FAYETTE, Iowa - No. 21 UIU men's wrestling (3-4, 1-0 GLVC) continues conference action this weekend on the road against No. 8 McKendree (Ill.) (8-5, 2-0 GLVC) and No. 20 UIndy (1-2, 0-0 GLVC). Action is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts against the Bearcats and 7 p.m. on Friday in the Ruth Lilly Fitness Center against the Greyhounds.
LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the games this weekend can stay connected with a pair of live options available at UIUPeacocks.com/Live, featuring access to live scoring and a pay-per-view webcast through GLVCSN. Fans can also refer to the links attached to this story for all live options.
In addition to GLVCSN.com, viewers can catch the Peacocks on the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile app, as well as the GLVCSN app on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.
LAST TIME OUT
The Peacocks defeated Maryville (Mo.) (5-8, 1-2 GLVC) this past Friday, 28-13. Dawson Schmit (133), Ethen Doty (149), Griffin Luke (174) and Braxten Westendorf (184) picked up bonus point victories while Tanner Arjes (141) and Nick Mueller (165) grabbed decision wins.
Luke picked up the win of the night, upsetting No. 7 and defending national champion Cole Ritter with a fall in the second period. Schmit and Doty also recorded falls, while Westendorf tacked on a technical fall victory.
Upper Iowa moved to 4-0 against Maryville since joining the GLVC, and the Peacocks have won five-straight dating back to 2017. UIU also improved to 3-0 in GLVC openers.
GLVC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Luke earned the GLVC's weekly award on Tuesday, giving the Peacocks back-to-back weeks earning the award after Westendorf won it on Jan. 14. UIU has now won four conference weekly awards, the most in a season since joining the GLVC.
THE OPEN MAT RANKINGS
The Peacocks have three wrestlers ranked in Wednesday's Open Mat rankings, all staying put in the same spot as last week. Doty remained at No. 8 at 149 pounds, Lawson Losee stayed at No. 11 at 174 pounds and Westendorf is at No. 14 at 184 pounds.
NWCA RANKINGS
Upper Iowa is tied for No. 21 as a team in the Dec. 18 edition of the NWCA poll. UIU received 16 points, tying Colorado Mines and Frostburg State (Md.). In the GLVC, McKendree (Ill.) is ranked No. 8, and UIndy entered the rankings at No. 20. Central Oklahoma is No. 1 in the nation, receiving 96 points.
Doty and Losee are the two ranked wrestlers for the Peacocks in the NWCA rankings. Doty came in at No. 5 at 149 pounds, while Losee ranks No. 8 at 174 pounds.
The next edition of the NWCA rankings comes out before Upper Iowa faces McKendree on Thursday, Jan. 22.
ABOUT THE BEARCATS - Thursday at 7 p.m.
McKendree enters this weekend after winning nonconference dual matchups against No. 9 Ashland (Ohio) (5-6) and Findlay (Ohio) (6-6) last weekend. The Bearcats are 2-0 in GLVC play with December wins over Drury (Mo.) (2-9, 0-4 GLVC) and Maryville.
McKendree was ranked No. 8 in Dec. 18's NWCA poll. In this week's Open Mat rankings, the Bearcats are No. 14 in team dual and No. 13 in team tournament rankings.
The team features seven ranked wrestlers, six in the last NWCA rankings. Thaddeus Long (133) is No. 4 in both polls with a 15-2 record. Darion Johnson (184) and Logan Kvien (197) are both ranked No. 6 in The Open Mat and No. 5 in the NWCA rankings.
At 141, Ronan Schuelke is ranked No. 7 in the NWCA poll and No. 12 in The Open Mat. Sam Richardson (165) is No. 8 in the NWCA and No. 12 in the Open Mat. Cale Hoskinson at 157 is ranked in both (No. 14 NWCA, No. 18 Open Mat), and Zeke Waltz at 174 earned a No. 16 ranking in The Open Mat.
The Peacocks and Bearcats met at the NWCA Duals on Jan. 9, with McKendree earning a 24-19 victory. Three of McKendree's seven ranked wrestlers did not compete in the matchup, with the other four picking up wins over UIU. Preston Klostermann and Hoskinson had the closest bout at 157, ending with Hoskinson taking the win in a 4-3 decision.
Treyton Ackman, Tanner Arjes, Doty, Luke and Westendorf each took victories for the Peacocks. Doty and Westendorf both won with tech falls, while Arjes won with a major decision.
McKendree is led by James Kisgen with a 218-101 record entering this weekend at McKendree. He is in his 23rd season with the Bearcats and is the only head coach in the program's history.
ABOUT THE GREYHOUNDS - Friday at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT
UIndy fell this past weekend to Findlay, but won on Jan. 7 against Drury for the team's lone win in conference play. The Peacocks are 2-0 against the Greyhounds since joining the GLVC, with a 29-9 win at home last season.
The Greyhounds were No. 20 in the Dec. 18 NWCA poll and have five ranked wrestlers. At 285, Cale Gray earned a No. 5 ranking in the NWCA and is No. 11 in The Open Mat. Gavin Garcia (149) is No. 10 in the NWCA and No. 13 in The Open Mat.
Nathan Smith (125) and Aidan Sprague (133) are both No. 14 in the open mat, while they are No. 11 and No. 10 in the NWCA, respectively. Shane Bates at 174 pounds came in at No. 20 in this week's Open Mat rankings.
Head coach Jason Warthan is in his 16th year with the Greyhounds. He is a two-time NCAA Super Region Coach of the Year, having received the award in 2014 and 2017.
