Peacocks Ranked Second Regionally

Upper Iowa Athletics

The first wrestling regular season rankings of the year have been released by D2Wrestle.com and the Peacocks are ranked second. Upper Iowa also has an individual ranked in the top eight of each of the ten weight classes. The regular season rankings are based on tournament strength for both teams and individuals.

The remaining teams in the top five in the region include St. Cloud State University, the reigning back-to-back NCAA DII Champions, Maryville University, which placed 5th at the championships last season, McKendree University, which placed 8th a year ago in Sioux Falls, and Augustana University. St. Cloud State, Upper Iowa and Augustana are all chasing a title in the Northern Sun Conference this season.

Upper Iowa is currently 2-0 in duals this season after a 38-3 win over Truman State University and a 36-9 victory over the University of Mary. The Peacocks have also competed in a number of open tournaments to gain time on the mat and match experience.

As a team, the Peacocks have earned a combined record of 157-82 in their matches this season including 78 bonus-point wins with 41 coming by fall, 13 by tech fall and 24 by major decision. Cody Nelson has posted a team-high 5 pins, while three wrestlers each have a pair of tech falls on the year including Nelson, Damian Penichet and Chase Seaney. Zach Bruns is tied for the lead in major decisions with 5 with Nick Baumler, who has wrestled unattached this season.

UIU has an individual in each of the ten weight classes in the pre-season rankings including:

The Peacocks will continue their 2016-17 schedule at home this Saturday, Dec. 10, with the team’s second Northern Sun Conference dual of the year. Upper Iowa will welcome the Beavers of Minot State University to Dorman Gym in Fayette for the NSIC showdown which starts at 2 p.m.

Following the dual with the Beavers, Upper Iowa will travel to Indianapolis, Ind. for their final competition of 2016. The Peacocks will wrestle at the two-day Midwest Classic hosted by the University of Indianapolis on Dec. 17-18.

The regional alignment has loaded the qualifying tournament with 15 teams. Of those 15 teams, 9 call the NSIC home, while three schools will come from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (Truman State, Maryville University and McKendree University), two more from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (University of Central Missouri and Lindenwood) and one from the Great American Conference (Ouachita Baptist).

The outstanding, two-day regional tournament (Feb. 24-25) will take place in Moorhead, Minn. on the campus of Minnesota State University, Moorhead and will feature 150 wrestlers battling for just 40 berths to the NCAA Division II Championships. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will earn a spot at the NCAA DII Championships in Birmingham, Ala. on Mar. 10-11.

Upper Iowa has placed in the top seventeen at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships in ten of their eleven years in the division. The Peacocks placed sixteenth a season ago with a pair of All-Americans.  The best four finishes at the Division II level came with a third place trophy in 2010, fourth place in 2011, fifth place in 2013 and sixth place in 2012.

D2WRESTLE.COM SUPER REGION III – DECEMBER 8, 2016