Upper Iowa men's wrestling hosted Maryville on Sunday and defeated them in a convincing 24-13 decision. The Peacocks improved to 11-4 on the season and 4-0 in the GLVC, which marked them as the regular season conference champions. The Tournament Champions will be named on Feb. 16 at the GLVC Championships on the campus of McKendree.
The Peacocks wrangled wins in six weight classes: two by decision, two by major decision and two by tech fall.
The home team secured 18 takedowns, while the Saints managed only seven. Additionally, UIU recorded three two-point nearfalls and three four-point nearfalls.
The two Peacock wrestlers who were victorious by decision were
Jackson Heaston (125) and
Ryan Wehner (141). Heaston kicked the dual off at 125 and held a comfortable lead after executing three takedowns over his opponent in the first round. His burst of quick scoring aided him in maintaining his lead throughout the bout. Wehner notched a takedown in the second round to lead his opponent 3-2 and held him off the remainder of the match to come away with the narrow one-point win.
Dalton Schams (157) and
Geoffery Freeman (197) put on impressive performances, trumping the Saints by major decision. Schams lead 6-1 going into the second round, with a stalling and an escape point giving him the 8-1 edge right off the bat. The 157-pounder then executed several takedowns, bringing him to the 15-3 final. Freeman executed seven takedowns in his match that led him to his large margin of victory (21-11).
The duo of
Ethen Doty (149) and
Collin Altensey (165) were the highlight of the afternoon as they both downed the Saints by tech fall. Doty shut out his opponent, 15-0, and totaled his points through a combination of takedowns and nearfall points to earn his win in the second round. Altensey made quick work of his opponent, jumping out to the 15-0 score after a takedown and three four-point nearfalls all in round one. After the 165-pound match, the Peacocks led the Saints 20-3.
Dawson Schmit (133),
Colter Bye (184) and
Joshua Gaye (285) each fell by decision. Schmit trailed 3-0 in the first round when two reversals back and forth had him behind 5-2. He eventually dropped in a 6-3 decision.
Bye allowed a takedown and four-point nearfall in the second round, making it difficult to bounce back. Bye gave it his best effort and recorded a takedown in the third round, but came up short in a 9-6 decision.
Gaye went up against #2 Ryan Herman in his bout. The score was tied 0-0 going into round two, but a choice for bottom by the Saints led to them earning an escape point for the 1-0 advantage. Gaye chose neutral in round three and was unable to get a takedown, falling in a narrow 1-0 decision
Reily Dolan wrestled at 174 for the Peacocks and challenged the #11 wrestler, Cole Ritter, and fell in by major decision (10-0).
The Peacocks have one remaining conference dual, as they travel to Springfield, Mo. to take on Drury on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m.
UIU-24, MU-13
