This Week in Peacock Wrestling... No. 6 Upper Iowa is primed to open their home slate on Thursday night against the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State University in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium. The Peacocks enter the Northern Sun Conference dual with a 2-0 record after posting a pair of wins on the road over Minot State University and the University of Mary. SMSU dropped their only dual of the season to No. 1 St. Cloud State University.
 
Live Options… Fans unable to attend can follow the live results or watch a webcast through the links above or at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. The dual will also broadcast live on KCRG-TV 9.3 and stream live on the NSIC Channel on all Roku and Amazon Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android televisions.
 
Looking in the Rearview… The Peacocks claimed a tight 20-19 victory in their Northern Sun Conference opener against Minot State on Friday evening. Both teams won five matches on the night, but the Peacocks notched an extra bonus-point win to come out on top. UIU's victorious wrestlers included Justin Folley, Mac Spotts, Dalton Nelson, Dalton Hahn and Nick Baumler. Hahn won by fall, while Folley and Baumler registered major decisions. Upper Iowa defeated the Marauders on Saturday by a 28-6 count taking advantage of four major decisions within their eight wins in the dual. Winners included Philip Ihde, Folley, Ryan Schmalen, Chance Throndson, Spotts, Hahn, Baumler and Triston Westerlund. Ihde, Folley, Hahn and Baumler all recorded bonus-points for UIU.
 
Probable Peacock Lineup…

Wt		Wins	Loses	Fall	TF	MD	Dec
125	Jared Hensley	11	4	3	1	1	4
	Philip Ihde	5	2	2	0	2	1
133	#4 Justin Folley	15	1	4	1	7	2
	Donny Schmit	13	7	5	0	2	4
141	Ryan Schmalen	12	5	2	0	0	5
	Connor Manderfeld	13	4	3	1	1	5
149	Chance Throndson	15	2	4	0	0	8
	Tate Murty	16	7	8	1	2	0
157	Mac Spotts	13	4	0	4	1	7
165	#4 Brock Benitz	2	3	0	0	0	1
174	Dalton Nelson	9	5	4	0	0	2
184	#11 Dalton Hahn	13	2	4	0	2	4
197	#1 Nick Baumler	15	1	1	0	8	4
285	Triston Westerlund	10	5	2	0	0	6
	Jordan Baumler	12	6	4	0	0	8
	Full Team Totals	307	110	86	16	47	100

 
Peacocks in the Rankings… Upper Iowa is ranked No. 6 in the country in the latest NWCA Division II Top 25 released by the Division II rankings committee. Individually, the Peacocks boast four individuals in the rankings including a pair of NCAA Division II All-Americans in Nick Baumler (197) and Justin Folley (133). Baumler is ranked No. 1 in the nation, while Folley is ranked No. 4 in his weight class. In addition to last year's Peacock All-Americans, Brock Benitz is ranked No. 4 at 165 pounds, while Dalton Hahn is ranked No. 11 in the 184-pound weight class.
 
Scouting the Mustangs… SMSU competed in four opens to start the season. SMSU, in total this season, is 182-166 in bouts. Leading the Mustangs in victories is Robert Shields (149) who has earned 16. Shields has eight victories by decision and five by fall.  Shields has placed at all four opens, including a consolation championship at the Buena Vista Open last weekend, after he went 4-1. The Mustangs placed a season-high 12 wrestlers at the Auggie-Adidas Invitational on Nov. 23. Cole Hennen (184), Jackson Ryan (197), and Gage Wevley (285) all placed second for SMSU while Ben Thompson (197) and Nathan Moore (157) earned consolation championships. The leaders for the Mustangs include Shields (16-7), Hunter Pfantz (11-6), Ryan (11-4), Kevin Bostwick (10-8) and Hennen (10-4).

Looking Ahead… Upper Iowa will head to the Desert Duals in Las Vegas, Nev. on Sunday, Dec. 22 to close out the 2019 portion of their schedule. UIU is scheduled to face Simon Fraser University, the University of North Carolina-Pembroke, Cloud County Community College and Embry Riddle University.