All-Americans 5 23 NCAA Qualifiers
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University of Northern Iowa Athletics Communications Upper NW UNI-Dome • Cedar Falls, Iowa • 50614-0314 • www.UNIPanthers.com Michelle Van Dorn (319) 273-5455 or (319) 290-5301 - [email protected] Fax (319) 273-3602 UNI PANTHERS 2015-16 SCHEDULE Nov. 15 Journeymen Duals (Hofstra, Oregon State, Rutgers) UNI wrestling’s incoming freshmen garnered national attention with a top-five ranking among Nov. 21 Joe Parisi Open St. Charles, Missouri all Division I programs. Nov. 28 Missouri * West Gym, 7 p.m. Dec. 4-5 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite Las Vegas, Nevada Intermat ranked the Panthers’ recruiting class fourth in the U.S. based on the national rankings Dec. 12 UNI Open UNI-Dome, 9 a.m. of the nine individuals starting their freshman year at UNI: Dec. 29-30 Midlands Championships Evanston, Illinois • Eight freshmen closed out their high school careers as state finalists. Jan. 6 Eastern Michigan * Ypsilanti, Michigan • Seven won prep championships their senior year. Jan. 8 Northern Illinois * DeKalb, Illinois Jan. 15 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia • Seven finished in the nation’s top-20 rankings. Jan. 17 Old Dominion * Norfolk, Virginia • Seven won multiple state championships as preps. Jan. 29 Central Michigan * West Gym, 7 p.m. In addition to the incoming freshmen, two student-athletes who have experience on the Jan. 31 Ohio * West Gym, 1 p.m. Feb. 5 Iowa State West Gym, 7 p.m. national stage have transferred into the Panther wrestling program. JJ Everard is a heavyweight Feb. 6 Kent State * West Gym, noon NCAA qualifier who wrestled his first two seasons at South Dakota State. Peter Stewart has Feb. 13 North Dakota State Fargo, North Dakota taken seventh at the NJCAA for the last two seasons at 141 pounds. He holds multiple career Feb. 21 Buffalo * Buffalo, New York and season records at Iowa Western Community College. March 5-6 at Mid-American Conference Ypsilanti, Michigan March 17-19 at NCAA Championships New York, New York The Panthers posted the eighth highest attendance in the nation in the 2014-15 season after seeing an attendance leap two years ago. In 2013-14, the program saw its biggest jump in atten- Home matches in BOLD *Conference duals dance in at least 14 seasons, posting the ninth highest numbers in the nation. Four home duals in the West Gym were sell-outs. QUICK FACTS The Panthers will wrestle eight teams with top-25 preseason NWCA rankings. THE UNIVERSITY Location Cedar Falls, Iowa TOURNAMENTS Founded 1876 Enrollment 12,043 UNI will return to the Midlands Championships and Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite. UNI added the Nickname Panthers Journeymen/Asics Northeast Duals to kick off the season. The Panthers will face Oregon State, Colors Purple and Old Gold Hofstra and Rutgers. Affiliation NCAA Division I Conference Mid-American Conference PANTHER EXPERIENCE President Dr. Bill Ruud The Panthers return All-American Dylan Peters and NCAA national qualifiers Blaize Cabell, Athletics Director Troy Dannen Cody Caldwell and Cooper Moore. UNI finished 34th at the 2015 championships after placing Senior Woman Administrator Jean Berger 15th two years in a row. Senior Sport Administrator Justin Schemmel In 2014, seniors Joe Colon and Joey Lazor and then-redshirt freshman Peters brought Doug COACHING STAFF Schwab’s All-American total up to five since he was hired as UNI’s head coach for the 2010-11 Head Coach Doug Schwab - sixth season season. Schwab is entering his sixth season with the Panthers. Assistant Head Coach Mark Schwab - sixth season Since Schwab has taken the helm at UNI, the Panthers have jumped from 46th to 15th place Assistant Coach Randy Pugh - 15th season at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships and continue to recruit the top wrestlers in the Volunteer Coach Lee Roper - first season Strength and Conditioning Brett Robbins - second season nation. Facility West Gym A small graduating 2015 class of just two wrestlers, means several veterans return for the 2015 NCAA finish 34th UNI squad. NCAA qualifiers graduated/returning 1 / 4 (1 AA) Six Panthers are ranked in the MAC’s preseason polls. Three Panthers are listed as conference leaders. Moore returns as the second Panther to earn two consecutive MAC championships. He UNI ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS leads the rankings at 165 pounds in the conference. Athletics Communications contact Michelle Van Dorn • 125 - No. 1 Dylan Peters Email [email protected] • 141 - No. 4 Jake Hodges Office Phone / Cell Phone 319-273-5455 / 319-290-5301 • 157 - No. 4 Jarrett Jensen Office Fax 319-273-3602 • 165 - No. 1 Cooper Moore Web site UNIPanthers.com Facebook University-of-Northern-Iowa-Wrestling • 184 - No. 4 Cody Caldwell UNIAthletics • 285 - No. 1 Blaize Cabell Pinterest UNIAthletics Peters, Moore and Cabell have been ranked in top 10 in every national preseason poll. Instagram UNIAthletics There are 37 Panthers on the roster. Snapchat UNIAthletics Breakdown by class: Breakdown by state: YouTube UNI Athletics • 9 freshmen • 29 from Iowa Twitter @MichelleVanDorn • 7 redshirt freshmen • 2 from Georgia @UNI_wrestling • 3 sophomores • 2 from Illinois @UNIAthletics • 8 juniors • 2 from Minnesota @schwabwrestling • 10 seniors (one will be redshirting) • 1 from California • 1 from South Dakota UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO Location: Buffalo, New York PANTHERS & THE MAC Enrollment: 29,049 Nickname: Bulls In 2014-15, the MAC crowned eight THE MAC AT NCAA TOURNEY Head Coach: John Stutzman All-Americans and a churned out 38 wrestlers The MAC originally was allocated 33 spots 2014-15 MAC finish: N/A 2014-15 NCAA finish: N/A seeded in the 2015 NCAA wrestling champi- for the NCAA DI Wrestling Championships and onship. Six of the eight All-Americans return had five wrestlers earn at-large spots. this season. In 2013, the conference was allocated 40, Seven MAC champions return to defend with two wrestlers grabbing at-large spots. CENTRAL MICHIGAN Location: Mount Pleasant, Michigan their conference titles, including UNI’s Cooper Enrollment: 28,311 Moore at 165 pounds. MAC STATUS Nickname: Chippewas Missouri senior Drake Houdashelt become In 2012, the MAC added Missouri, UNI and Head Coach: Tom Borrelli the 10th MAC wrestler to win a national Old Dominion. All three universities have five- 2014-15 MAC finish: 5th 2014-15 NCAA finish: T50th championship. year agreements. Missouri and UNI joined the MAC for the 2013 conference tournament and RETURNING THIS YEAR participated in 2013-14 regular season. They Out of the eight MAC All-Americans, are committed through the 2016-17 academic EASTERN MICHIGAN Location: Ypsilanti, Michigan six will return this season: Ian Miller (Kent season. Old Dominion joined the MAC for Enrollment: 23,341 State, 157 pounds), J’Dex Cox (Missouri, the 2013-14 regular season and tournament Nickname: Eagles 197 pounds), Chris Mecate (Old Dominion, through the 2017-18 academic season. Head Coach: David Bolyard 141 pounds), Lavion Mayes (Missouri, 141 2014-15 MAC finish: 8th 2013-14 NCAA finish: T53rd pounds), Alexander Richardson (Old Domin- LAST YEAR’S MAC TOURNEY ion, 149 pounds) and Willie Miklus (Missouri, Missouri won its third consecutive MAC 184 pounds). Championship. In addition, seven of the MAC wrestlers Four Panthers automatically qualified* for KENT STATE Location: Kent, Ohio who won their respective weight class at the the 2015 NCAA national wrestling tourna- Enrollment: 41,365 2015 MAC Wrestling Championships will be ment, and three received top-15 seeds: Nickname: Golden Flashes returning this season: Zach Synon (Missouri, 125 - No. 9 Dylan Peters* 2nd Head Coach: Jim Andrassy 133 pounds), Zach Horan (Central Michigan, 133 - Leighton Gaul DNP 2014-15 MAC finish: 4th 2014-15 NCAA finish: 26th 141 pounds), Ian Miller (Kent State, 157 141 - Jake Hodges 4th pounds), Cooper Moore (UNI, 165 pounds), 149 - Gunnar Wolfensperger DNP Cody Walters (Ohio, 174 pounds), Jack De- 157 - Jarrett Jensen 6th chow (Old Dominion, 184 pounds) and J’Den 165 - No. 13 Cooper Moore* 1st MISSOURI Cox (Missouri, 197 pounds). 174 - Curt Maas DNP Location: Columbia, Missouri 184 - Cody Caldwell 5th Enrollment: 34,748 Nickname: Tigers PANTHERS EARN MAC HONORS 197 - Basil Minto* 6th Head Coach: Brian Smith Blaize Cabell was the only Panther to 285 - No. 7 Blaize Cabell* 2nd 2014-15 MAC finish: 1st earn MAC Wrestler of the Week honors. He 2014-15 NCAA finish: 4th knocked off the MAC’s top-ranked heavy- TEAM STANDINGS weight wrestler, Missouri’s Devin Mellon. It 1. Missouri 139.5 was the second time Cabell had topped the 2. Old Dominion 97.5 NORTHERN ILLINOIS two-time NCAA qualifier that season. 3. Ohio 85.5 Location: DeKalb, Illinois He notched the first win at the UCM Open 4. Kent State 75.5 Enrollment: 23,850 Nickname: Huskies for a third-place finish. At the time of the 5. Central Michigan 74.5 Head Coach: Ryan Ludwig award, Cabell had nine straight wins overall. 6. UNI 72.5 2014-15 MAC finish: 7th Jarrett Jensen earned his third consecutive 7. Northern Illinois 40 2014-15 NCAA finish: T67th Academic All-MAC wrestling team honor. He 8. Eastern Michigan 28.5 earned an honorable mention in 2014 and 9. Buffalo N/A was on the team in 2013. Curt Maas also was OHIO named on the Academic All-MAC team last Location: Athens, Ohio Enrollment: 35,000 season. Nickname: Bobcats Head Coach: Joel Greenlee 2014-15 MAC finish: 3rd 2014-15 NCAA finish: T31st UNI Location: Cedar Falls, Iowa Enrollment: 12,043 OLD DOMINION Nickname: Panthers Location: Norfolk, Virginia Head Coach: Doug Schwab Enrollment: 24,670 2014-15 MAC finish: 6th Nickname: Monarchs 2014-15 NCAA finish: 34th Head Coach: Steve Martin 2014-15 MAC finish: 2nd 2014-15 NCAA finish: 22nd HEAD COACH DOUG SCHWAB - 6th season Doug Schwab is the Panthers’ ninth head coach in the program’s illustrious join the fourth annual National Wrestling Coaches Association Leadership history.