THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WRESTLING… Upper Iowa, currently ranked #15 in the final NWCA Top 20 Poll, will take on the rest of the nation this Friday and Saturday, Mar. 11-12, at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. at the Denny Sanford Premiere Center. Sixteen wrestlers in each of the ten weight classes will descend upon Sioux Falls this weekend looking to compete for the national championships as individuals and teams.
LOOKING BACK AT THE NCAA SUPER REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS… Upper Iowa placed third as a team at the NCAA Division II Super Regional Championship in Sioux Falls, S.D. two weeks ago and qualified six individuals for the NCAA Championships. The Peacocks had eight of their ten wrestlers place fifth or better at the regional qualifying three for the NCAA Championships through true fourth-place matches. UIU won three of the four true fourth-place matches they competed in.Maleek Williams claimed the runner up spot at 125 pounds at the regional, while Matt Paulus, Damian Penichet, Jordan Rinken, Zak Benitz and Ryan Parmely all earned fourth place at the regional to gain their admission to the championships.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SIX NATIONAL QUALIFIERS…
MALEEK WILLIAMS – NCAA SUPER REGION 3 RUNNER UP
125 Pounds – Redshirt Freshman – Miami, Florida (South Dade Senior HS)
• 8-2 Record in 2015-16
• Suffered a stroke on Nov. 2 and had open heart surgery on Nov. 10
• Returned to the mat on Jan. 30 against #15 Minnesota State with an 8-5 win and added a pin (1:20) against Augustana before dropping his first match of the year to Tim Prescott of St. Cloud State, last year’s national champion
• Lost 11-9 (TB1) in the championship match to Brett Velasquez of St. Cloud State
• Posted a 164-30 overall record in high school… South Dade won the state championship in 2013-14… Williams was a state qualifier as a freshman and sophomore combining for a 65-18 record… as a junior, he took third place at 113 pounds with a 54-5 record… as a senior, moved up to 120 pounds and was the state runner-up with a 55-7 mark.
MATT PAULUS – NCAA SUPER REGION 3 4TH PLACE
133 Pounds – Redshirt Senior – New Hampton, Iowa (New Hampton HS)
• 18-7 Record in 2015-16
• Two-time NCAA Championships Qualifier (2014 and 2016)
• A multi-year captain and a 3x NWCA Scholar All-American
• Voted UIU’s Homecoming King this past fall and serves as the president of UIU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
• Named the team’s Outstanding freshman following the 2012-13 season
• Ranked as high as #7 nationally at 133 pounds this season
• Paulus has posted an 84-60 record with 56 bonus-point wins; 45 falls, 2 tech falls and 9 major decisions
DAMIAN PENICHET – NCAA SUPER REGION 3 4TH PLACE
149 Pounds – Redshirt Freshman – Miami, Florida (Christopher Columbus HS)
• 31-12 Record in 2015-16
• Opened his first varsity season with four straight wins including three by fall
• Posted a 6-2 record in Northern Sun Conference duals and a 10-5 mark as the 149-pound starter in 15 of Upper Iowa’s 16 duals
• Avenged a 15-6 major decision at the hands of Tyler Stenberg of Northern State during the true fourth place at the Super Region 3 Championships
• Claimed the second-most wins on the team this season and is only one fall behind Cody Nelson for the team lead in pins
• Posted a 157-17 record in high school… as a senior, state runner-up at 145 pounds with a 52-5 mark… as a junior, wrestled at 132 with a 56-7 mark and a fifth place at state… as a sophomore, competed at 120 with a 49-5 record and a sixth place at state
JORDAN RINKEN – NCAA SUPER REGION 3 4TH PLACE
157 Pounds – Redshirt Senior – Waverly, Iowa (Waverly-Shell Rock HS)
• 20-5 Record in 2015-16
• Two-time NCAA Championships Qualifier (2012 and 2016)
• Opened his final varsity season with nine straight wins including seven with bonus points; three by fall, three by tech fall and one major
• Posted a 6-2 record in Northern Sun Conference duals and a 10-3 mark as the 157-pound starter in 13 of Upper Iowa’s 16 duals
• The multi-year captain tied for the Most Falls on the team as a freshman with 12 and was named the team’s Most Dedicated wrestler after the 2014-15 campaign
• Accumulated overall record of 104-37 with 29 falls, 13 tech falls and 16 majors
• Of his 5 losses this season, four came to a pair of wrestlers that also qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships (Greg Hegarty of Maryville (3x), Matt Mincey of MSU)… the only other loss came to Larry Bomstad, who entered the regional as the #1 seed, but had to withdraw due to injury
ZAK BENITZ – NCAA SUPER REGION 3 4TH PLACE
165 Pounds – Redshirt Junior – Mosinee, Wisconsin (Iowa Western CC/Lincoln HS)
• 34-9 Record in 2015-16
• Posted a 7-1 record in Northern Sun Conference duals and a 13-1 mark as the 165-pound starter in 14 of Upper Iowa’s 16 duals
• Ranked as high as #4 in the NWCA rankings this season with a team-high 34 wins
• In two seasons with UIU, overall mark of 56-26 with 31 bonus-point wins
• Earned NJCAA All-American honors with Iowa Western as a true freshman, claimed fourth place at the National Championships at 157 pounds with a 23-13 record
• Lincoln of Wisconsin Rapids won four Wisconsin State Team Titles while he posted a record of 187-19 claiming four individual state medals while making three state finals appearances and never placing lower than third in the State Tournament. He claimed a runner-up finish as a senior at 170 pounds after claiming the title as a junior at 152 pounds. Benitz was the runner-up as a sophomore at 145 and finished third as a freshman at 140 pounds
• Found success in international styles where he claimed All-American honors four times at the Asics-Vaughn Fargo National Tournament. He won the National Title in 2009 in Cadet Greco-Roman at 140 pounds
RYAN PARMELY – NCAA SUPER REGION 3 4TH PLACE
197 Pounds – Freshman – Delhi, Iowa (Maquoketa Valley HS)
• 13-10 Record in 2015-16
• Played football as a true freshman at Upper Iowa this fall rushing for 51 yards and a touchdown in nine games at running back… he also caught 2 passes for 17 yards
• Posted a 6-2 mark in Northern Sun Conference duals and an 8-6 overall record as the starting 197-pounder in 14 of UIU’s 16 duals
• Accumulated a 203-6 record at Maquoketa Valley… 4x conference champion… 4x state place winner.
• Claimed the Iowa Class 1A State Championship at 220 pounds as a junior and senior combining for a 108-1 record over his final two years including a 56-0 mark as a senior
• Chosen for Team Iowa’s line-up for the Wrestling USA/Cliff Keen Athletic 2015 Dream Team Classic after his senior campaign
Info courtesy of Upper Iowa Athletics