Skip To Main Content

Upper Iowa University Athletics

Schedule

Official Athletics Site of the Upper Iowa Peacocks
Upper Iowa Peacocks
Wrestling Seniors 17 / Neon Night

Men's Wrestling Howie Thompson, Director of Sports Communication

#19 Peacocks to Host #1 Huskies and Honor Seniors on Neon Night

Upper Iowa (9-4, 5-2 NSIC) is home for their final action in the regular season on Thursday night in Fayette. The #19 Peacocks will host the #1 Huskies of St. Cloud State University in Dorman Gym starting at 7 p.m.

THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK WRESTLING… Upper Iowa (9-4, 5-2 NSIC) is home for their final action in the regular season on Thursday night in Fayette. The #19 Peacocks will host the #1 Huskies of St. Cloud State University in Dorman Gym starting at 7 p.m. UIU's wrestling program will recognize and honor their seven seniors prior to the action starting and the Athletics Department will be celebrating the big Northern Sun Conference Dual with Neon Night.

UIU 2016-17 TEAM TOTALS BY THE NUMBERS…
WINS LOSSES FALLS TECH FALLS MAJORS
314 193 75 23 51

NCAA.COM POWER RANKINGS… For the first time in several weeks the Peacocks have dropped out of the NCAA.com Division II Power Rankings. The Peacocks are still listed in the Knocking on the Door section by Roger Moore, a senior writer for NCAA.com. His top eight in the power rankings include this week's opponent St. Cloud State University, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, the University of Central Oklahoma, McKendree University, the University of Nebraska-Kearney, Mercyhurst University, and Maryville University, while Notre Dame College, the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, the University of Indianapolis, Augustana and Colorado State University-Pueblo are all tied for eighth. Moore lists Wheeling Jesuit University, Ashland University, Upper Iowa, California Baptist University, the University of Findlay, Gannon University and Colorado Mesa University as knocking on the door to the power rankings.
 
SCOUTING THE #1 HUSKIES… The #1 St. Cloud State University wrestling team (14-1, 5-0 NSIC) is coming off a home sweep of Minnesota State University, Mankato and Minot State University last weekend. The Huskies maintained their first place standing in the Northern Sun Conference race and are looking to capture their sixth consecutive NSIC championship in 2016-17.  SCSU has now won 49 consecutive NSIC dual matches and the Huskies have not lost an NSIC dual match since 2011. St. Cloud State is led by seven nationally-ranked wrestlers including Austin Goergen (#1, 285), Clayton Jennissen (#4, 174), Brett Velasquez (#5, 125), Vince Dietz (#5, 197), Uthman Rabiu (#6, 184), Larry Bomstad (#9, 157) and James Pleski (#10, 149).
 
LEADING THE #19 PEACOCKS… Four Peacocks won their match at Augustana University last Sunday. The four winners included Maleek Williams, who posted a major decision at 125, and Josh Walker, who scored UIU's only fall of the dual, Damian Penichet, who is riding a 10-match win streak dating back to his undefeated run at the NWCA National Duals, and Dalton Westerlund, who came away with a 7-5 decision. For the season, Penichet has a team-high 23 wins, while freshman Nick Baumler (184) and Vance are close behind with 21 and 20 victories, respectively. Cody Nelson leads the team with 12 bonus-point wins, with Vance, Baumler and Penichet are right behind with 11 bonus-point wins.
 
SEVEN INTO THE SUNSET… The UIU wrestling program is going to recognize and honor their seven seniors. Over the last four years, this group has led Upper Iowa to a 49-12 overall record in dual meets, a 25-6 mark against Northern Sun Conference opponents and a pair of runner up finishes in the NSIC standings. The Peacocks have recorded 537 wins by fall over the last four years including an outstanding 204 in 2014-15 and 174 in 2013-14. In total, the seven young men have combined to claim 491 win over the last four years. These young men have left their biggest mark at the National Duals by placing in each of the last four years. The team has posted a 12-6-1 record at the National Duals in those years with all 12 wins coming against nationally-ranked opponents. The dozen wins were highlighted by knocking out #3 Maryville University this season, taking down the University of Nebraska-Kearney (#3) in 2016, wins over #4 Mercyhurst University and #5 McKendree University in 2015 and a 40-8 win over #19 Lake Erie, a tie with the University of Central Oklahoma (#4) and a win over #15 Maryville in 2014.

PROBABLE LINEUPS...
#19 UPPER IOWA PEACOCKS
WT YR W L FALL TF MD HOMETOWN
125 R-So. Maleek Williams 13 7 2 0 3 Miami, Fla.
R-Fr. Ryan Schmalen 13 10 1 1 3 Clear Lake, Iowa
133 R-Jr. Josh Walker 8 4 4 1 1 Tulsa, Okla.
R-Sr. Lincoln Monroe 11 11 5 1 2 West Union, Iowa
141 R-Sr. Jordan Roths 18 10 2 0 2 New Hampton, Iowa
149 R-So. #11 Damian Penichet 23 5 3 3 5 Miami. Fla.
R-Sr. Brandon Schissel 9 8 3 0 1 New Hampton, Iowa
157 R-Sr. Zak Benitz 18 8 4 0 4 Mosinee, Wis.
165 R-Sr. # 10 Colbey Vance 20 6 7 1 3 Bettendorf, Iowa
R-So. Cody Nelson 17 9 9 2 1 Greene, Iowa
174 R-Sr. Dalton Westerlund 19 9 5 2 1 Albert Lea, Minn.
R-Jr. Nick Georgean 11 7 4 1 1 Erie, Ill.
184 Fr. Nick Baumler 21 11 4 1 6 West Union, Iowa
197 So. Ryan Parmely 11 8 3 1 0 Delhi, Iowa
R-Fr. Triston Westerlund 7 7 2 1 1 Albert Lea, Minn.
285 R-Jr. #5 Logan Hopp 17 5 1 4 4 New Hampton, Iowa
#1 ST. CLOUD STATE HUSKIES
WT YR W L FALL TF MD HOMETOWN
125 R-So. #5 Brett Velasquez 14 2 2 2 5 Bennington, Neb.
R-Fr. Jordan Aquino 11 4 3 2 2 American Canyon, Calif.
133 R-Jr. Jarred Oftedahl 14 4 5 0 0 Chaska, Minn.
R-Sr. Mike Rhone 13 4 2 3 0 Shickshinny, Penn.
141 R-So. Travis Swanson 8 5 4 0 3 Cambridge, Minn.
R-Sr. Matt Nelson 8 1 1 1 3 Big Lake, Minn.
149 R-Fr. #10 James Pleski 19 6 4 3 4 Forest Lake, Minn.
157 R-Jr. Brett Stolarzyk 10 7 2 0 2 Stewartville, Minn.
  Jr. #9 Larry Bomstad 14 2 5 1 2 Lake Lillion, Minn.
  R-Jr. Travis Holt 10 5 4 5 0 Stanchfield, Minn.
165 R-Sr. Gabe Fogarty 17 7 6 2 1 Jordan, Minn.
  R-Sr. Josh Berg 8 4 1 2 1 Pewaukee, Wis.
174 R-Sr. #4 Clayton Jennissen 22 6 4 2 4 Cambridge, Minn.
184 R-Sr. #6 Uthman Rabiu 13 3 2 0 3 St. Paul, Minn.
  R-Sr. Chevy Farris 7 5 0 0 1 Ferndale, Mich.
197 R-So. #5 Vince Dietz 22 2 7 3 6 Homer Glen, Ill.
  R-Sr. Adam Josephson 8 2 3 0 2 Minneota, Minn.
285 R-Sr. #1 Austin Goergen 20 0 10 3 2 Caledonia, Minn.
  R-So. Michael Hobbs 9 3 6 2 0 Downers Grove, Ill.
 
THE POSTSEASON… The regional alignment has loaded the qualifying tournament with 15 teams. Of those 15 teams, 9 call the NSIC home, while three schools will come from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (Truman State, Maryville and McKendree), two more from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (University of Central Missouri and Lindenwood) and one from the Great American Conference (Ouachita Baptist). The outstanding, two-day regional tournament (Feb. 24-25) will take place in Moorhead, Minn. on the campus of Minnesota State University, Moorhead and will feature 150 wrestlers battling for just 40 berths to the NCAA Division II Championships. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will earn a spot at the NCAA DII Championships in Birmingham, Ala. on Mar. 10-11. 

NCAA DIVISION II HISTORY… Upper Iowa has placed in the top seventeen at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships in ten of their eleven years in the division. The Peacocks placed sixteenth a season ago with a pair of All-Americans.  The best four finishes at the Division II level came with a third place trophy in 2010, fourth place in 2011, fifth place in 2013 and sixth place in 2012.
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Zak Benitz

Zak Benitz

Redshirt Senior
Nick Georgean

Nick Georgean

5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
Logan Hopp

Logan Hopp

5' 8"
Redshirt Junior
Lincoln Monroe

Lincoln Monroe

5' 6"
Redshirt Senior
Cody Nelson

Cody Nelson

Redshirt Sophomore
Ryan Parmely

Ryan Parmely

Sophomore
Damian Penichet

Damian Penichet

5' 6"
Redshirt Sophomore
Jordan Roths

Jordan Roths

5' 7"
Redshirt Senior
Brandon Schissel

Brandon Schissel

5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Ryan Schmalen

Ryan Schmalen

5' 4"
Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

Zak Benitz

Zak Benitz

Redshirt Senior
Nick Georgean

Nick Georgean

5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
Logan Hopp

Logan Hopp

5' 8"
Redshirt Junior
Lincoln Monroe

Lincoln Monroe

5' 6"
Redshirt Senior
Cody Nelson

Cody Nelson

Redshirt Sophomore
Ryan Parmely

Ryan Parmely

Sophomore
Damian Penichet

Damian Penichet

5' 6"
Redshirt Sophomore
Jordan Roths

Jordan Roths

5' 7"
Redshirt Senior
Brandon Schissel

Brandon Schissel

5' 9"
Redshirt Senior
Ryan Schmalen

Ryan Schmalen

5' 4"
Redshirt Freshman
Skip Ad
Skip Sponsors