THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WRESTLING… No. 10 Upper Iowa (8-2, 4-0 NSIC) is on the road this weekend in North Dakota. The Peacocks will line up against the Beavers of Minot State University (6-6, 1-3 NSIC) on Friday in Minot at 7 p.m. and then battle the No. 14 Marauders of the University of Mary (10-1, 3-0 NSIC) on Saturday in Bismarck at 4 p.m.
LIVE OPTIONS… Live scoring and a webcast for the duals will be available through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE and included with this story. The duals will also stream live on the NSIC Network app through Roku and Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android TV. Search for "NSIC Network" to find the app on your favorite streaming device.
AMONG THE NATION'S BEST… Upper Iowa is ranked No. 10 in the latest NWCA Division II Top 25 having won seven of their last nine duals since returning from holiday break and a sixth-place finish at the NWCA National Duals. Six other NSIC teams are in the top 25 as well including No. 5 St. Cloud State University, No. 7 University of Wisconsin-Parkside, No. 14 Augustana University and University of Mary (tied), No. 20 Northern State University, and No. 22 Southwest Minnesota State University. Upper Iowa has 37 points in the poll fueled by four nationally-ranked individuals. The Peacocks ranked as individuals include No. 4
Tate Murty (141), No. 2
Chase Luensman (165), No. 8
Dalton Hahn (197), and No. 10
Zach Ryg (285).
CHECKING THE REARVIEW MIRROR… The Peacocks posted a pair of big wins at home over No. 14 Augustana (30-11) and No. 22 Southwest Minnesota State (41-0). Upper Iowa won 18 of the 20 bouts over the weekend including a fall, a pair of technical falls and a major decision. In their 18 victories, the Peacock wrestlers posted 32 takedowns and 14 nearfalls. Faught (157) collected two wins over the weekend highlighted by an upset of No. 10 Miles Fitzgerald in a 6-3 decision fueled by a late takedown and two nearfall points, which provided the cushion to the Clear Lake native to post the win. On Sunday, Faught won a 7-3 decision over Sean Howk of SMSU highlighted by three takedowns.
Kaden Anderlik (133), Murty (141), Luensman (165), and
Cameron Lopez (184/197) joined Faught with 2-0 records over the weekend.
PEACOCK LEADERSHIP… While Luensman and Murty lead the team in wins (21), seven Peacocks have reached a double-figure win total including Anderlik and Faught with 18 wins apiece as well as Ryg (15),
Scott Kellenberger (13) and Doty (12). Murty has recorded a team-high nine wins by fall, while Anderlik scored a team-high third technical fall on Saturday against Augustana. Luensman's five major decisions are the highest tally on the team, as well as his total number of takedowns (76) and match points (217).
UIU'S PROBABLE LINEUP… As a team, Upper Iowa has posted 232 wins in 370 matches for a win percentage of 62.7% with 107 bonus-point wins including 66 falls, 14 tech falls and 27 major decisions. The following 17 individuals are prepped and ready to suit up this weekend in UIU's conference duals.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS… Minot State enters the weekend with a 6-6 record overall and a 1-3 mark in NSIC action. In conference duals, the Beavers dropped matches at Augustana (37-9), at Northern State (32-10) and versus UMary (41-4) around a win against Minnesota State University Moorhead by a score of 34-5. Minot State is led by heavyweight Jake Swirple, who is ranked No. 9 in the nation with a 10-2 record. The Beavers are also strong at 125 pounds where Oscar Nellis has put together an 11-2 record, while 133-pounder James Davis nearly got an upset against UMary last week and is 7-3 on the year.
SCOUTING THE NO. 14 MARAUDERS… UMary comes into the weekend duals with an impressive 10-1 mark overall and a 3-0 conference record. The Marauders claimed seventh place at the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis and third place in the NWCA National Duals. UM's only loss on the season came at the hands of No. 3 St. Cloud State (26-6) in the NWCA National Dual semi-finals. In NSIC action, the team has registered wins over Minnesota State University, Mankato (23-15), Minnesota State University Moorhead (41-0) and Minot State (41-4). The Marauders are led by a pair of nationally-ranked wrestlers in the form of No. 3 Reece Barnhardt (133) and No. 2 Max Bruss (174); both UM athletes have 21 wins apiece. In addition to the pair of highly-touted grapplers, UMary boasts three more wresters with at least 17 wins this season including 18 each for Wyatt Lidberg (184) and Matthew Kaylor (197), and Luke Tweeton (285) with 17 victories.
ON THE HORIZON… After their longest road trip of the year, the Peacocks will have little time to prep for a huge week at home in Fayette. Upper Iowa will host No. 5 St. Cloud State and No. 7 Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday and Sunday, Feb. 2 and 5. The Peacocks and Huskies will meet on the mat at 7 p.m. on Thursday, while Sunday's action starts at 2 p.m. with the Rangers. The two NSIC duals will bookend this year's Stormin' Dorman Week at Upper Iowa. This year's Stormin' Dorman Week features six home events in just four days with a pair of basketball double headers set for Friday and Saturday in between the wrestling duals.
