Oct. 31, 2009
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa opened the 2009-10 wrestling season with the annual intra-squad wrestle-offs Saturday in the West Gym.
"We wrestled very well today," UNI head coach Brad Penrith said. "This is our first time competing this year and I'm very happy with our guy's performance. They were very aggressive and competitive.
Our freshmen wrestled very well. They are a group of guys that compete. Those guys aren't afraid to wrestle, and we definitely saw that today."
Caleb Flores won a 13-6 decision over Grant Sutter at the 125-pound weight class.
"Caleb really performed well today," Penrith said. "He was attacking late into the third period which I was very happy to see."
Freshman Joey Lazor topped Jake Demmon 9-3 and then came back to pin sophomore Steven Fitzgerald in 6:41 at the 133-pound weight class.
Jamal Lawrence topped Aaron Senzee 8-2 and then returned to the mat to top Charlie Ettelson 15-13 in an action-packed match at the 149-pound class.
"Jamal also had a very good day," Penrith said. "He kept wrestling and didn't stop moving. Charlie came back at him and gave him a big challenge but he came out of it and then came out with the win."
True freshman Brice Wolf topped senior Scott Hazen 9-5, but later fell to Jarion Beets 11-6 at 165 pounds.
Trent Washington scored an 11-5 decision over Alec Hoffman at 141 pounds.
"Trent scored 10 points in two periods," Penrith said. "We need him to wrestle like that. He attacked and was very aggressive, which is what I like to see."
Another true freshman, Ryan Loder, scored a big win over an upperclassman as Loder topped Andy O'Loughlin 7-2 at 184 pounds.
At the heavyweight slot, Christian Brantley topped Blayne Beale 9-5.
"Christian continued to attack throughout the match," Penrith said. "That was good to see."
"Overall I'm very pleased with our performance," Penrith said. "We still need to work on some things and stay concentrated and keep doing the right things. We're just excited to get rolling."
The Panthers will open the regular season Nov. 14 at the Northwestern Duals. The Panthers will face Eastern Michigan, Purdue and Stanford.
UNI Intra-Squad Wrestle-Off Results
125 Sutter dec. Jauch, 7-0
133 Lazor dec. Demmon, 9-3
149 Ettelson dec. Zempel, 8-2
149 Lawrence dec. Senzee, 8-2
174 Wolf dec. Hazen, 9-5
174 Beets dec. Simon, 9-5
141 Washington dec. Hoffman, 11-5
157 Reiner dec. Robbins, 8-6
184 Loder dec. O'Loughlin, 7-2
285 Brantley dec. Beale, 9-5
125 Flores dec. Sutter, 13-6
133 Lazor pinned Fitzgerald, 6:41
149 Lawrence dec. Ettelson 15-13
165 Beets dec. Wolf 11-6
