Upper Iowa men's wrestling is tied for 24th in the latest edition of the NWCA Poll, released on Monday. The Peacocks have five individual wrestlers ranked in the top 15 of their respective weight classes:
Lawson Losee (174),
Ethen Doty (149),
Colter Bye (184),
Joshua Gaye (285) and
Geoffery Freeman (197).
UIU is 13-5 on the season and finished 5-0 in the GLVC, claiming the regular season title. The team placed second at the GLVC Championship Tournament after coming up short against McKendree, 23-17, in the finals. The Peacocks defeated #20 Maryville 26-14 in the semi-finals of the conference tournament.
Losee is listed highest among Peacock wrestlers in eighth, followed by Doty and Bye, who are ninth. Gaye entered the rankings at 14
th, while Freeman hung on and took the 15
th-place spot.
With the NCAA DII Super Regionals looming this weekend, the Huskies of St. Cloud State held the top spot in the DII Men's Coaches Association poll, released Monday by the NWCA.
SCSU, the only program with more than one top-ranked individual in the poll, amassed 96.5 team points to sit atop the team ranking. Nebraska-Kearney came in second with 70.0 team points, with UW-Parkside in third, just two points behind the Lopers. Central Oklahoma (66.5 points) and Glenville State (61.0 points) round out the top five.
The most ranked wrestlers come out of Super Region 5, with 38, including the most #1s with four wrestling at SR5 schools. Super Region 3 has 34 ranked wrestlers and the most ranked teams in the Top 25 with six. The 33 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) ranked wrestlers are most be a conference, with the NSIC, Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) all featuring four ranked programs in the Top 25.
This is the final D2 men's ranking of the regular season, with the final release of the year being the seeds for the NCAA Division II National Championships.
Peacock men's wrestling heads to the Super Region V on Saturday, Mar. 1 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
