 "Photo: MATT FININ/Northern Iowan")
The University of Northern Iowa wrestling team will host intra-state rival Iowa State University in a dual meet housed inthe West Gym Friday at 7 p.m. The Panthers enter the meet with a 5-4 dual meet record compared to the No. 14-ranked Cyclones' misleading 2-12 dual meet record. The Cyclones are ranked No. 14 by InterMat because of their 34 tournament points, compared to just 13 points for UNI.
Cruse Aarhus (125 pounds) will represent UNI against No. 12-ranked Cory Finch. Aarhus will be followed by fellow Panther and Western Wrestling Conference Wrestler of the Week, Joe Colon (133 pounds), who is currently ranked No. 11. Colon will match up against Shayden Terukina.
Colon was named the WWC Wrestler of the Week following a great weekend where he notched two conference wins against Utah Valley University and the University of Wyoming. He was able to earn a technical fall against No. 17-ranked Zach Zehner of Wyoming, improving his record to 3-1 against ranked opponents. The wins improved his overall season mark to 17-2, and he is the lone Panther to remain undefeated in dual meets.
UNI's Levi Wolfensperger (141 pounds) will match up against Iowa State's Luke Goettl, who is ranked No. 18 in the nation. The 149-pound match will be up for grabs between Seth Noble of UNI and Joe Cozart of ISU. David Bonin (157 pounds) will face Michael Moreno in another match that could decide the dual in the team race.
Riley Banach (165 pounds) will have a tough match against No. 4-ranked Andrew Sorensen of ISU. This will be the second consecutive wrestler ranked in the top five whom Banach will face. Previously, he had wrestled No. 3-ranked Shane Onufer of Wyoming.
Onni Prestidge (174 pounds) will square off against either Mike England or Chris Spangler, depending how things shake out for the Cyclones.
The Panthers' top-ranked wrestler, No. 6 Ryan Loder (184 pounds), will compete against No. 16-ranked Boaz Beard in what will likely be the featured match of the evening. Rounding out the dual meet will be Taylor Kettman (197 pounds) and Blayne Beale (285 pounds) wrestling against Trevor Voelker and No. 14-ranked Matt Gibson, respectively.
Iowa State will be the highlighted dual meet of the weekend for the Panthers, but they also face North Dakota State University and South Dakota State University Sunday in WWC action. The NDSU dual is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the West Gym, with the SDSU dual to follow at 3 p.m.
Sunday will also mark Senior Day for the Panthers. Seniors Cruse Aarhus and Joe Johnson will be honored for their hard work and strong commitment to the UNI wrestling program.
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