UNI Wrestlers Complete Perfect Dual Season in WWC With Win at South Dakota State, 41-6

BROOKINGS, S.D. - The University of Northern Iowa wrestling squad
completed its dual portion of the season on Saturday with a 41-6 win
over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in Frost Arena. The Panthers
also claimed the dual team championship in the first year of the Western
Wrestling Conference with a perfect 4-0 mark in league matches.

UNI moved to 7-9-1 overall, while SDSU fell to 8-8 overall and 1-4 in
WWC duals.

"The whole team wrestled well," UNI head coach Brad Penrith said. "We
didn't give up hardly any takedowns and we got five major decisions and
two pins. It is a nice honor to win the dual team championship in the
first year of our new league and to win all four on the road makes it
pretty special."

Andrew Anderson got the dual underway with an 18-6 major decision over
SDSU's Travis Gottschalk at 197 pounds. SDSU's Jason Stripling followed
with the lone Jackrabbits' win of the day when he pinned UNI heavyweight
Tyler Rhodes at the 6:32 mark of their match.

True freshman Grant Ruge notched his first collegiate dual win with an
18-8 major decision over SDSU's Marcus Waters. Ruge had lost his
previous 12 duals before breaking through with a dominant effort against
Waters.

"Grant wrestled tough and really well," Brad Penrith said.

Kyle Anson was awarded a forfeit win at 133 pounds to boost the
Panthers' lead to 14-6 after four matches.

UNI's 141-pounder C.J. Ettelson returned to action after missing a month
of wrestling with a knee injury. Ettelson made his return count with a
9-1 major decision over SDSU's Derek Pirner.

"It was good for C.J. to get a match under his belt before the regional
on March 3," Penrith said. "He's got to learn how to battle again after
all the time away from the mat and this match was good for him. He
needed it."

The Panthers continued to roll at the mid-weights as Moza Fay topped
Nick Herrboldt with a fall at 157 pounds, 165-pounder Nick Baima majored
Nate Althoff, 12-4, and Curt Zinnel just missed a major with an 11-4 win
over Chris Moran at 174 pounds. Dallas Mitchell then closed out the
Panther win with a fall at 4:07 over SDSU's Levi Krehmeyer.

UNI will now ready itself for the NCAA West Regional that will be held
March 3 in the McLeod Center. The West Regional participants for this
season include: UNI, Air Force, Eastern Illinois, North Dakota State,
Northern Colorado, South Dakota State and Wyoming. The West Regional has
been alloted 21 qualifiers for this year's NCAA Division I Wrestling
Championships, which will be held March 15-17 at the Palace in Auburn
Hills, Mich.


UNI 41, South Dakota State 6
197- Andrew Anderson (UNI) maj. dec. Travis Gottschalk (SDSU), 18-6
285 - Jason Stripling (SDSU) pinned Tyler Rhodes (UNI), 6:32
125 - Grant Ruge (UNI) maj. dec. Marcus Waters (SDSU), 18-8
133 - Kyle Anson (UNI) won by forfeit
141 - C.J. Ettelson (UNI) maj. dec. Derek Pirner (SDSU), 9-1
149 - Ryan Osgood (UNI) maj. dec. Brad Gregory (SDSU), 10-0
157 - Moza Fay (UNI) pinned Nick Herrboldt (SDSU), 4:35
165 - Nick Baima (UNI) maj. dec. Nate Althoff (SDSU), 12-4
174 - Curt Zinnel (UNI) dec. Chris Moran (SDSU), 11-4
184 - Dallas Mitchell (UNI) pinned Levi Krehmeyer (SDSU), 4:07