UNI Wrestling to Open MAC Season in West Gym

Old Dominion vs. No. 22 UNI wrestling (NWCA rankings)
2 p.m. Nov. 27
Cedar Falls, Iowa • West Gym

Trackwrestling stats: http://bit.ly/2gBeFlQ
FloWrestling to watch ($):http://bit.ly/2ePgjMf
Tickets ($9.50): www.unipanthers.com/tickets or call (319) 273-4849

FULL NOTES - PDF

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – UNI wrestling will open its conference schedule at home this weekend.

No. 22 UNI will host Old Dominion in the West Gym. The Panthers are 7-0 against the Monarchs in a series that started in 2005. Last year, UNI won 24-12.

Final results from Jan. 17, 2016 - UNI 24, Old Dominion 12
   141 – Trevor Jauch (UNI) dec. #9 Chris Mecate, 5-3
   149 – #8 Alexander Richardson (ODU) tech fall Jake Hodges, 18-2 (5:00)
   157 – Bryce Steiert (UNI) dec. Devin Geoghegan, 4-2
   165 – #8 Cooper Moore (UNI) dec. Seldon Wright, 11-6
   174 – Kyle Lux (UNI) dec. Brooks Climmons, 4-2 TB1
   184 – #6 Jack Dechow (ODU) maj. dec. Cody Caldwell, 11-2
   197 – Jared Bartel (UNI) dec. Austin Coburn, 7-1
   285 – #15 Blaize Cabell (UNI) pinned Andrew Snyder, 4:35
   125 – Brandon Jeske (ODU) dec. Leighton Gaul, 6-3
   133 – #17 Josh Alber (UNI) dec. #14 Emilio Saavedra, 2-0

UNI's honorary captain will be four-time All-American Ken Gallagher. He competed for UNI from 1978-1982.

Gallagher is still third for the most dual victories among all Panthers at UNI. He had 55 career dual wins. Kirk Myers is second with 56 wins, and Joel Greenlee holds the record with 58 dual victories.

Gallagher earned two All-American titles when the Panthers competed at the Division II level. He was a national champion in 1980 and took third in 1979 at 150 pounds.

When Gallagher was a junior in 1981, UNI moved to Division I, where he was fifth at 142 pounds. He finished seventh in the 142-pound weight class his senior year in 1982.

UNI also would like to honor Dan Nesdahl, who was in the Panthers' ROTC program and a huge supporter of UNI wrestling. He returned from Georgia for today's meet.

Prior to the dual, the Panthers are hosting a wrestling clinic grow the sport and support those facing struggles with cancer. This is the second year for the clinic. This year's event supported Kelsey Motley.

Motley was diagnosed with colon cancer a few months ago. All the money raised from the youth clinic was donated to her.
Motley is a UNI graduate and currently works for Panther Sports Properties - Learfield Sports.

PROJECTED LINEUPS (ODU vs. UNI – Intermat rankings)

125 - #19 Brandon Jeske (0-0) or Steven Simpson (1-4/0-2) vs. #3 Dylan Peters (0-1) or Jay Schwarm (6-2/1-1)

Jeske is a three-time NCAA qualifier. He took fourth at the MAC Championships last year. He is ranked No. 4 in the MAC.
Simpson redshirted last year and finished second on the team for most wins with 23. He led the team in falls with 13 while recording five major decisions and two tech falls.
Peters, the conference leader at 125 pounds, is 3-0 against Jeske. He has pinned him in 4:47 and won by decision, 8-3 and 8-2. They pair haven't matched up since the 2014-15 season. Peters is a two-time All-American and is one fall away from being tied for No. 5 among all Panthers with most falls. He has 36, and Moza Fay has 37.
Schwarm earned bonus points in 19 of his 20 wins last season.

133 - Alex Madrigal (6-2/1-1) vs. Josh Alber (7-1/3-0)

To start the 2016-17 season, Madrigal won a dual against Tyrone Klump of North Carolina and finished fifth in the Southeast Open. Madrigal recorded an 18-6 record competing in open tournaments as a redshirt at 125 and 133. He tied for most tech falls on the team with four while adding three wins by major decision and four via fall.
Alber has scored bonus points in all of his wins this year. He qualified for the NCAA tourney last year. He was UNI's highest finisher at Midlands. He was second at this year's Grand View Open. Alber is ranked fourth in the MAC.

141 - Emilio Saavedra (5-2/0-1) vs. Jake Hodges (6-2/2-1) or Jake Koethe (8-4/0-0)

Saavedra competed at 133 pounds last year. As the No. 12 seed, he edged out Alber to win Midlands last year. Saavedra went 6-4 in dual meets while recording two falls on the year.
Hodges was fourth at the 2015 MAC championships at 149 pounds. He moved down last year to wrestle at 141 pounds. He took second at this year's Grand View Open and won his opening duals.
Koethe knocked off two top-20 opponents before suffering an ACL tear that ended his season in 2016. He took fourth at the Grand View Open earlier this month. He is tied for third in the MAC.

149 - Michael Hayes (1-4/0-2) vs. Max Thomsen (6-1/2-1)

Hayes has a career record of 61-46 competing at 133 pounds and 141 pounds.
Thomsen's only loss is to a top-10 opponent. He has two falls and two major decisions. He is the 24^th prep wrestler to win four state championships in Iowa.

157 - Shane Jones (3-4/0-2) or Austin Eads (6-1/0-0) vs. Jones went 12-11 at 149 pounds as a redshirt, earning three wins via major decision and recorded two falls.

Eads has a career record of 44-29. He started his college career at 149 pounds before jumping to 165 pounds as redshirt freshman. Last year at 157 pounds, he was 11-14 overall.
Moore won the Grand View Open this year and has wrestled at two different weights in duals already this year.

165 - #14 Seldon Wright (5-2/1-1) vs. #17 Bryce Steiert (2-0/2-0)

Wright started this year with a dual win against Jack Clark of North Carolina where he had three takedowns, and he finished as runner-up in the Southeast Open. Wright went 19-15 as a true freshman starter at 165 while earning an 11-8 record in dual meets and earned four major decision victories.
Steiert was the first true freshman from UNI to qualify for the national tournament since 2003. He won his opening dual and knocked off four top-20 opponents last year. This will be his second dual at 165 pounds. His ranking is still at 157 pounds. He is tied for the leader position at 157 pounds in the MAC.

174 - Antonio Agee (2-5/0-1) or Jared Swan (0-1/0-1) vs. Taylor Lujan (6-1/2-1)

Agee ranked No. 19 nationally by FloWrestling last year. He was 2016 Virginia 6A state champion and two-time runner-up and NHSCA Senior National runner-up. He placed third at NHSCA Junior Nationals and seventh in sophomore division.
Swan has a career record of 14-18. He won three matches for ODU as a redshirt freshman competing at 165 and 174 and represented ODU at the MAC Championships at 174.
Lujan notched the team's fastest fall en route to a Grand View title earlier this month. He won his opening duals this year. He is a four-time state champion out of Georgia as a prep. His only loss is to No. 2 Zach Epperly.

184 - #9 Jack Dechow (7-1/2-0) vs. Drew Foster (5-0/2-0) or Jacob Holschlag (3-1/1-1)

Dechow is a three-time NCAA qualifier. He took second at the MAC Championships last year and is ranked second in the conference. He has a career record of 108-26. He has already knocked off the conference leader, No. 7 Willie Miklus of Missouri.
Foster is undefeated in duals at two weights. He earned a tech fall at 197 pounds and dropped down a weight to win by major decision at 184 pounds in the same day for a double dual. Last year, he took fifth in the 184-pound weight class at the MAC Championships after wrestling much of the season at 174 pounds.
Holschlag debuted in the Panther dual lineup with a decision against Zach Stodden of Nebraska-Kearney. He won his first two matches this year by fall and tech fall. His only loss is to No. 9 Zack Zavatsky of Virginia Tech.

197 - #9 Kevin Beazley (6-1/1-1) vs. Jared Bartel (0-2/0-2)

Beazley is coming off an Olympic redshirt. He was a 2014-15 NCAA qualifier after taking third at the MAC. In 2016-17 so far, he has won a dual against Danny Chaid of North Carolina and won the Southeast Open Championship while being ranked 14th. He is ranked third in the MAC.
Bartel is no stranger to top-20 matchups. He's faced nine in his career, with four of them being last year. He was sixth at the MAC Championships in 2014.

285 - Will Hilliard (3-3/0-2) vs. JJ Everard (4-3/2-1)

Hilliard took second at the Southeast Open in the freshman and sophomore division. Hilliard is a two-time New York state place winner, finishing third in 2015 and fifth in 2014. He earned three-time NHSCA All-American, grabbing third as a junior, fifth as a sophomore and fifth as a freshman.
Everard qualified for the 2015 NCAA tournament competing for South Dakota State. He transferred to UNI, where he redshirted last season. Everard is ranked second in the MAC.

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