#22 UNI Wrestling to Face #13 Central Michigan on Road

Sunday, January 15

Mount Pleasant, MI

1 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

Central Michigan University

#22 UNI Wrestling to Face #13 Central Michigan on Road

1/13/2017 3:45:00 PM | Wrestling

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No. 22 UNI wrestling (4-2 / 2-0 MAC) vs. No. 13 Central Michigan (2-0 / 1-0) (NWCA rankings)
1 p.m. CT Jan. 15, 2017
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan • McGuirk Arena (5,300)

NCAA ticket request

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – UNI wrestling will get its third shot at a ranked opponent this weekend when the Panthers travel to No. 13 Central Michigan Sunday.

"They are ranked up and down the lineup," said head coach Doug Schwab. "They are a pretty stingy team, so we need to learn how to crack these guys open and go score some points and be able to get a lot of momentum going."

Two matches will include top-20 matches. At 149 pounds, UNI's No. 8 Max Thomsen will face 2016 All-American No. 6 Justin Oliver of CMU. Fans could see the top two MAC wrestlers at 184 pounds this weekend. The Chippewas are expected to wrestle No. 14 Jordan Ellingwood, while UNI has Drew Foster, ranked 15^th by FloWrestling.

There will be rematches at 133 pounds and 184 pounds. CMU leads both of those series.

UNI is 2-5 against Central Michigan in a series that started in 1973. Head coach Doug Schwab is 1-3 against the Chippewas. Sunday, he will be coaching his 100^th dual with the Panthers.

1973 – 21-14 win
2005 – 21-18 loss
2006 – 23-9 loss
2012 – 31-6 loss
2014 – 25-14 win
2015 – 29-12 loss
2016 – 22-14 loss

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST CMU

Last year (Jan. 29, 2016), UNI won just three matches against CMU. Final score was 22-11, CMU.
    149 – Justin Oliver (CMU) maj. dec. Jake Hodges, 12-4
    157 – #10 Luke Smith (CMU) dec. #19 Bryce Steiert, 1-0
    165 – #19 Cooper Moore (UNI) maj dec. #32 Jordan Atienza, 9-1
    174 – #7 Mike Ottinger (CMU) dec. Kyle Lux, 7-5
    184 – #29 Jordan Ellingwood (CMU) dec. Drew Foster, 10-4
    197 – Jackson Lewis (CMU) dec. Jared Bartel, 6-1
    285 – #16 Blaize Cabell (UNI) MD Newton Smerchek, 15-5
    125 – #7 Dylan Peters (UNI) dec. #19 Brent Fleetwood, 8-3
    133 – #32 Corey Keener (CMU) dec. #12 Josh Alber, 4-2
    141 – #16 Zach Horan (CMU) dec. #28 Trevor Jauch, 4-3

LINEUPS (UNI vs. CMU – FloWrestling rankings)

125 – Tanner Rohweder / Jay Schwarm vs. Brent Fleetwood

UNI: Rohweder is coming off a Pat "Flash" Flanagan Open title. Schwarm moved up a weight last week to wrestle a dual at 133 pounds and notched a 46-second fall at the Southern Scuffle to start the year.
CMU: Fleetwood is ranked fourth in the MAC. He took third at the MAC championships last year and qualified for the NCAAs. He was fourth at the MAC in 2015.

133 – No. 12 Josh Alber vs. Corey Keener

UNI: Ten of Alber's 13 wins have come with bonus points. He has one top-15 win with two decisions over No. 13 Kevin Devoy of Drexel. He's a 2016 NCAA qualifier and the MAC leader in rankings.
CMU: Keener is a two-time NCAA qualifier who was second at last year's MAC championships. He is ranked fourth in the MAC. Keener has beaten Alber 4-2 in a dual and 3-2 at the 2016 MAC championships.

141 – Jake Hodges / Tyler Willers vs. Mason Smith

UNI: Hodges and Willers both knocked off top-10 opponents in the first round of the Southern Scuffle. Willers beat No. 4 Randy Cruz of Lehigh, and Hodges took down No. 7 Matt Manley of Missouri. Hodges is tied for No. 3 in the MAC rankings.
CMU: Smith earned his team's redshirt of the year honors last season at 141 pounds.

149 – No. 8 Max Thomsen vs. No. 6 Justin Oliver

UNI: Thomsen's only two losses are to top-10 opponents. He has beaten four wrestlers ranked in the top 20, including Northern Illinois' Steve Bleise ranked third in the MAC. Thomsen is ranked fourth. He finished third at the Southern Scuffle.
CMU: Oliver finished seventh at the 2016 NCAA tournament after taking second at the MAC championships. He is ranked second in the MAC.

157 – Dan Kelly / Paden Moore vs. No. 8 Colin Heffernan

UNI: Kelly is coming off a win at the Pat "Flash" Flanagan Open. He started the year at 165 pounds. Moore has wrestled duals at two weights this year. He won the Grand View Open.
CMU: Heffernan qualified for the 2015 NCAA championships and took sixth at the MAC last season. He is ranked second in the conference.

165 – No. 11 Bryce Steiert or Isaiah Patton vs. Logan Parks

UNI: Patton grabbed three wins at the Southern Scuffle this year. Steiert knocked off a top-10 opponent en route to a third-place finish at the Scuffle. He has two top-15 wins so far this year. His only two losses have been to top-five wrestlers. Steiert is ranked No. 2 in the MAC.
CMU: Parks was undefeated in open tournaments last year.

174 – No. 12 Taylor Lujan vs. C.J. Brucki

UNI: Lujan has three wins over top-20 opponents and was seventh at the Southern Scuffle. His only losses are to wrestlers ranked in the nation's top five. He will be defending his top ranking in the MAC.
CMU: Brucki finished last season with the second most falls on the team for CMU. He was seventh at the Asics University Nationals last year.

184 – No. 15 Drew Foster / Jacob Holschlag vs. No. 13 Jordan Ellingwood

UNI: Foster finished sixth at the Southern Scuffle and knocked off No. 13 Jack Dechow of Old Dominion in a dual at home to secure his second-place ranking in the MAC. Foster moved up from 174 pounds mid-January last year. Ellingwood beat Foster 10-4 in Foster's second match at 184 pounds last year.
CMU: Two-time NCAA qualifier Ellingwood is the reigning MAC champion at 184 pounds. He was third at the MAC in 2015. He holds the top spot in MAC rankings.

197 – Chase Shedenhelm vs. Austin Severn

UNI: Shedenhelm entered the dual lineup for the first time last weekend. He moved up a weight to take on No. 13 Shawn Scott of Northern Illinois. Last year, he wrestled at 174 pounds.
CMU: Severn has been in and out of the dual lineup the last couple of years.

285 – JJ Everard vs. Newton Smerchek

UNI: Everard transferred from SDSU after qualifying for the NCAA tournament in 2015. He earned bonus points in eight matches last year.
CMU: Smerchek was fifth at last year's MAC championships. He is ranked fourth in the conference.