - Championship Semifinals
1 p.m. - Fifth-Place and Seventh-Place Matches
3 p.m. - Championship Finals and Third Place Match