WARRENSBURG, MO – The UIndy men's wrestling team sent ten wrestlers to this year's NCAA Super Regional IV, and came away with six wrestlers earning qualifying spots at this year's DII national championship, and fourth place team finish.
2024 reigning national champion Derek Blubaugh, GLVC second team members Brayden Lowery (141) and Cale Gray (285), GLVC third team honorees Jackson Hoover (149) and Nathan Conley (157) and redshirt-sophomore Nathan Smith (125) all clinched spots as 2025 national qualifiers for the Hounds.
On the day the Greyhounds finished in fourth place as a team, besting their fifth place finish from the 2024 Super Regionals IV. The Hounds collected 109.5 team points, only finishing behind No. 5 Central Oklahoma, No. 7 McKendree and No. 21 Central Missouri.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Brayden Lowery (141) and Jackson Hoover (149) were the only Hounds today to both qualify for nationals and win their weight class. Both guys went a perfect 4-0 on the day, and racked up three upset victories on the day.
In 141, Lowery picked up two major decision victories in his first two bouts of the day, after receiving a first round bye, taking down Central Missouri's Jack Lage and Quincy's Sabian Russell by a combined 23-1 score. He then got a rematch against McKendree's No. 3-ranked Ronan Schuelke, who he faced in this year's GLVC Championships, and came away with a third period pin victory, which punched his ticket to this year's nationals.
Hoover, a
2024 national qualifier, had a similar path to Lowery in having a perfect 4-0 day, but his wins were much closer in contest. After a first round bye, he took down GLVC foe JP Homfeld via a 5-1 decision, before backing it up with a win via tiebreaker over No. 7 Joey Semerad of McKendree, 3-2. He was then left with a chance to best his
third place finish at the 2024 Super Regionals, which he did by upsetting Central Oklahoma's Dylan Brown in an 8-4 decision.
Smith, bested his
2024 sixth place finish at regionals, with a third place finish in the 125 weight class. He cruised past Drury's Bryson Humphries 12-0, but then fell to eventual 2nd place finisher Studd Morris from Central Oklahoma via decision. After falling in the semifinals, he captured two GLVC wins over McKendree's Jason Strope and Maryville's Sam Shafer to seal his spot at nationals.
In 157, Conley went 4-1 on the day, continuing the trend of upsets for UIndy. His fall victory in the consolation third place match over Ouachita Baptist's No. 12-ranked Jaylon Otero punched his ticket to nationals. In his other three matches, he earned two wins in close decisions against Quincy's Hunter Vernon and McKendree's James Hoskinson, and fell to 157 champion Gabe Johnson of Central Oklahoma.
Blubaugh's quest for a second consecutive national title continued today, after going 3-1, and punching his fourth straight appearance as a national qualifier. In his first two matches of the day he dominated by a combined 34-1 score in two tech fall wins over Quincy's Maxim Ryner and Ouachita Baptist's Parker Henry. He then faced a rematch of the
2025 GLVC Championship against No. 3-ranked Logan Kvien. Blubaugh fell in a closely fought 6-3 decision, and will look for a third chance to take down Kvien at this year's national championships.
Gray was the final Greyhound for UIndy to earn their place in this year's nationals. It was smooth sailing for Gray in two of his first three matches, winning via major decision in both by a combined 24-3 over Newman's Caleb Wunsch and Ouachita Baptist's Brayden Seago.
His one loss on the day came against No. 2-ranked Ryan Herman of Maryville.
These two have faced off one time before this year, with Gray coming out on top. These two are destined for a rematch in this year's nationals as both qualified after wins by both in the third and championship matches in 285. Gray's win in the third place match came against Central Oklahoma's Judson Rowland.
Along with the six national qualifiers;
Shane Bates (165),
Trey Sizemore (174) and
Aidan Petersen (184) all earned sixth place finishes after finished with three wins on the day. All three were forced to medically forfeit in their respective weight classes in the fifth place matches.
Jadon Gyan, in 133, wrapped up a strong first season with the UIndy program after falling to No. 7-ranked James Anderson from Ouachita Baptist, and McKendree's Anthony Bernardo.
UP NEXT
The six Hounds who advanced to this year's NCAA DII Championships will have two weeks to rest before things get underway at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, IN on March 14.
