FAYETTE, Iowa - Upper Iowa men's wrestling (1-1) resumes competition locally this weekend in Cedar Falls at the NWCA National Duals in the UNI-Dome. The 16-team competition featuring 13 ranked teams takes place on Jan. 9-10.

The Peacocks start action on Friday at 2 p.m. against No. 6 Tiffin (Ohio) (2-0) on Mat 15. The Peacocks will then face No. 8 McKendree (4-2) or No. 2 Nebraska Kearney (4-1) at 4 p.m. No. 3 Wisconsin Parkside (4-1), West Liberty (5-3), Minnesota State (6-1) and No. 12 Grand Valley State (2-2) are also on UIU's side of the bracket. 

LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the NWCA Duals this weekend can stay connected with a pair of live options available at UIUPeacocks.com/Live, featuring access to live scoring via Trackwrestling and a pay-per-view webcast through FloWrestling. Fans can also refer to the links attached to this story for all live options. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Peacocks opened 2026 with a 33-6 loss to Minnesota State, ending a four-match win streak against the Mavericks. Braxton Westendorf (184) and Matthew Marcum (197) recorded decision victories.

Westendorf started the match with a 10-3 win over Jaquon East after jumping out to an early 7-0 lead. Marcum trailed entering the third period against Grant Cook, but in the final 30 seconds, he tallied a pair of four-point near falls to flip the match, 11-5. 

THE OPEN MAT RANKINGS
In Wednesday's edition, redshirt senior Ethen Doty (149) remains the team's highest-ranked wrestler at No. 7 with a 12-3 record. Lawson Losee stayed put at No. 9 at 174 pounds. 

Both Preston Klostermann (157) and Marcum (197) are ranked No. 16, remaining in their spots from a week ago. The Peacocks are ranked No. 19 in the team dual rankings and No. 24 in the team tournament rankings. 

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., 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. 

ABOUT THE DRAGONS
Tiffin's most recent competition was at the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis, finishing fourth out of 47 teams. The Dragons have two wins this season in duals against G-MAC competition over Thomas More (Ken.) and Lake Erie (Ohio). 

Last season, the Peacocks defeated Tiffin, 30-13, at the NWCA duals. Upper Iowa is 5-0 since 2016 against the Dragons, winning by double digits in four out of the five duals. 

The Dragons are tied for No. 6 in the NWCA rankings with Lander (S.C.), and are ranked No. 15 in The Open Mat's team dual rankings. Tiffin has six ranked wrestlers in both the NWCA and The Open Mat. 

Sophomore Nolan Gessler (165) is the top wrestler, ranked No. 1 in both polls with an 8-0 record this season. He is also ranked No. 4 in The Open Mat's pound-for-pound rankings. 

At 125, sophomore Anthony Anciete is ranked No. 4 in both rankings, totaling a 6-2 record. Casey Barnett (157) is ranked No. 5 in the NWCA and No. 8 in The Open Mat during his junior season.

Also picking up top 10 rankings at 285 pounds is Jake Powell (No. 6 NWCA, No. 10 Open Mat). Sophomore David Davis (184) is ranked No. 12 in both rankings, and sophomore Emilio Arellano (174) is ranked No. 15 in the NWCA and No. 18 in The Open Mat with a 14-4 record. 

The Dragons are led by head coach Antonio Guerra in his fourth season as the men's wrestling coach. He has a 21-10 record in duals with Tiffin. 

ABOUT THE BEARCATS
McKendree's last competition was at the Midwest Classic, placing sixth with five different wrestlers placing. The Bearcats are 4-2 this season with wins over Central Missouri, Neosho County CC, Drury (Mo.) and Maryville (Mo.). The team's two losses were to No. 1 Central Oklahoma and No. 3 Wisconsin-Parkside. 

Last season, the Peacocks fell to MacKendree, 21-18, at the NWCA duals. Upper Iowa defeated the Bearcats by a score of 18-15 in Fayette on Jan. 24, 2026. The teams then faced off in the GLVC Championship, with McKendree getting a 23-17 victory. 

McKendree was ranked No. 8 in Dec. 18's NWCA poll and is also No. 8 in Wednesday's team dual rankings for The Open Mat. The Bearcats have seven ranked wrestlers on their squad, with three in the top five.

At 133, graduate Thaddeus Long is the highest-ranked wrestler on the team, coming at No. 4 in both rankings. He has a 9-2 record. Dorian Johnson (184) is ranked No. 5 in the NWCA and No. 4 in The Open Mat with an 11-3 mark. Graduate Logan Kvien (197) is 8-2 this season and No. 5 in both rankings.

Also ranked for the Bearcats is Ronan Schuelke (141) at No. 7 (NWCA) and No. 12 (Open Mat). At 165, Sam Richardson is ranked No. 8 (NWCA) and No. 16 (Open Mat). Cale Hoskinson (157) is No. 14 (NWCA) and No. 16 (Open Mat). Zeke Waltz at 174 picked up an Open Mat ranking this week at No. 16. 

Head coach James Kisgen is in his 23rd season with the Bearcats, being the only head coach in program history. He has a 214-98 record entering this weekend with the Bearcats. 

ABOUT THE LOPERS
UNK is 4-1 this season with a lone loss to Iowa State. The reigning national champions enter this week after finishing 2025 with wins over Augustana (S.D.) and St. Cloud State (Minn.), both of which are tied for No. 13 in the NWCA rankings. 

Upper Iowa is 3-1 since 2012 vs. UNK. The Lopers won the last meeting at the NWCA Duals in 2023-24 by a score of 29-18. 

The Lopers were ranked No. 2 in the NWCA rankings and come in at No. 1 in the team dual rankings for The Open Mat. Nebraska-Kearney features nine ranked wrestlers, with two wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the NWCA rankings. 

Those two wrestlers are graduates Jackson Kinsella (197) and Crew Howard (285), both also ranked No. 2 in The Open Mat. Kinsella is 8-1, and Howard is 8-2 this season. Joseph Airola (141) was ranked No. 10 in the NWCA, but has jumped up to No. 2 in The Open Mat rankings with an 8-2 record. 

At 157, Cael Robb is ranked No. 6 (NWCA) and No. 5 (Open Mat). Graduate Trent Munoz (165) is ranked No. 4 (NWCA) and No. 5 (Open Mat). Kaden Hart (184) and Otgonbayar Batsuuri (174) were both ranked No. 9 in the NWCA. Zach Ourada (133) is No. 9, and Cale Coyle (125) is No. 12 in the Open Mat. 

Head coach Dalton Jensen is in his ninth season as the head man for the Lopers. He's led UNK to two National Championships in 2021-22 and 2024-25 with a runner-up in 2020-21.