SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The University of Indianapolis Greyhounds are the 2023 GLVC Champions in wrestling after defeating both reigning GLVC champ McKendree and No. 23-ranked Drury in the final GLVC duals of the season. This is the first GLVC Championship for the Greyhounds, who become only the third school to win the title since the inaugural crown in 2017. On the season the Hounds went 6-1 in conference duals, alongside an impressive 13-3 dual record on the season.
#6 UINDY 18, MCKENDREE 13
The Greyhounds and Bearcats held the honor of kicking off the final GLVC duals of the season. The Bearcats got out to an early lead with No. 12 Christian Mejia taking the win over
Aidan Sprague at 125. No. 8
Breyden Bailey evened the score with a 5-2 victory. The Hounds went on a win streak after that with
Ray Rioux winning at 141,
Jackson Hoover at 149 finding the dub and then No. 4
Logan Bailey grabbing a 6-1 decision.
Jack Eiteljorge, No. 5 at 165, kept the win train going making it 15-3 heading into 174.
The Bearcats refused to quit, picking up a decision win at 174 and then a major decision 184 to bring it to 15-10. No. 1
Derek Blubaugh was in to stop the bleeding and that he did. A 4-3 victory out of the top ranked Blubaugh put Hounds in a solid position. The Bearcats claimed victory at heavyweight, but it was little too late as the Hounds claimed a 18-13 victory.
125 - Christian Mejia over
Aidan Sprague Dec 8-2
133 - #8
Breyden Bailey over Ryan Ripplinger Dec 5-2
141 -
Ray Rioux over Joseph Semerad Dec 5-3
149 -
Jackson Hoover over Logan Rathjen Dec 2-0
157 - #4
Logan Bailey over Noah Villarreal Dec 6-1
165 - #5
Jack Eiteljorge over Matt Ortiz Dec 3-1
174 - Zeke Waltz over
Owen Butler Dec 4-3
184 - Josh Jones over
Robert Gurley Maj 12-4
197 - #1
Derek Blubaugh over Logan Kvien Dec 4-3
285 - Rozell Baker over
Phoenix Rodgers Dec 9-7
#6 UINDY 27, #23 DRURY 14
The Hounds second match of the day started very similarly to their first one, starting in hole after losing the 125 match. No. 8 Bailey was there once again to even the score with a 4-2 victory. The Panthers went on to take back-to-back matches at 141 and 149. No. 4
Logan Bailey did what he has done all season, grabbing a pin in only 52 seconds to get the Hounds their first extra point victory of the match, evening it up 9-apiece. The Panthers got that right back, however, with a tech fall at 165.
Owen Zablocki at 174 grabbed extra points for the Hounds with a 10-1 major at 174 right before
Kyle Saez did the exact same thing at 184. A forfeit at 197lbs by Drury led into a
Cale Gray match at heavyweight where he grabbed the Hounds fourth straight extra point win with a 11-1 major.
125 - Caden Howard over
Aidan Sprague Dec 4-2
133 - #8
Breyden Bailey over Brandon Borlinghaus Dec 4-2
141 - Peter Kuster over
Ray Rioux Dec 5-2
149 - Trevor Christian over
Nathan Conley SV-1 4-2
157 - #4
Logan Bailey over Jon O`Connell Fall 0:52
165 - Will Kuster over
Jackson Hoover TF 17-0
174 -
Owen Zablocki over Ethan Smith Maj 10-1
184 -
Kyle Saez over Logan Zimmermann Maj 12-2
197 - #1
Derek Blubaugh over Unknown Forf
285 -
Cale Gray over Thomas Massengale Maj 11-1
HOUND BYTES
Head coach
Jason Warthan on the GLVC Championship win...
"It's good, I think that starting the year this was one of the goals we thought that was within reason to go for so its nice that we were healthy enough to push and finish strong here… We still have big things to accomplish this year though, we're going to celebrate with some ice cream and then back to work tomorrow."
Warthan on the teams dual against McKendree...
"The McKendree dual, it was guy after guy that stepped up… It was match after match after match that we kept our composure and went out and got wins and kept the losses to regular decisions, it was beautiful. Just a great dual."
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds have a weekend off from competition before they head to the NCAA DII Super Region 4 tournament in Edmond, Okla., on Feb. 26.
