FAYETTE, Iowa - The Peacock men's wrestling team closes out 2025 at the 46th Annual Midwest Classic in Indianapolis. The two-day event, hosted by UIndy, will start at 8:30 a.m. CT / 9:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 13 and Sunday, Dec. 14.
LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis this weekend can stay connected with a pair of live options available at UIUPeacocks.com/Live, featuring access to live scoring and a webcast. Both can be accessed through FloWrestling, and fans can also refer to the links attached to this story for all live options.
TICKETS
Fans wanting to purchase tickets can find them linked to the men's wrestling schedule page at https://uiupeacocks.com/sports/wrestling/schedule. Fans can also refer to the links attached to this story.
The ticket website for day one includes a two-day pass option. The ticket website for day two just has Sunday's tickets.
MIDWEST CLASSIC INFORMATION
This weekend's tournament takes place on Saturday and Sunday at Nicoson Hall and the Ruth Lilly Fitness Center in Indianapolis. Both buildings are connected, so fans in attendance will be able to walk through both easily to watch the matches.
A total of 47 teams from 23 different states are competing at the Midwest Classic. The tournament features all six GLVC teams. Eight out of 10 No. 1 wrestlers in each weight class in the NWCA poll are set to compete at the tournament.
19 of the top 25 teams in the NWCA poll will be at the tournament which include: No. 2 Lander (S.C.), No. 3 Tiffin (Ohio), No. 4 Wisconsin-Parkside, No. 5 Gannon (Pa.), No. 7 Central Oklahoma, No. 8 Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.), No. 10 Glenville State (W.V.), No. 11 McKendree (Ill.), No. 14 UMary (N.D.), No. 15 West Liberty (W.V.), T-No. 16 Adams State (Colo.), T-No. 16 Upper Iowa, No. 18 Colorado Mesa, No. 19 Newberry (S.C.), No. 20 King (Tenn.), T-No. 21 Ashland (Ohio), T-No. 21 Grand Valley State (Mich.), T-No. 21 Maryville (Mo.) and T-No. 25 Chadron State (Neb.).
There will be one entry per team per weight class for this tournament, and a score will be kept. Teams will wrestle to the top 16 at each weight on Saturday, and Sunday will start with the mixed quarters/wrestleback round on all eight mats Sunday morning.
Awards will be given to the top three finishing teams. There will be individual awards for Outstanding Wrestler, Most Falls and each weight class winner. The top eight placers at each weight will receive a T-shirt, and finalists will receive a sweatshirt.
LAST TIME OUT
The Peacocks competed this past Saturday at the Buena Vista Open in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Peacocks won five out of 10 weight classes at the event, with 20 different wrestlers placing.
Cael Bridgewater (141), Owen Denstad (149), Lucas Henderson (174), Braxten Westendorf (184) and Matthew Marcum (197) each took first place at the open. Marcum won after defeating NJCAA No. 6 Jean Ngoma (Ellsworth CC) in the quarterfinals and defeating CJ Carter (Iowa State) with an overtime fall in the finals.
Bridgewater had two tech fall wins, a win by major decision and a win by fall to take first. Denstad and Cale Nash both reached the finals at 149 pounds, with Denstad taking first by medical forfeit. Denstad totaled two wins by fall, one by tech fall and one by a major decision, while Nash had a major decision and a tech fall win.
Henderson defeated Zach Fern (Iowa State Wrestling Club) in the finals at 174. Westendorf and Griffin Luke were both finalists at 184 pounds, with Westendorf winning in a 3-2 decision.
Preston Klostermann (157) and Reily Dolan (165) made the championship matches, falling to Iowa State wrestlers in the finals. Jackson Heaston (125), Tanner Arjes (141), Collin Altensey (157) and Geoffery Freeman (197) each took third. Brock Shaha (133), James Lovelady (141) and Hunter Bye (197) placed fourth. Nick Mueller (165) and Jose Del Toro (285) finished in fifth. Kale Hansen (157) placed seventh, and Jonah Luensman (141) took eighth.
GLVC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Marcum earned GLVC Wrestler of the Week after his first-place performance at the Buena Vista Open. This marked the first of his career and the second of the season for the Peacocks as Lawson Losee took the award on Nov. 20.
THE OPEN MAT RANKINGS
In this week's Open Mat rankings, UIU's Ethen Doty (149) moved up one spot to No. 4. Losee remained at No. 2 at 174 pounds.
The Peacocks had two new wrestlers featured in the rankings. Klostermann, a true freshman, came in at No. 14 at 157 pounds. Marcum made his first appearance at No. 8 in the 197-pound rankings.
As a team, The Peacocks moved up one spot to No. 13 in the team tournament rankings. Upper Iowa is No. 22 in the team dual rankings.
NWCA POLL
In the NWCA Poll released on Nov. 20, Upper Iowa moved up six spots to tie for No. 16 in the nation. The Peacocks received 28 points in the poll, tying with Adams State (Colo.).
Losee, Doty and Freeman were all ranked in the NWCA as well. Losee came in at No. 2, Doty was No. 5 and Freeman was No. 12. The next edition of the NWCA rankings will come out next week on Dec. 18.
2024 MIDWEST CLASSIC
The Peacocks finished 16th out of 43 teams at last season's Midwest Classic. Losee (174) led the team with a fifth-place finish, while Colter Bye (184) took sixth and Doty (149) took eighth. Ryan Wehner and Freeman both wrestled in the consolation bracket.
NEXT UP
UIU hosts a dual against No. 13 Minnesota State for the first home event of 2026 in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium on Jan. 3 at 2 p.m.
