MANHEIM, Penn.- The 2021-22 UIndy wrestling team will open the year as the 13th-ranked team in the country, as announced in the preseason edition of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division II Coaches Rankings Friday afternoon.
The Greyhounds, who finished 15th as a team at the 2021 NCAA Division II National Championships to close out last season, find themselves in the 13-spot by virtue of four ranked individuals. Redshirt sophomore
Dawson Combest headlines the UIndy ranked wrestlers, coming in at #4 at 157. Combest earned his second All-American honor a season ago, taking fourth at the NCAA Championships. Redshirt junior
Andrew Sams comes into the season ranked in the five spot at 174, after his fifth-place finish at the NCAA tournament last year.
Freshman
Logan Bailey will start the year as the nation's #10 at 149, after making his first trip to the NCAA Championships last season. Redshirt sophomore
Jack Eiteljorge, a 2020 All-American, is the #12 wrestler at 165 in the preseason poll.
Reigning National Champions St. Cloud State sit atop the team ranking to start the year, with 81 total points behind six ranked individuals. Nebraska-Kearney, last season's runner-up team, sits at #2 nationally with 80 points with a nation-high eight ranked wrestlers, while GLVC-foe Lindenwood, Central Oklahoma and West Liberty round out the top five. The GLVC features three ranked squads, with McKendree joining Lindenwood and the Greyhounds in the poll taking the 6th spot. Drury is also receiving votes in the preseason edition of the rankings.
UIndy's new region - Super Region 4 - tops the six regions with 23 total ranked wrestlers and four teams in the Top 25. Three top-ranked wrestlers in Lindenwood's Abner Romero (174), Central Oklahoma's Heath Gray (184) and Central Oklahoma's Dalton Abney (197) also come out of Super Region 4, with Romero and Gray coming back this season to defend national titles from a year ago.
The #13 Greyhounds open their season Nov. 2 with a home dual against Division III Defiance, prior to heading to Maryville's Kaufman/Brand Open Nov. 6.
