THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WRESTLING… No. 10 Upper Iowa (9-5, 5-3 NSIC) heads to Mankato, Minn. on Friday, Feb. 17 for a final regular season dual at Minnesota State University, Mankato (5-6, 2-6 NSIC). The Peacocks and Mavericks will lock up at 7 p.m. in the Taylor Center in a Northern Sun Conference dual. With a win at MSU, Upper Iowa could finish the season in a tie for third place with the University of Mary, while the Mavericks are looking for an upset to move into a tie for seventh place with Minot State.
LIVE OPTIONS… Live scoring and a webcast for the dual will be available through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE and included with this story. The dual 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.
RANKINGS REVIEW… Upper Iowa is ranked No. 10 in the latest NWCA Division II Top 25 having won eight of their last ten 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). A new national ranking is scheduled to be released on Friday, Feb. 17.
MUSTER UP… Murty has a team-high 24 wins this season, while Luensman is just one behind with 23 and both
Kaden Anderlik and
Eric Faught have registered 20 victories and
Zach Ryg has 17 wins. Murty has recorded ten wins by fall to pace the team, while Anderlik and Luensman are tied for the team-high in technical falls with three apiece. Luensman's six major decisions are the highest tally on the team, as well as his total number of takedowns (81) and match points (257); the Monticello, Iowa product is averaging 10.3 points per bout.
UIU'S PROBABLE LINEUP… As a team, Upper Iowa has posted 272 wins in 444 matches for a win percentage of 61.3% with 122 bonus-point wins including 73 falls, 15 tech falls and 34 major decisions. The following 16 individuals are prepped and ready to suit up on Friday to battle the Mavericks in Mankato, Minn.
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS… Minnesota State has two nationally-ranked wrestlers this season. Brock Luthens is ranked 12th at 141 pounds with a 20-5 record overall and a 7-3 dual record. At 285 pounds, Darrell Mason, who won the NCAA Championship last March, is ranked seventh currently with a record of 9-3 overall and 5-3 in duals. The Mavericks have also gotten great contributions from Caleb Meunier (149, 24-7), Drake Hayward (157, 25-7), Kole Marko (165, 26-4), and Mike Smith (174, 23-9).
WHAT'S NEXT ON THE AGENDA… Following the close of the regular season, Upper Iowa will send 10 wrestlers to the NCAA Super Region V Championships in Aberdeen, S.D. on Feb. 25. The top three wrestlers in each weight class at the NCAA Super Region V Championships will earn a berth to the NCAA Division II Championships on Mar. 10-11. The Upper Iowa Athletics Department is serving as the host institution for this year's
NCAA Division II Championships at the Alliant Energy Power House in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
