FAYETTE, Iowa - The Peacock men's wrestling team (6-5, 4-1 GLVC) heads to Pepsi Arena in Quincy, Illinois, on Sunday for the 2026 GLVC Championships. The Peacocks will face either sixth-seeded Drury (Mo.) (2-11, 0-5 GLVC) or three-seeded Maryville (Mo.) (9-9, 3-2 GLVC) in their first dual at 11:30 a.m.

With a win, the Peacocks will compete in the Championship Match at 2:30 p.m. With a loss, they will be in the third-place match at 1 p.m. No. 8 McKendree (Ill.) (11-5, 5-0 GLVC) earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend this weekend's championship 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 celebrated Senior Day with a 38-7 win against Drury on Thursday, Feb. 5. UIU honored seniors Hunter Bye, Ethen Doty, Reily Dolan and Lucas Henderson before the match. 

Doty (149) and redshirt sophomore Griffin Luke (174) both finished undefeated in GLVC action with their wins. After falling 7-0 early, Doty got a reversal and a fall to win the match against Mason Knight. Luke's match came down to the wire, but he secured a takedown against Jeremiah Halter in the final five seconds to win, 5-3. 

Preston Klostermann (157) recorded the quickest fall of the night at 1:00. Matthew Marcum (197) won by fall at 1:58, and Braxten Westendorf (184) won with a tech fall, 18-3. Dawson Schmit (133) and Dolan (165) picked up decision wins, while Treyton Ackman (125) won by forfeit. 

With the win, the Peacocks improved to 14-2 in GLVC regular-season action since joining the conference in 2023-24. UIU is also on a three-dual win streak going into the GLVC Championships. 

THE OPEN MAT RANKINGS
The Peacocks have two ranked wrestlers in this week's Open Mat rankings. Doty came in at No. 6 at 149 pounds, and Luke is No. 13 at 174 pounds. They are both ranked in the same spot as last week. Upper Iowa is ranked No. 23 in the team dual rankings after previously being unranked. 

From the GLVC, McKendree is ranked No. 10 in the team tournament rankings with a No. 13 ranking in the team dual rankings. UIU and McKendree are the only two ranked teams from the conference. 

NWCA RANKINGS
The Peacocks had three ranked wrestlers in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rankings released on Jan. 22. Doty, Lawson Losee (174) and Westendorf earned rankings. 

Doty was the highest-ranked wrestler, coming in at No. 8 at 149 pounds. Losee is ranked No. 10 at 174 pounds, while Westendorf earned his first ranking of the season at No. 15 at 184 pounds. 

In the team ranking, the Peacocks were at the top in the receiving votes category of the poll, coming in with 9.5 points. In the GLVC, McKendree and UIndy are ranked No. 8 and No. 25, respectively. Quincy received seven points, and Maryville (Mo.) received 1.5 points. 

Central Oklahoma remains the top team in the poll with 90.5 points and nine individuals ranked. Nebraska-Kearney is No. 2 with 81.5 points and nine ranked individuals. Gannon (Pa.) is third with 65 points, Grand Valley State (Mich.) is fourth with 63 points and Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) is fifth with 62 points. 

GLVC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
McKendree finished undefeated in GLVC play last week with a 20-19 win over UIndy. The dual ended with a 19-19 tie, but the Bearcats won on the tiebreaker of most pins. 

The Bearcats have the most ranked wrestlers in the GLVC, with seven in both the NWCA and The Open Mat. Thaddeus Long (133), Ronan Schuelke (141), Cale Hoskinson (157), Sam Richardson (165), Zeke Waltz (174), Darion Johnson (184) and Logan Kvien (197) are all ranked for McKendree. 

UIndy has four wrestlers ranked in both the NWCA and The Open Mat: Nathan Smith (125), Aidan Sprague (133), Gavin Garcia (149), and Cale Gray (285). Shane Bates (174), Christian Chavez (184) and Ethan Farnell (197) are in the top 20 of The Open Mat rankings. 

Maryville has two ranked wrestlers in the NWCA with No. 14 Cole Ritter (174) and No. 15 Jeremiah Larson (197). Jonovan Smith (285) is ranked No. 8 in The Open Mat. Quincy has two ranked wrestlers in the NWCA with No. 9 Sabian Russell (149) and No. 10 Callan Ivy (184). 

GLVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Peacocks have finished in the championship match in their first two GLVC Championships. UIU defeated UIndy, 29-15, in 2024's GLVC Championship and lost to McKendree, 24-17, in 2025's GLVC Championship. 

McKendree has the most GLVC Championships with six since the sport became sponsored by the conference in 2017. UIU, Maryville, UIndy, and Lindenwood (Mo.) all have won the conference crown once.