FAYETTE, Iowa - Upper Iowa's Ethen Doty (23-6) is scheduled to compete at the NCAA Championships this upcoming weekend in Sioux Falls, S.D. The 149-pounder is scheduled to wrestle at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center on Friday, March 13, starting at 10 a.m.
LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend this weekend's championships 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 FloWrestling. Fans can also refer to the links attached to this story for all live options.
LAST TIME OUT
Doty qualified for nationals after a runner-up finish at the NCAA Super Region V Championships. He picked up two wins by fall against UMary's (N.D.) Kaden DeCoteau and No.4 Nolan Ambrose of Augustana (S.D.). In the championship match, he fell to No. 10 Rudy Lopez of Northern State (S.D.) in a 2-0 decision.
Matthew Marcum (197) was UIU's next highest finisher, taking fourth place. He picked up three wins after defeating Southwest Minnesota State's Xander Kenworthy with a fall, Minot State's (N.D.) Shafer Ehmke with a 15-0 tech fall and Northern State's Ryan Hirschkorn in a sudden victory.
Treyton Ackman (125) finished fifth after beating MSU Moorhead's Clayson Mele in a 15-8 decision. Preston Klostermann (157) and Nick Mueller (165) both made the podium in sixth place.
Wisconsin-Parkside won the regional with 146.5 points. St. Cloud State (Minn.) took second with 127.5 points, and Minnesota State came in third with 109.5 points. Upper Iowa finished seventh with 55 points.
CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Doty will have to win three matches on Friday to be an All-American. He starts with a match against Belmont Abbey's (N.C.) Skyler Caban (20-6). With a win in that match, he would face No. 8 Kenny Kiser (13-4) on Gannon (Pa.).
Also in Doty's area of the bracket is No. 1 Chris Donathan (10-0) of Grand Valley State (Mich.) and Brennan Watkins (13-4) of King (Tenn.). Doty and Watkins met earlier this season at the NWCA Duals, with Watkins winning in a 6-0 decision.
THE OPEN MAT RANKINGS
Only wrestlers who qualified for the National Championships were ranked in the March 4 Open Mat rankings. Doty is ranked No. 10 entering the weekend in the rankings. Caban is No. 11, Kiser is No. 9, Watkins is No. 8 and Donathan is No. 1.
The Peacocks were ranked as a team in the final dual rankings of the season. Upper Iowa came in at No. 24.
NWCA RANKINGS
Doty is the only ranked wrestler in the March 6 NWCA poll for the Peacocks, coming in at No. 10. He is behind Watkins at No. 9, Kiser at No. 8 and Donathan is No. 1 entering the National Championships. As a team, Upper Iowa received three points in the poll, tying for the 36th most of any team.
Gannon took over the top spot with nine individuals ranked and 93 total points. Central Oklahoma remained at No. 2 with seven individuals ranked and 79 points. Nebraska-Kearney dropped two spots to No. 3 with seven ranked wrestlers and 75 points.
From Super Region V, St. Cloud State moved up to No. 5 with five wrestlers ranked. Wisconsin-Parkside is tied for seventh with Tiffin (Ohio). From the GLVC, McKendree is ranked sixth with four ranked wrestlers.
UPPER IOWA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Doty is the 107th NCAA Division II National Qualifier in program history. He aims to join teammate Lawson Losee (174) as the most recent All-American for the program after he placed sixth at the NCAA Championships in 2025.
The Peacocks have had 17 National Champions in program history, with six NCAA Division II Champions, seven NCAA Division III Champions and four NAIA Champions. The most recent National Champion for the Peacocks is Chase Luensman in 2023. UIU has had 102 All-Americans in program history, with 51 since joining Division II.
