The Peacock men's wrestling program hosted their annual Legends Dinner and handed out their post-season awards on April 20 at the Upper Iowa Student Center Ballrooms. Guests at the dinner included Peacock wrestlers, parents, friends, family, alumni and administration.
"Our Legends Dinner was fantastic," said Head Coach
Heath Grimm. "The event was set up beautifully with fantastic food, great fellowship with so many great words spoken. I can honestly say that I've never been so moved by our senior's speeches.
The words, messages and experiences they endorsed is why I coach.The Legends Dinner is a special evening and this year was no different."
This year's event began with Upper Iowa University's President Franken giving an introduction, followed by the senior speeches from
Jordan Baumler,
John Ebaugh,
Eric Faught,
Cameron Lopez,
Chase Luensman,
Tate Murty,
Gunner Rodgers, and
Ryan Steffen.
Nate Skarr capped off the evening as the guest speaker.
Listed below are the team awards that were given out to this year's esteemed group of Upper Iowa wrestlers.
TEAM AWARDS
Coaches Appreciation –
Treyton Ackman,
Colter Bye,
Eric Faught and
Jackson Rolfs
Academic Excellence (3.5 career GPA)-
Graduate degree level: Jordan Baumler (3.93) and
James Davis (3.89) …
Undergraduate degree level: Collin Altensey (3.76),
Cael Bridgewater (3.7),
Gabriel Christensen (3.92),
Kale Hansen (3.95)
Cameron Lopez (3.5),
Chase Luensman (3.67),
Dawson Schmit (3.67) and
Chase Wickwire (3.63).
Breakout Wrestler of the Year-
Ethen Doty
Most Falls –
Ethen Doty (11)
Most Wins –
Chase Luensman (26)
Outstanding Newcomer –
Lawson Losee
Outstanding Wrestler(s) –
Chase Luensman and
Tate Murty
The 2023-24 Peacock wrestling team finished the season with a 9-5 record, a 5-1 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and a share of the GLVC Championship.
A pair of All-Americans,
Chase Luensman and
Tate Murty, led the Peacocks to a 17th place finish at the 2024 NCAA Division II Championships. Luensman (165) concluded his wrestling career at UIU with a second-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships to close out a run that included the 2023 National Championship, three NCAA All-American honors and four trips to the NCAA Championships. Murty earned his career-best finish at the NCAA Championships this year placing fifth. The three-time All-American ended his season, and his career, on a high note as he posted a 9-0 major decision in the fifth-place match. In his four times at the NCAA Championships, Murty placed sixth in 2021 and eighth in 2023.
In December, Upper Iowa placed fourth at the 44th Annual Midwest Classic with 108.5 points behind five place winners in Indianapolis, Ind. Luensman (165) placed second, Murty (141) and
Ethen Doty (149) came in fourth,
Eric Faught (157) took fifth in his first action of the season and
Colter Bye (184) placed seventh.
Upper Iowa posted a 2-1 record on day one of the NWCA National Duals to claim a spot in the top eight after entering the event unseeded. The eighth-place finish marked the 14th time in the last 16 years that UIU placed as the prestigious event. UIU defeated Ashland (38-4) and Northern State (31-6).
In UIU's inaugural season in the GLVC, the Peacocks opened their season with a dominating 44-6 win over Davenport at home in December and then rattled off two more victories over Maryville (31-7) and Drury (44-7) to move to 3-0. After a 24-13 win over Minnesota State, the Peacocks returned to conference action at McKendree; UIU lost the dual 25-14 marking their only blemish in the GLVC. Upper Iowa bounced back with wins over Quincy (48-3) and UIndy (29-15) to claim a share of the GLVC Championship with Maryville and McKendree. In addition to the share of the title, seven UIU wrestlers earned All-GLVC honors including Bye and Faught were named to the First Team All-GLVC, Murty, Luensman,
Jordan Baumler and
James Davis earned All-GLVC Second Team honors, while
Treyton Ackman grabbed a spot on the All-GLVC Third Team.
Upper Iowa placed sixth with 74 total points at the NCAA DII Super Region V Championships fueled by six wrestlers that finished in the top six in their respective weight classes. Doty, Faught and Bye all finished fourth in their weight classes coming up one win shy of a NCAA Championship berth.
After the season, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) unveiled the 2024 NCAA Division II Men's Team Scholar All-America top 25 team rankings and Upper Iowa was ranked 24th as a team behind a 3.128 GPA and boasted five Scholar All-Americans;
Cameron Lopez, Davis, Murty, Luensman and Baumler
