LEBANON, Ill. - Upper Iowa men's wrestling (3-5, 1-1 GLVC) battled with No. 8 McKendree (Ill.) (9-5, 3-0 GLVC) on the stage at the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts on Thursday night, but fell to the reigning conference champs, 19-17. Every NWCA-ranked wrestler on both sides won their matches.
Treyton Ackman (125), Tanner Arjes (141), No. 8 Ethen Doty (149), Griffin Luke (174) and No. 15 Braxten Westendorf (184) picked up wins for the Peacocks. Arjes had the only bonus-point victory for UIU with a tech fall.
The Peacocks led 17-16 entering the heavyweight match as Matthew Marcum faced off with Casey Olszowka. A stalling call and an escape gave Olszowka a 2-0 lead entering the third period. The Bearcat got a takedown with a minute left to give McKendree the two-point win.
To start the night at 125, Ackman picked up a first-period takedown and an escape in the third to lead, 4-0. Giovanni Diaz recorded a takedown later in the third, but Ackman held on and got a point from riding time to win, 5-3.
Arjes used a three-point takedown and a four-point nearfall to take an early 7-0 lead on Aiden Colbert. He later got a takedown in the third period to get the 15-0 shutout tech fall with 1:31 remaining in the match.
At 149, Doty and Logan Rathjen were tied at 1-1 in the third, both recording an escape. Doty got the win with riding time after keeping Rathjen down for the majority of the second period.
With both teams tied 11-11 heading into the 174 matchup, Luke fought through an early takedown by Coy Bender to trail 3-2 entering the final period. The redshirt sophomore took down Bender with 1:20 left and added points for stalling and riding time to win, 7-3.
Tied at 1-1 in the third at 184, Westendorf got a hold of Shamon Handegan's leg standing up. With Westendorf trying to kick the other leg out, Handegan dove out of bounds and got called for stalling. UIU's redshirt freshman added a takedown with 15 seconds left to win 5-1, picking up his 10th win in his last 11 matches. That gave UIU a 17-11 team advantage heading into the final two matches.
Preston Klostermann came up just short against No. 15 Cale Hoskinson, 8-7. Hoskinson recorded two hard-earned takedowns, but a Klostermann reversal late in the second period cut Hoskinson's lead to 6-4 entering the third. Klostermann was able to get the takedown in the third to tie, 7-7, but Hoskinson escaped with 1:25 left and held on for the win.
Dawson Schmit (133) lost with a tech fall to No. 4 Thaddeus Long. Nick Mueller (165) was defeated by a 6-1 decision to No. 4 Sam Richardson. Hunter Bye (197) lost to No. 5 Logan Kvien in a 16-0 tech fall.
The Peacocks have now lost both matchups to McKendree this season after falling, 24-19, at the NWCA Duals on Jan. 9. UIU has lost three straight to the Bearcats after winning in Fayette on Jan. 24, 2025.
Upper Iowa has a quick turnaround as the team heads to Indianapolis tomorrow to face the No. 25 UIndy Greyhounds (2-2, 2-0 GLVC). UIndy defeated Quincy (Ill.) (8-3, 1-1 GLVC) on Thursday, 28-9. Action is set for 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT in the Ruth Lilly Fitness Center.
No. 8 McKendree 19, Upper Iowa 17
125: Treyton Ackman (UIU) over Giovanni Diaz (MCK) (Dec 5-3)
133: Thaddeus Long (MCK) over Dawson Schmit (UIU) (TF 19-4 5:29)
141: Tanner Arjes (UIU) over Aiden Colbert (MCK) (TF 15-0 5:29)
149: Ethen Doty (UIU) over Logan Rathjen (MCK) (Dec 2-1)
157: Cale Hoskinson (MCK) over Preston Klostermann (UIU) (Dec 8-7)
165: Sam Richardson (MCK) over Nick Mueller (UIU) (Dec 6-1)
174: Griffin Luke (UIU) over Coy Bender (MCK) (Dec 7-3)
184: Braxten Westendorf (UIU) over Shamon Handegan (MCK) (Dec 5-1)
197: Logan Kvien (MCK) over Hunter Bye (UIU) (TF 16-0 6:07)
285: Casey Olszowka (MCK) over Matthew Marcum (UIU) (Dec 5-1)
