THE CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE HERE… Upper Iowa is set for the 2023 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Friday and Saturday, Mar. 10-11. The Peacocks have four individuals that qualified for this year's championships, which are being hosted by Upper Iowa. On Friday, the action kicks off with Session I at 10 a.m. and concludes with Session II which begins at 5 p.m. On Saturday, Session III, which includes the championship semifinals, will begin at 10 a.m. and wrap up with the matches for third, fifth and seventh place for all weights. The championships will close with Session IV when each of the ten weight classes will crown a national champion beginning at 7 p.m.
Live Options… Fans that can't make it to Cedar Rapids for the championships can follow all the action through live scoring, updated brackets, and team scores through the links above or at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. Live streams of each mat are also available through the links above and will be available through a FloWrestling subscription for Sessions I-III, while the finals matches will be webcasted for free through NCAA.com.
NCAA Division II Championship Format… This year's NCAA Division II Championships features 180 wrestlers from 50 different universities across six regions. Each weight class bracket is filled with 18 wrestlers including eight seeded wrestlers. Individuals that reach the championship semifinals or third-round of the consolation bracket will earn NCAA All-American honors and continue to wrestle in Session III on Saturday.
UIU's National Qualifiers… The Peacock wrestling team has four qualifiers including Super Region V Runner-up
Colter Bye (184), as well as No. 3
Chase Luensman (165), No. 8
Tate Murty (141) and
Eric Faught (157), who all earned their berth to the championships with third-place finishes at the regional. Bye heads into the weekend with a 14-9 record including three wins by fall and a major decision. Murty has posted the second-most wins on the team with 27 to go with just six losses; his wins include a team-best 11 falls, a tech fall and a major. Faught is 23-6 this season with six falls behind 52 takedowns this season. Luensman has had a standout year at 165 pounds with a 28-3 record; two of the losses came by two points each to No. 1 Shane Gantz of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The Monticello, Iowa product has scored 301 match points fueled by 93 takedowns that have led to four falls, three tech falls and seven major decisions. Luensman and Murty are three-time national qualifiers, while
Eric Faught is returning for a second run at the championships and Bye has earned the opportunity for the first time in his career.
Forty-four Schools Represented… Fifty different NCAA Division II institutions will show their colors at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids this weekend. The 50 school's number of qualifiers range from the University of Central Oklahoma (10 qualifiers), Lander University (9), West Liberty University (8) and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (8) to 11 universities that are represented by just one qualifier for the championships.
Who's Up First… Murty awaits the winner of the opening round match between Ethan Hardy (22-6) of Glenville State College and James Ryan (12-6) of Gannon University. Faught will be the first Peacock on the mats on Friday with an opening round match against Carter Noehre (13-7) from the Colorado School of Mines looking for a shot at No. 8 Dominic Means (25-7) and Gannon. Luensman's first bout will come against Kaden Hart (14-10) of the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Bye will line up against Lander's Logan Hall (30-3), who is ranked No. 4 in the nation, in the first round.
