INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 11 ranked UIndy wrestling team fell 30-11 in its opening GLVC dual of the season to No. 4 ranked McKendree.
The Bearcats came out on top in eight of the ten matches, with the two victories for the Greyhounds coming for Derek Blubaugh in 197 and Cale Gray in 285.
INS & OUTS
The dual quickly turned in favor for the Bearcats, as they won the first eight matches of the night. McKendree earned two major decision wins with Gunnar LeGrand and Ronan Schuelke earning victories over Aiden Dallinger and Zach Haughton in 133 and 141.
The Hounds also fell in two matches with tech fall wins being awarded to both Matt Ortiz and Zeke Waltz over Kaden Lone and Aidan Petersen in 174 and 184.
But the night was highlighted by the two nationally ranked matchups in the 197 and 285 weight classes.
Blubaugh earned an 18-1 tech fall victory over McKendree's Shamon Handegan.
Blubaugh started the match out strong by taking down Handegan in the first few seconds of the match, and later backing that takedown up with two four-second near falls to take a 15-1 lead in the first period.
He then finished the match in the first period after a two-second near fall earned him the tech fall victory 18-1, and earned his team their first five points of the dual.
Gray then backed up Blubaugh's dominant performance with another dominating victory himself, defeating the Bearcats' Dustin Olmstead.
He began the match with a quick takedown and two back-to-back four-second near falls to make it 11-0 Gray at the end of the first period.
In the second period, Gray's reversal gave him a 13-0, before eventually pinning Olmstead to secure the victory in the early moments of the second period.
The Hounds ended the night with 11 points in the dual, after Gray's six point pin, but it wasn't enough as the Hounds fell 30-11 to McKendree.
#11 UINDY 11, #4 MCKENDREE 30
125: Jason Strope over Nathan Smith (Dec 3-1)
133: Gunnar Legrand over Aiden Dallinger (MD 11-1)
141: Ronan Schuelke over Zach Haughton (MD 13-2)
149: Joey Semerad over Gavin Garcia (Dec 6-3)
157: James Hokinson over Luke Robards (Dec 8-4)
165: Cory Peterson over Shane Bates (Dec 7-2)
174: Matt Ortiz over Kaden Lone (TF 15-0 4:53)
184: Zeke Waltz over Aidan Petersen (TF 18-3 7:00)
197: Derek Blubaugh over Shamon Handegan (TF 18-1 2:28)
285: Cale Gray over Dustin Olmstead (Fall 3:35)
UP NEXT
The Hounds have a quick turnaround as they will compete in the Indiana Little State event at the University of Indianapolis on Saturday Dec. 7. Action is expected to begin at 10 a.m. for the Hounds.
