The No. 20 Peacock wrestling team opened their 2020-21 season on Thursday night in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium against the Wolves of Northern State University. Each team scored five victories in the team-scored dual, but the Wolves took advantage of three bonus-points earned during a fall at 149 pounds and held on to edge their hosts 18-15.
 
Kaden Anderlik gave the Peacocks a great start with a 7-1 win in the 125-pound bout after notching a pair of takedowns and a ride time point.
 
Northern State answered with a pair of tight decisions at 133 and 141 pounds before scoring the fall at 149. Donny Schmit (133) led 4-2 heading into the second period, but NSU's Ty Althoff battled back with a pair of takedowns and a ride time point to close out an 8-6 lead. At 141 pounds, UIU's Tate Murty, ranked No. 9 in the NWCA Preseason Poll, found himself in an early 4-1 hole against Kolton Roth. Murty battled back and took control of the action midway through the second period with a reversal and rode Roth through the third period, but lost the bout by one, 8-7. Wyatt Turnquist scored the fall for the Wolves at 149 pounds in the second period over Connor Manderfeld.
 
Trailing 12-3, the Peacocks turned to sophomore All-American Chase Luensman. Luensman, ranked No. 8 in the preseason, took care of business and posted a 6-2 win over Caden Moore fueled by a pair of takedowns and a ride time point.
 
Northern State got the points right back at 165 when James Burks claimed a 9-3 decision over Scott Kellenberger. Burks got on the board immediately with a takedown and four nearfall points just seconds into the bout.
 
Upper Iowa caught their stride with three straight wins from 174, 184 and 197 pounds. Myron Crawford, ranked No. 12, scored a 9-4 win while posting four takedowns and a ride time point. After Crawford's dominant performance, senior Dalton Hahn, ranked No. 8, toed the line at 184 pounds against NSU's Marcus Placide, ranked No. 12. Hahn grabbed a quick takedown and two nearfall points and added a second-period takedown on the way to an 8-2 win. Redshirt freshman Zach Ryg entered the circle at 197 pounds and recorded an 8-3 win that tied the team score at 15-15 with one match to go. Ryg registered a takedown in each of the three periods and added a final ride time point.
 
The dual came down to its final match and even seven minutes wasn't enough to decide the outcome. Both UIU's Jordan Baumler and NSU's Ali'i Loyola earned an escape prior to the end of the third period. In the sudden victory period, Baumler was awarded a takedown with 15 seconds to go, but after an official replay, the takedown call was reversed and the score set back to a 1-1 tie. In the first tiebreaker, Loyola scored a reversal and then kept Baumler from escaping during the second half of the tiebreaker to post the 3-2 win and give the Wolves the victory over Upper Iowa.
 
In the extra matches, the Peacocks came out on the right side of the decision in six of the eight battles. Mac Spotts scored a takedown as time expired at 157 pounds to claim a 6-5 decision over Chase Bloomquist, while Dalton Schams won by injury default over Caleb Lazure at 149 pounds. Bodie Garnier controlled his 197-pound match with Joshua Trumble to win 5-2 and Colter Bye did not surrender a point to Tanner Wiese in a 4-0 shutout at 174 pounds. Chance Throndson (149) and Dalton Nelson (184) made the most of their opportunity to compete at home posting a pair of wins by fall. Throndson locked up his opponent in 1:24, while Nelson was able to close out the match in 1:26. The Wolves scored wins at 125 as Landen Fischer defeated Dakota Henry 9-4 and at 165 when Chase Bloomquist wrestled for the second time and edged UIU's Ryan Faught 3-1 behind a third-period takedown.
 
The Peacocks will head north to face the No. 25 Dragons of Minnesota State University Moorhead next Thursday, Jan. 14 for their second Northern Sun Conference dual of the season. Upper Iowa will return to Dorman Memorial Gymnasium on Jan. 21 when they host the No. 13 Mavericks of Minnesota State University, Mankato at 7 p.m.
 
Northern State 18 – No. 20 Upper Iowa 15
125: Kaden Anderlik (UIU) over Michael Bigler (NSU) (Dec 7-1)
133: Ty Althoff (NSU) over Donny Schmit (UIU) (Dec 8-6)
141: Kolton Roth (NSU) over Tate Murty (UIU) (Dec 8-7)
149: Wyatt Turnquist (NSU) over Connor Manderfeld (UIU) (Fall 4:17)
157: Chase Luensman (UIU) over Caden Moore (NSU) (Dec 6-2)
165: James Burks (NSU) over Scott Kellenberger (UIU) (Dec 9-3)
174: Myron Crawford (UIU) over Cole Huss (NSU) (Dec 9-4)
184: Dalton Hahn (UIU) over Marcus Placide (NSU) (Dec 8-2)
197: Zach Ryg (UIU) over Treyton Cacek (NSU) (Dec 8-3)
285: Michael Loyola (NSU) over Jordan Baumler (UIU) (TB-1 3-2)
 
Extra Matches
157: Mac Spotts (UIU) over Chase Bloomquist (NSU) (Dec. 6-5)
125: Landen Fischer (NSU) over Dakota Henry (UIU) (Dec. 9-4)
149: Chance Throndson (UIU) over Adam DeBoer (NSU) (Fall 1:24)
149: Dalton Schams (UIU) over Caleb Lazure (NSU) (Inj. Default)
174: Colter Bye (UIU) over Tanner Wiese (NSU) (Dec. 4-0)
184: Dalton Nelson (UIU) over Samuel Stroup (NSU) (Fall 1:26)
197: Bodie Garnier (UIU) over Joshua Trumble (NSU) (Dec. 5-2)
165: Chase Bloomquist (NSU) over Ryan Faught (UIU) (Dec. 3-1)