Results/Video on Track Wrestling || NWCA National Duals Website || 2014 D II Bracket
The #17 Peacock wrestling program stepped onto the mats at the NWCA National Duals this morning for the eighth straight year and upended two nationally-ranked opponents.  Upper Iowa faced the fourth-seeded Lakers of Mercyhurst University, ranked #5, in the tournament's first round and came up with a huge 33-8 victory.  UIU backed up the win with an 18-15 win over the fifth-seeded Bearcats of McKendree University, ranked #6.  The two wins have propelled the Peacocks into the semifinals against the #1 Falcons of Notre Dame College tomorrow.  The Falcons defeated the Univeristy of Central Missouri and the University of Central Oklahoma (#11) today.  With the two wins, Upper Iowa improved to 5-0 in duals including a three wins over nationally-ranked opponents in the last eight days.
 
The NWCA National Duals feature twelve nationally-ranked teams and three more receiving votes in the field of sixteen. The action is all taking place in Fort Wayne, Indiana at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

Upper Iowa has placed in the top eight in six of the last seven years at the National Duals and this year will make it seven times in the last eight.  During that run, the Peacocks have only reached the semifinals one other time though.  In 2012, Upper Iowa claimed third-place after going 2-0 on day one, dropping a tight match in the semis to St. Cloud State and then defeating Nebraska-Kearney in its final match.
 
In the team's first match against Mercyhurst, the Peacocks trailed 3-0 when Matt Paulus scored a late takedown and nearfall points to win 10-7 at 133 pounds.  Jordan Roths (141) followed the win with a huge pin midway through the first period giving UIU a 9-4 lead.  After the Lakers cut the gap to just one, the Peacocks got back-to-back wins by decision from Jordan Rinken (157) and Colbey Vance (165) to extend their lead to 15-8.  Dalton Westerlund and Blake Sorensen provided some fireworks for Upper Iowa with a pair of wins by fall at 174 and 184 pounds putting the match out of reach, 27-8.  Ricky Briggs posted a 3-1 decision at 197 and Logan Hopp dominated his match 14-7 at heavyweight to add the final points to a 33-8 win.

Champ. Round 1: Upper Iowa defeated Mercyhurst 33-8
125 - Willie Bohince (Mercyhurst) over Garrett Wangsness (Upper Iowa) Maj 11-2
133 - Matt Paulus (Upper Iowa) over Ryan Bohince (Mercyhurst) Dec 10-7
141 - Jordan Roths (Upper Iowa) over Kody Young (Mercyhurst) Fall 1:29
149 - Jeremy Landowski (Mercyhurst) over Trevor Duke (Upper Iowa) Maj 10-2
157 - Jordan Rinken (Upper Iowa) over Francis Mizia (Mercyhurst) Dec 7-5
165 - Colbey Vance (Upper Iowa) over Angelo Bortoluzzi (Mercyhurst) Dec 10-7
174 - Dalton Westerlund (Upper Iowa) over August Mizia (Mercyhurst) Fall 6:47
184 - Blake Sorensen (Upper Iowa) over Dakota DesLauriers (Mercyhurst) Fall 3:46
197 - Richard Briggs (Upper Iowa) over Brian Beattie (Mercyhurst) Dec 3-1
285 - Logan Hopp (Upper Iowa) over Andy Welton (Mercyhurst) Dec 14-7

In the quarterfinal match with McKendree, UIU pushed out to an early 6-0 lead thanks to a 7-1 win by Garrett Wangsness at 125 and an 8-1 victory by Paulus at 133.  The Bearcats rallied with a pair of tight decisions including a two-point loss (9-7) by Roths at 141 and a sudden victory (3-1) loss by Trevor Duke at 149.  Once again the Peacocks were able to string together a run of wins to push out to a sizeable lead.  Rinken, Vance, Westerlund and Sorensen all posted wins by decision to break the tie and give Upper Iowa a 18-6 lead with just two bouts lefts.    Brock Gobin lost a narrow 1-0 defeat to Julian Smith at 197 and then UIU forfeited the heavyweight match to set the final score at 18-15.
 
Quarterfinal: Upper Iowa defeated McKendree University 18-15
125 - Garrett Wangsness (Upper Iowa) over Steve Murphy (McKendree University) Dec 7-1
133 - Matt Paulus (Upper Iowa) over Ryan Strope (McKendree University) Dec 8-1
141 - Darren Wynn (McKendree University) over Jordan Roths (Upper Iowa) Dec 9-7
149 - Trent Williams (McKendree University) over Trevor Duke (Upper Iowa) SV-1 3-1
157 - Jordan Rinken (Upper Iowa) over Josh Ballard (McKendree University) Dec 3-0
165 - Colbey Vance (Upper Iowa) over Nicolas Haferkamp (McKendree University) Dec 7-0
174 - Dalton Westerlund (Upper Iowa) over Luis Alba (McKendree University) Dec 3-2
184 - Blake Sorensen (Upper Iowa) over John Vogt (McKendree University) Dec 10-6
197 - Julian Smith (McKendree University) over Brock Gobin (Upper Iowa) Dec 1-0
285 - Coltyn Pease (McKendree University) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf 
 
Tommorrow's semifinal match with Notre Dame will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.  Depending on the result of that dual, the championship match will be at 4:30 p.m., while the third-place match will begin at 1 p.m. in conjunction with the fifth and seventh-place matches.
 
The event is being streamed live via Trackcast and FOX College Sports will air one selected dual in each of the five collegiate divisions on a tape-delayed basis.  Each dual will be re-broadcasted a minimum of 10 times for a total of 50 national broadcasts to a potential universe of 54 million homes each airing.  These national telecasts are made possible by: Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, Global Wrestling Championships, and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Myron Roderick NCAA Championship Roast Committee, featuring Randy Couture.