ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The No. 21 Peacock men's wrestling team (3-4, 1-0 GLVC) started conference play on Friday night with a 28-13 win over Maryville (Mo.) (4-8, 0-2 GLVC). Dawson Schmit (133), Ethen Doty (149), Griffin Luke (174) and Braxten Westendorf picked up bonus point victories while Tanner Arjes (141) and Nick Mueller (165) grabbed decision wins.
Luke had the upset of the night for the Peacocks, defeating defending national champion and No. 7 NWCA wrestler Cole Ritter. A late first-period takedown gave Ritter a 3-0 lead. In the second period, Luke flipped Ritter over in a scramble to win with a fall.
Schmit handled Yashua Amen throughout the match at 133 pounds. The Peacock got a hold of one leg and swept the other for a takedown in the second period, and added a takedown in the third. After two stalling calls on Amen, Schmit got the shoulders down with 18 seconds left in the match for the fall.
Doty, the NWCA No. 5 wrestler, won with a first-period fall against Leo Buchheit. Westendorf won 20-5 after picking up the 20th point via riding time for a tech fall. Westendorf has won nine of his last 10 matches after going 4-0 at last weekend's NWCA duals.
Arjes recorded an escape in the second period against Maryville's Caleb Carter. After Carter took bottom to start the third, Arjes never let him go and got another point off riding time to win, 2-0. Mueller got two early takedowns at 165 pounds against Javier Gutierrez to pick up the 6-1 decision.
The Peacocks limited Maryville to only one bonus-point victory. Jackson Heaston (125) lost to Elijah Almarinez, 8-3. Preston Klostermann (157) fell to Nic Zamora, 8-4. At 197, No. 9 Jeremiah Larson defeated Matthew Marcum, 4-2, and at 285, Orest Nazarchuk defeated Hunter Bye by an 8-0 Major Decision.
Upper Iowa moves to 4-0 against Maryville since joining the GLVC, and has a five-match winning streak dating back to 2017. 28 team points is the second-most UIU has scored during that streak. UIU is now 3-0 in GLVC openers.
GLVC play continues for the Peacocks on the road next weekend against No. 8 McKendree (Ill.) (6-5, 2-0 GLVC) and No. 20 UIndy (1-2, 0-0 GLVC). UIU faces the Bearcats at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22, and the Greyhounds on Friday, Jan. 23.
UPPER IOWA 28, MARYVILLE 13
125: Elijah Almarinez (MU) over Jackson Heaston (UIU) (Dec 8-3)
133: Dawson Schmit (UIU) over Yashua Amen (MU) (Fall 6:42)
141: Tanner Arjes (UIU) over Caleb Carter (MU) (Dec 2-0)
149: Ethen Doty (UIU) over Leo Buchheit (MU) (Fall 1:37)
157: Nicolas Zamora (MU) over Preston Klostermann (UIU) (Dec 8-4)
165: Nick Mueller (UIU) over Javier Gutierrez (MU) (Dec 6-1)
174: Griffin Luke (UIU) over Cole Ritter (MU) (Fall 4:38)
184: Braxten Westendorf (UIU) over Evan Morris (MU) (TF 20-5 7:00)
197: Jeremiah Larson (MU) over Matthew Marcum (UIU) (Dec 4-2)
285: Orest Nazarchuk (MU) over Hunter Bye (UIU) (MD 8-0)
(UIU misconduct -1.0)
