INDIANAPOLIS- For the second season in a row, the UIndy wrestling team found itself as the runner up in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, after falling to #6 McKendree in the 2019 GLVC Wrestling Championship Tournament final Sunday afternoon.
The #15 Greyhounds (11-6) went 2-1 in total on the day, opening day two of the event with a 50-3 win over Truman State and following with a 23-16 win over #13 Maryville. Those victories pitted the host Hounds against the only other unbeaten in the event, the #6 Bearcats. McKendree came out on top 22-12 to take their second-straight GLVC title.
#15 UIndy 50 - Truman State 3
The Greyhounds took points in nine of 10 bouts against the Bulldogs, including forfeits at 125, 149, 157, 184 and 285.
Tylan Tucker pinned at 133, in just 1:10 over Zach Willard, with
Matt McKinney following with a 16-3 major over Caleb Osborn at 141. After the next two bouts were forfeits, #7
Shelden Struble and
Gleason Mappes put up back-to-back tech falls at 165 and 174 before Truman took its lone points at 197.
#15 UIndy 23 - #13 Maryville 16
The Saints took the first bout of the dual via a 5-1 decision at 125, but the Greyhounds rattled off four straight wins to jump to a 13-3 lead after 157. At 133
Ana Abduljelil took a 5-1 win over Taylor Jokerst, with #9
Angelo Robles following with a 5-2 win over Tyler Stegall at 141.
At 149, #11
Kyle Barkovich won 9-4 over Tristan Barr, with #11
Heath Lange following with a major over Nick McGhee 12-1. Maryville would take the next three bouts, running the dual score to 13-16 in the Saints' favor.
A Maryville forfeit at 197, coupled with a 10-0 major from #3
Dylan Faulkenberg - good for the redshirt senior's 100th win in a Greyhound singlet - iced the win for UIndy.
#6 McKendree 22 - #15 UIndy 12
The GLVC Championship ended up coming down to the final dual on Mat 3, host UIndy versus McKendree.
The Bearcats took the 125 match, with
D.J. Smith falling in a narrow 1-0 decision to #5 Marcus Povlick. Abduljelil and Robles pushed UIndy into the lead 6-3 with back-to-back wins, including a bit of revenge for the Greyhound 133. Abduljelil, who suffered a loss in the early rounds of the Midwest Classic in December to McKendree's now-#10 Charles McNeal, took the win in this match, 11-6. Robles then followed with a 9-4 win over Riley Beard at 141.
A decision at 149 and a pin at 157, both in McKendree's favor, put the Bearcats back on top, 12-6. Struble would cut that to 12-9 with a 5-0 win over Frankie Falatico at 165, but McKendree put the dual away with two decisions and a major at 174, 184 and 197. Faulkenberg closed out the dual with an 8-2 win over #9 Luke Diener at heavyweight.
The Greyhounds head to Maryville for the final regular season event of the season next weekend. As a part of the Lombardi Duals, UIndy will wrestle #25 Ouachita Baptist for a second time, #4 Notre Dame (OH) and Kentucky Wesleyan Sunday at Maryville.
