The University of Northern Iowa has had quite a few things going on the past three weeks so I thought it would be appropriate to touch on all the happenings.
First and foremost UNI signed West Des Monies Valley standout Jake Koethe who will be joining the Panther train for next season. Koethe put together an outstanding prep career, never finishing lower than 3rd place. Over his four years Koethe was in the finals three times, capturing a title his junior year at the 120 pound weight class. This year Koethe wrestled at 132 pounds, where his only two losses came to the nationally ranked Freddy Stoker. Stoker is ranked either #1 (Flowrestling) or #2 (Intermat) depending on which recruiting service you prefer, so there is no shame in losing to a wrestler of that caliber. Koethe will join Illinois signee Josh Alber as potential 133/141 starters in the future. To see the full list of UNI commitments you can click on this Intermat link and sort by college. Adam Drain and Adarios Jones are also listed there.
Koethe wasn’t the only recruit UNI signed this past month. The Panthers landed an additional three Iowans, and one Minnesotan to round out their recruiting class. 152 pound state champion Tucker Black from Eddyville-Blakesburg is the only other state champion that UNI landed from Iowa, but Mediapolis’ Drew Foster and Fort Madison’s Bryce Meyer were both three time state medalists. The final signee of the group was Christian DuLaney who was a two time runner up at 182 and 220 in Minnesota. Best guess for these recruits has Black at 157, Foster at 165, Meyer at 125/133, and DuLaney at 197, but it will be contingent on what they do in the weight room their redshirt year.
The news just keeps getting better as UNI’s AD Troy Dannen tweeted last week (which was later made official on Friday) that Doug Schwab had accepted a seven year extension that will keep in him in Cedar Falls through 2021. The deal pays Schwab $115,000 per year, with a $100,000 buyout clause. Schwab led the Panther to the only undefeated dual record in Division I this past season with a 13-0 record and has made UNI an instant powerhouse in the MAC. It is a fantastic deal as you can see that Schwab is starting to build something for UNI and he clearly wanted to stick around for the success he is creating.
The final piece of good news for UNI that came out last week that two Panthers had earned MAC academic honors. Dylan Peters was on the All-MAC team, with Jarret Jensen picking up an honorable mention. It’s great to see that not only is Schwab producing great results on the mat, but also in the classroom. In our interview with coach Schwab he had mentioned that Dylan Peters was a wrestler who leads by example. With Peters having success by both finishing as an All-American and All-conference academic hopefully his teammates try to duplicate his success.
Also, NWCA released their All-Academic team (PDF Link to wrestlers), among those listed were UNI’s Dylan Peters and Joey Lazor. Other Iowa university members who made the list were Hawkeye’s Nathan Burak and Brody Grothus, as well as Cyclone Gabe Morneo