The University of Northern Iowa traveled to Central Missouri Sunday for the UCM Open. The Panthers led the tournament with 37 pins, while Cooper Moore and Adam Drain each had four falls.
The Panthers took nearly their entire squad, bringing home five first place finishes, including Dylan Peters (125), Levi Wolfensperger (133), Curt Maas (174), Cody Caldwell (184), and Jared Bartel (197). UNI had 13 semifinalists and every wrestler who made the finals won. Overall UNI had 18 medalists.
UNI also took home six third place winners, including Josh Alber (133), Trevor Jauch (141) Zach Witte (149), Jarrett Jensen (157), Cooper Moore (165), and Blaize Cabell (285). Jauch, Witte, Moore, and Cabell all lost in the semifinals before wrestling an extra match to take third.
Cabell’s loss in the semifinal gave him the opportunity to wrestle the MAC’s top heavyweight in Missouri’s Devin Mellon. After dispatching Nolan Smith, Cabel took the third place match by beating Mellon 6-4.
The most successful weight of the day might have been 197, where three Panthers made it to the semifinals. Basil Minto faced off against eventual tournament champ Bartel, while Cody Krumwiede lost to Matt Hurford of Ellsworth Community College. Minto and Krumwiede would eventually face each other for 5th, with Minto coming out on top by medical forfeit. There is no word at this time of what Krumwiede’s injury was.
Dylan Peters led the way for the Panthers at 125, securing two falls and one tech fall before winning the tournament final 4-2 against Barlow McGhee, the capable (and last years starter) for Missouri. Bryce Meyer also did well for UNI at 125, facing off against Peters in the semifinals and eventually taking 5th place.
At 133 Levi Wolfensperger picked up where Peters left off, his closest match of the day was his first, a 5-4 decision. After that he had two falls and two more decisions, 7-2 and 5-1 in the semifinals and finals. Josh Alber wrestled opposite Wolfensperger, losing only to Zach Synon of Missouri.
141 pounds saw two Panthers reach the semifinals but with neither breaking through. Trevor Jauch would eventually take third, while Jake Hodges would settle for 5th. Jauch did not seem to be very happy with losing, beating his next two opponents by fall (0:50) and by major decision 11-0.
UNI had one 149 pounder in Zach Witte make the semifinal, but he dropped a 7-4 decision and wrestled back for third.
157 had a disappointing start to the day. Jared Degeeter dropped his first two matches of the day, while Jarrett Jensen won his first then lost his second. Jensen battled though and came all the way back through the wrestle backs though and captured third place.
The MAC’s top 165 pounder Cooper Moore had a disappointing semifinal match as well, losing to Missouri’s Daniel Lewis by fall, but coming back with two falls himself to win third place.
174 saw some success for UNI in a semifinal, Curt Maas beat Zeb Wahle 3-1 to advance to the final. In that match Maas beat Roger Smith-Bergsrund from Illinois 7-3. Kyle Lux dropped his semifinal match and his first wrestle back before taking 5th place.
184 was UNI’s second to last first place title of the day, with cody Caldwell having a great day. He had one fall and two major decisions, with his closest match of the day being his second, a 3-1 decision. Adam Drain also had a successful day for the Panthers, losing in the quarterfinals before wrestling back for 4th place.
Below are the complete results from the weekend. The Panthers are in action this Sunday the 23rd, in a triangular dual meet against Indiana Tech and Purdue. UNI will be at home for their opener there November 29th.
First place:
125 pounds: Dylan Peters (4-0)
133 pounds: Levi Wolfensperger (5-0)
174 pounds: Curt Maas (5-0)
184 pounds: Cody Caldwell (5-0)
197 pounds: Jared Bartel (4-0)
Third place:
133 pounds: Josh Alber (5-1)
141 pounds: Trevor Jauch (5-1)
149 pounds: Zach Witte (5-1)
157 pounds: Jarrett Jensen (7-1)
165 pounds: Cooper Moore (5-1)
285 pounds: Blaize Cabell (5-1)
Fourth place:
184 pounds: Adam Drain (5-2)
Fifth place:
125 pounds: Bryce Meyer (4-2)
165 pounds: Drew Foster (3-3)
174 pounds: Kyle Lux (4-2)
197 pounds: Basil Minto (3-2)
Sixth place:
141 pounds: Jake Hodges (3-3)
197 pounds: Cody Krumwiede (3-3)
Other Panther wrestlers:
125 pounds: Leighton Gaul (2-2)
125 pounds: Mark Jolcover (1-2)
141 pounds: Tyler Willers (3-2)
141 pounds: Jake Koethe (2-2)
149 pounds: Seth Stetzel (2-2)
157 pounds: Jared DeGeeter (1-2)
165 pounds: Taylor Berger (2-2)
174 pounds: Chase Shedenhelm (4-2)
197 pounds: Christian DuLaney (2-2)