UNI Wrestling Travels to Northern Illinois for Second Dual in a Week

Friday, January 8

DeKalb, IL

7 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

Northern Illinois University

UNI Wrestling Travels to Northern Illinois for Second Dual in a Week

1/7/2016 11:55:00 AM | Wrestling

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UNI wrestling (1-4 / 0-2 MAC) at Northern Illinois (3-3 / 0-1 MAC)

7 p.m. CT Jan. 8, 2016
Convocation Center (10,000) / DeKalb, Illinois
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COMPLETE NOTES - PDF

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The UNI wrestling team is looking for its first MAC win as it takes on Northern Illinois in its second dual this week.

The Panthers were edged out 22-14 by Eastern Michigan Tuesday. UNI is ranked fourth in the latest MAC rankings released today. The team was in a tie for the same position last month. Northern Illinois was bumped from seventh to eighth in the latest poll.

Midlands champion Emilio Saavedra of Old Domion cracked the MAC rankings at 133 pounds, bumping UNI's Josh Alber out of the top four. Alber took second to Saavedra at Midlands last week.

UNI still holds two top spots in the conference:

125 pounds – Dylan Peters 1^st
157 pounds – Bryce Steiert 4^th
165 pounds – Cooper Moore 2^nd
285 pounds – Blaize Cabell 1^st

All four Panthers ranked in the MAC are also undefeated in conference duals.

UNI won last year's matchup in the West Gym, 29-6:

125 - Dylan Peters pinned Derek Elmer (NIU) 5:44
133 - Leighton Gaul dec. Danny Carlson (NIU) 5-0
141 - Jake Hodges dec. Tyler Argue (NIU) 10-6
149 - Gunnar Wolfensperger maj. dec. Austin Culton (NIU) 10-0
157 - Andrew Morse (NIU) dec. Jarrett Jensen 4-0
165 - Cooper Moore dec. Shaun'Qae McMurty (NIU) 5-3
174 - Trace Engelkes (NIU) dec. Curt Maas 8-6 SV1
184 - Cody Caldwell dec. Quinton Rosser (NIU) 9-6
197 - Basil Minto dec. Shawn Scott (NIU) 3-2
285 - Blaize Cabell minor tech. fall Arthur Bunce (NIU) 22-7

THE LINEUPS (UNI vs. NIU)

125: Leighton Gaul (7-4) vs. Alijah Jeffery (8-9)

After starting at 133 pounds last year, Gaul is back in the lineup at 125 pounds for his first dual this season as a sophomore. He tied for first at the Buena Vista Open this year and took second at the UNI Open.
Jeffery redshirted last season, posting a 21-6 record. He ended the year on a 10-match win streak and placed in five of the seven opens in which he competed.

133: No. 18 Josh Alber (20-5) vs. Austin Eicher (11-8)

Alber is coming off a successful Midlands Championships, where he took second. The champion, Emilio Saavedra of Old Domion, cracked the MAC rankings and bumped Alber out of the top four.
"I like how he competed," Schwab said of Alber at Midlands. "Good tournament for him. He was aggressive. He got beat attacking."
The redshirt freshman has three top-20 wins with decisions over No. 12 Josh Martinez of Air Force and No. 20 Anthony Giraldo of Rutgers two times.
Eicher is a redshirt freshman who went 14-9 wrestling unattached last year.

141: Trevor Jauch (12-6) or Jake Koethe (22-7) vs. No. 12 Steve Bleise (17-4)

Jauch is one of three Panthers leading the team in falls. His biggest pin was against No. 15 Jamel Hudson of Hofstra. He notched three more en route to winning the Cobber Open and grabbed two more at the Midlands Championships.
Koethe is one of seven Panthers with wins over top-20 opponents. He beat No. 17 Anthony Abidin of Nebraska, 8-4, at Midlands last week. He has won the Buena Vista Open two years in a row.
"Jake Koethe is wrestling pretty well," said Schwab. "I like the things he is doing. He beat a guy that was ranked fairly high, a kid from Nebraska, and he handled him pretty well. He is right there with the best guys. Him and (Trevor) Jauch – to me, it's really a nip-and-tuck thing."
Bleise is ranked fourth in the MAC. Last week, he became the first NIU wrestler to reach the finals at the Midlands Championships since 2006. He took second. The redshirt freshman was named MAC Wrestler of the Week after winning the Michigan State Open. He posted victories over two top-15 wrestlers (No. 13 Danny Sabatello of Purdue and defending MAC Champion No. 14 Zach Horan of Central Michigan).

149: Jake Hodges (11-7) or Peter Stewart (14-7) vs. Gabe Morse (4-1)

Both Panthers will be making a season debut in the dual lineup. Hodges started for UNI at 141 pounds last year and has competed the early part of the season at the lighter weight. He tied for first at the Buena Vista Open.
Stewart also would be moving up a weight class for UNI. He transferred from Iowa Western Community College after taking seventh at the NJCAA tournament at 141 pounds. He has placed at three of the four open tournaments he has competed in this year at 141 pounds.
Morse is a junior who missed much of last year due to injury. He was 6-3 on the season last year.

157: No. 20 Bryce Steiert (12-6) vs. Austin Culton (2-10) or Andrew Scott (6-9)

Steiert cracked the national rankings this week after another top-20 win. He beat No. 18 Tyler Berger of Nebraska at the Midlands Championships. Steiert has wins over No. 12 Dylan Cottrell of West Virginia and No. 17 Eleazar DeLuca of Northern Colorado. He is now ranked fourth in the MAC.
"Steiert is right there," said Schwab. "He is one takedown away from beating the best guys in the country, but now we have to go get that takedown."
He took sixth at the Cliff Keen Invite in early December.
Culton is up a weight from last year. He stepped in to start at 149 pounds for NIU's final eight duals last year. He finished the season 6-13 overall.
Scott is the younger brother of the Shawn Scott, who wrestles at 197 pounds for NIU. Andrew has wrestled the majority of NIU's duals and has a 1-5 dual record this year.

165: Taylor Berger (3-5) or No. 8 Cooper Moore (7-4) vs. Shaun'Qae McMurty (10-5)

Moore is the reigning conference champion. He is a two-time national qualifier and took eighth at the Cliff Keen this year. Moore is ranked second in the MAC. He beat McMurty two times last season. He won 5-3 in a dual and won 8-1 in the first round of the MAC championships.
Berger started the year in the lineup at 165 pounds, going 1-2 at the Journeymen/Asics Northeast Duals. Both losses were to top-15 opponents.
McMurty is ranked third in the MAC. He took fourth in the conference last year.

174: Drew Foster (11-9) vs. Trace Engelkes (12-8)

Foster was second at the Cobber Open this year and won the Joe Parisi Open last year. He is 11-8 on the season and looking for his first dual win.
Engelkes was eighth at the Midlands Championships last week. He was fifth at the MAC Championships last year and finished the season at No. 27 in the NCAA RPI rankings.

184: Cody Caldwell (7-9) vs. Quinton Rosser (7-7)

Caldwell is a returning NCAA qualifier. The senior took fourth at the MAC tournament as a sophomore to earn an automatic bid to the national tournament at 174 pounds. He moved to the 184-pound weight class as a junior.
Caldwell beat Rosser two times last season. He won 9-6 in a dual and then notched a 13-2 major decision against Rosser in the second round of the MAC Championships.
Rosser was the starter for NIU last year and notched a 10-22 record on the year.

197: Jared Bartel (4-6) or Cody Krumwiede (8-6) vs. Shawn Scott (13-5)

In 2013-14, Bartel represented the Panthers at the MAC tournament as a redshirt freshman after wrestling one dual. He lost 3-2 to Scott in sudden victory and took sixth. He competed in three duals as a sophomore the next year. He is 1-3 in duals this year, splitting time with Krumwiede. He has faced five opponents in the top 20 so far this year.
Krumwiede is coming off a recent win at the UNI Open. He lost his only dual for the Panthers this season. The senior moved down from heavyweight last season.
Scott is ranked fourth in the MAC. He is a returning NCAA qualifier. He went 0-2 at the national tournament last year. He was fourth at the MAC last season.

285: No. 15 Blaize Cabell (10-5) vs. Arthur Bunce (10-7) or Jake Cochrane (1-7)

Cabell is the conference leader and two-time NCAA qualifier. He has a top-10 win over Billy Smith of Rutgers. His undefeated dual record last season made him eighth among all Panthers with the most dual wins in a single season. In his MAC dual opener, Cabell notched 12 takedowns against James Romero of Missouri.
Cabell earned a tech fall against Bunce at last year's dual and then won by major decision at the MAC Championships.
Bunce was sixth at last year's MAC championships. He was 9-21 as the heavyweight starter. Cochrane was 3-10 last year as the heavyweight backup.

JANUARY MAC RANKINGS

125 – 1. Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa, Junior); 2. Barlow McGhee (Missouri, Sophomore); 3. Brent Fleetwood (Central Michigan, Sophomore); 4. Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion, Junior).

133 – 1. Mack McGuire (Kent State, Senior); 2. Zach Synon (Missouri, Junior); 3. Emilio Saavedra (Old Dominion, Redshirt Freshman); 4. Corey Keener (Central Michigan, Junior).

141 – 1. Chris Mecate (Old Dominion, Senior); 2. Zach Horan (Central Michigan, Senior); 3. Matt Manley (Missouri, Junior); 4. Steve Bleise (Northern Illinois, Redshirt Freshman).

149 – 1. Alexander Richardson (Old Dominion, Senior); 2. Lavion Mayes (Missouri, Junior); 3. Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan, Sophomore); 4. Mike DePalma (Kent State, Senior).

157 – 1. Ian Miller (Kent State, Senior); 2. Lucas Smith (Central Michigan, Senior); 3. Spartak Chino (Ohio, Senior); 4. Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa, Freshman).

165 – 1. Daniel Lewis (Missouri, Redshirt Freshman); 2. Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa, Junior); 3. Shaun'Qae McMurtry (Northern Illinois, Junior); 4. Austin Reese (Ohio, Redshirt Freshman).

174 – 1. Blaise Butler (Missouri, Senior); 2. Cody Walters (Ohio, Senior); 3. Mike Ottinger (Central Michigan, Senior); 4. Jacob Davis (Eastern Michigan, Junior).

184 – 1. Willie Miklus (Missouri, Sophomore); 2. Jack Dechow (Old Dominion, Junior); t-3. Andrew Romanchik (Ohio, Senior); t-3. Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan, Sophomore).

197 – 1. J'Den Cox (Missouri, Junior); 2. Phil Wellington (Ohio, Senior); 3. Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan, Senior); 4. Shawn Scott (Northern Illinois, Junior).

HWT – 1. Blaize Cabell (Northern Iowa, Senior); 2. Gage Hutchison (Eastern Michigan, Sophomore); 3. Jake Gunning (Buffalo, Redshirt Freshman); 4. Jesse Webb (Ohio, Sophomore).

The preseason team rankings were also decided in the same forum. The nine schools were ranked based on the number of first through fourth-place votes that were earned in the individual voting system. A first-place vote was worth four team points; a second-place vote earned three team points; third-seeded votes were worth two team points, while a fourth-place tally earned one point in the team ranking system. The preseason team rankings for the MAC are as follows:

2016 MAC January Rankings (Jan. 7, 2016)
1.         Missouri (27.0)
2.         Central Michigan (14.5)
3.         Old Dominion (14.0)
4.         Northern Iowa (12.0)
5.         Ohio (11.5)
6.         Kent State (9.0)
7.         Eastern Michigan (6.0)
8.         Northern Illinois (4.0)
9.         Buffalo (2.0)

The 2016 MAC Wrestling Championships will be held March 5-6 and hosted by Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich.

Last year, Missouri won its third consecutive MAC Championship with 139.5 points, followed by second-place Old Dominion (97.5 points). Ohio (85.5 points) finished third, followed by Kent State (75.5 points), Central Michigan (74.5 points), Northern Iowa (72.5 points), Northern Illinois (40.0 points) and Eastern Michigan (28.5 points).