THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK WRESTLING… No. 19 Upper Iowa is on the road in central Minnesota for their final regular season action of the condensed season. The Peacocks will take on the No. 1 Huskies of St. Cloud State University on Thursday, Feb. 11 in Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, Minn. The Huskies are 4-0 on the season and come into the match looking to secure the NSIC title with a win, while the Peacocks have won two straight duals and three of the last four to get to 3-2 on the year.
LIVE OPTIONS… Because attendance at the dual is limited, both Peacock and Husky fans can follow the action through the links above for live scoring or a free webcast online or stream the dual with the
new NSIC Network app on Roku and Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android televisions. Fans can also navigate to
UIUPeacocks.com/Live to choose from the live options. The live results and webcast will be produced by St. Cloud State.
VIKINGS VANQUISHED… The No. 16 Peacock wrestling team escaped Sioux Falls, S.D. with a victory to improve to 3-2 on the season thanks to five wins that included a fall at 165 pounds last Thursday. Upper Iowa's 18-16 decision was highlighted by
Scott Kellenberger's win by fall in the first period of the 165-pound bout. Upper Iowa's five wins in the dual were registered by four redshirt freshman and a true sophomore. Five Peacocks remained undefeated on the season with wins last week including three in the dual, No. 12
Eric Faught (149, 4-0), No. 3
Chase Luensman (157, 5-0) and
Zach Ryg (197, 5-0).
Dalton Schams (149, 5-0) and
Bodie Garnier (197/285, 4-0) also won their extra match to keep their record clean. After the teams split the 10 bouts of the official dual, the Peacocks got the upper hand on the night with three wins in the five extra matches.
NCAA RANKINGS… The second regular season NWCA Division II Team and Individual rankings are out and the Upper Iowa Peacocks (3-2, 3-2 NSIC) are ranked No. 19 in the country with 20 points. The Peacocks boast four individuals in the rankings including No. 10
Kaden Anderlik (125), No. 12
Eric Faught (149), No. 3
Chase Luensman (157) and No. 10
Dalton Hahn (184). St. Cloud State is ranked first with 100 points thanks to seven individuals ranked in the poll. All ten Northern Sun Conference wrestling schools are in the rankings with four inside the Top 25 and six more receiving votes in the poll. The nine NSIC schools include No. 1 St. Cloud State, No. 10 Minnesota State University, Mankato, No. 19 Upper Iowa, No. 22 University of Wisconsin-Parkside, the University of Mary (RV), Northern State University (RV), Southwest Minnesota State University (RV), Augustana (RV), Minot State University (RV) and Minnesota State University Moorhead (RV).
SCOUTING THE NO. 1 HUSKIES… St. Cloud State is the nine-time defending conference champions, and four-time defending NCAA DII Super Regional champs. The team carries a 68-match win streak in duals into the contest on Thursday night. The Huskies boast five returning All-American wrestlers including Devin FitzPatrick, Jake Barzowski, Garrett Vos, Noah Ryan and Joey Bianchini. SCSU also added senior transfer Kameron Teacher at heavyweight; Teacher placed second at the NCAA Championships in 2017 and 2018 and third in 2019 for Notre Dame College in 2019. Three different St. Cloud State wrestlers are a perfect 4-0 this season and scored 10+ points for the Huskies in competition. No. 1 Teacher leads the way, having scored a team-leading 17 points through four duals. No. 8 Billy Pitzner is also 4-0 having collected 15 points in dual matches this season, while No. 4
Joseph Bianchini is 4-0 with 14 points to his name. (Courtesy of St. Cloud State Sports Information)
NO. 19 UPPER IOWA PROBABLES…
NO. 1 ST. CLOUD STATE PROBABLES…
| WT |
RK |
Wrestler |
Wins |
Losses |
Fall |
TF |
MD |
Dec |
| 125 |
|
Paxton Creese |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
Robby Horsman |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 133 |
#1 |
Garrett Vos |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
Sam Spencer |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 141 |
#4 |
Joey Bianchini |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Cameron Riggs |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 149 |
|
Garrett Aldrich |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Ezekial Williamson |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 157 |
#4 |
Jake Barzowski |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Colby Njos |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Jared Head |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 165 |
#1 |
Devin FitzPatrick |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
Jackson Held |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 174 |
|
Devin Donovan |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
Dominic Murphy |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 184 |
#8 |
Billy Pitzner |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
Cade Linn |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 197 |
#5 |
Noah Ryan |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
|
Grant Parish |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 285 |
#1 |
Kameron Teacher |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
Riley Vanik |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
UP NEXT… Upper Iowa will compete in the NCAA Super Region V Tournament on Feb. 27 in Aberdeen, S.D. The regional championship will be hosted by Northern State University.
