THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WRESTLING... No. 8 Upper Iowa returns to the mat this Friday night in a Northern Sun Conference match-up between a pair of NWCA Top-25 programs in Aberdeen, S.D. The No. 17 Wolves of Northern State University welcome the Peacocks to the Wachs Arena for the dual. Fans unable to make the trip can follow the action through live scoring or a webcast online or stream the dual with the NSIC app on Roku and Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android televisions.
 
SEVENTH PLACE FINISH… The Peacocks placed seventh at the NWCA National Duals last weekend in Louisville, Kentucky. Upper Iowa faced five NWCA Top-25 opponents and came away with a 3-2 record thanks to wins against No. 24 Gannon University, 25-14, No. 18 Colorado School of Mines and No. 7 Tiffin University, 28-10. The losses came against No. 5 McKendree University, 20-14, who placed as the runner-up at the National Duals, and the No. 2 University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, 25-15. Upper Iowa (10-2, 3-0 NSIC) has now placed in the top eight at the NWCA National Duals for the last nine straight years and twelve of the last thirteen years. The Peacocks went into the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record in duals including wins in their first three NSIC battles of the season.
 
PEACOCKS IN THE RANKINGS… Upper Iowa is ranked No. 8 in the country in the latest national poll and boasts four individuals in the rankings as well. Nick Baumler, a two-time All-American at 197 pounds, remained at No. 1. Baumler is now 22-2 with 14 bonus-point wins including ten majors, two falls and two tech falls. Early in the season, the Peacock senior scored a 5-3 decision over Connor Corbin of the Univeristy of Iowa. Baumler earned the NSIC Wrestler of the Week honor prior to break after a 3-0 record in Las Vegas. Justin Folley, ranked No. 4 at 133 pounds for the second poll in a row, is 22-1 on the year. The senior has registered 16 bonus-point wins including six wins by fall, a pair of tech falls and eight majors. His only loss came in the first place match at the Auggie-Adidas Invite to Victor Gliva of Augsburg, a 2019 NCAA Division III All-American. Dalton Hahn, a junior with the Peacocks, is ranked No. 10 at 184 pounds. The Loganville, Wis. native is 20-4 on the season with five wins by fall and three by major. Earlier in the year, Hahn won his bracket at the Millikin Open, claimed third at the Luther Open and fifth place at the Auggie-Adidas Open. Triston Westerlund is ranked No. 12 at heavyweight with a 17-5 mark on the year. The senior has won three matches by fall, but claimed 11 of his remaining 13 wins by decision grinding out his seven-minute battles.
 
LINEUP GETS YOUTH INJECTION… A pair of freshman, one a redshirt, have made their way into the starting rotation for the Peacocks at 141 and 149 pounds. Redshirt freshman Tate Murty has earned a spot at the top of UIU's 141-pounders after starting the season at 149 pounds. Murty is 24-10 with half of his wins coming by fall (12) and four more with bonus points including a tech fall and three majors. True freshman Chase Luensman has taken over 149 pounds announcing his arrival with a 4-1 record at the National Duals. Luensman picked up a 7-3 win over No. 12 Juwan Edmond of McKendree, a 13-9 decision over Noah Ottum of Colorado Mines, a 10-4 decision over No. 5 Christopher Donathan of Tiffin and a forfeit in UIU's dual with Gannon to account for his four wins. The lone blemish on his weekend came in a 7-5 loss to Chris Eddins Jr. of Pitt-Johnstown, who is ranked No. 1 and is the reigning two-time NCAA Division II Champion. The Monticello, Iowa product is 24-6 on the season with a pair of falls, four tech falls and five majors under his belt.
 
UIU PROBABLES…

Wt		Year	Wins	Loses	Fall	TF	MD	Dec
125	Jared Hensley	R-So.	19	5	4	3	1	6
	Philip Ihde	R-Fr.	10	4	3	1	2	3
133	#4 Justin Folley	Sr.	22	1	6	2	8	5
141	Tate Murty	R-Fr.	24	10	12	1	3	3
	Connor Manderfeld	R-Fr.	22	5	4	3	2	8
149	Chase Luensman	Fr.	24	6	2	4	5	10
157	Mac Spotts	R-Jr.	16	10	0	4	1	10
	Chance Throndson	R-Fr.	18	6	6	0	0	8
165	Brock Benitz	R-Jr.	7	5	1	0	0	4
174	Dalton Nelson	R-So.	12	8	6	0	0	3
	Jamie Gehling	R-Jr.	5	6	0	0	0	3
184	#10 Dalton Hahn	Jr.	20	4	5	0	3	8
197	#1 Nick Baumler	Sr.	22	2	2	2	10	6
285	#12 Triston Westerlund	R-Sr.	17	5	3	0	0	11
	Jordan Baumler	R-Fr.	20	6	8	1	0	9
	TEAM TOTALS		463	172	129	35	62	157

  
SCOUTING THE NO. 17 WOLVES…  The Wolves are ranked No. 17 in the latest NWCA Division II Top-25. Northern State has four wrestlers nationally ranked as well including No. 5 Dayne Morton at 133 pounds, No. 8 Caden Moore at 149 pounds, No. 9 James Burks at 157 pounds and No. 11 Marcus Placide at 184 pounds. NSU comes into the dual with a 5-4 record including a 1-3 mark against Northern Sun Conference opponents. The win came over Minnesota State University Moorhead, 29-7, a week before losing to No. 1 St. Cloud State University 30-9. Since returning to action in the New Year, the Wolves have lost a pair of duals to Augustana University, 20-14, and Southwest Minnesota State University, 18-14. The expected lineup for Northern State is as follows: 125-Landen Fischer, 133-No. 5 Dayne Morton, 141-Kenny Jones, 149-No. 8 Caden Moore or Garret Thompson, 157-No. 9 James Burks, Walker Carr or Bryan Burnett, 165-TBA, 174-Tanner Wiese, 184-No. 11 Marcus Placide, 197-Diego Gallegos and HWT-Caleb Lefferdink.