INDIANAPOLIS – The UIndy wrestling team dropped its second straight dual on Friday night, this time to the always formidable Upper Iowa team, 22-16. 

Upper Iowa is 3-0 all time against UIndy, with tonight's dual being the closest team result of the three. The team's first meeting against each other came back in 2024 in the GLVC Tournament.

INS & OUTS
The Hounds were led by a raucous crowd tonight, in large part to tonight's dual being the team's Back The Pack event for the 2025-26 season. And that showed in the first two duals, with both Nathan Smith (125) and Aidan Sprague (133) picking up decision wins for UIndy to give the team a 6-0 lead.

The No. 12-ranked Smith battled his way to a 3-0 win over Jackson Heaston, while Sprague electrified the crowd with a late third period take down to take a 5-3 lead, but was matched with a reversal from Schmit. Sprague utilized his earned riding time to snatch the three points from Schmit in a 6-5 decision.

Upper Iowa found success in the middle portion of the dual, racking up five straight wins at the 141, 149, 157, 165, and 174 weight classes. Four of those resulted in major decision wins, including at 149, where No. 11-ranked Gavin Garcia faced off against a top-10 opponent for the second consecutive night.

Toby Billerman (141) wrestled up a weight class tonight from his normal 133 weight class, while Luke Robards (157), Mason Day (165), and Shane Bates (174) all competed and fell in their respective weight classes.

But with the Hounds down 22-9, things turned in favor of UIndy over the final three bouts. Christian Chavez (184) continued to show why he's the real deal at 184, with an upset win over the No. 15-ranked Braxton Westendorf in sudden victory. While Noah Clouser (197) battled his way through a contentious match against Matthew Marcum with a 6-3 decision win.

No. 11 Cale Gray (285) wrapped things up in the heavyweight division with a comfortable 11-2 major decision win that included three take downs, and over two minutes of riding time to add four points to the Greyhounds' team total.

Mason Cantu (165) wrestled in an extra match for the Greyhounds to end the night that didn't count towards either team's score, and fell in a closely contested 9-4 decision.

#25 UINDY 16, UPPER IOWA 22
125: No. 12 Nathan Smith over Jackson Heaston (Dec 3-0)
133: No. 10 Aidan Sprague over Dawson Schmit (Dec 6-5)
141: Tanner Arjes over Toby Billerman (MD 13-2)
149: No. 8 Ethan Doty over No. 11 Gavin Garcia (MD 8-0)
157: Preston Klostermann over Luke Robards (Fall 1:45)
165: Nick Mueller over Mason Day (MD 11-2)
174: Griffin Luke over Shane Bates (MD 10-0)
184: Christian Chavez over No. 15 Braxton Westendorf (SV-1 4-1)
197: Noah Clouser over Matthew Marcum (Dec 6-3)
285: No. 11 Cale Gray over Hunter Bye (MD 11-2)
165 Extra: Reily Dolan over Mason Cantu (Dec 9-4)

MORE NOTES
Derek Blubaugh was recognized at halftime of tonight's dual for his 2025 National Championship winning performance.

UP NEXT
After tonight's taxing GLVC dual, the Hounds will have eight days to recover before half the team heads to Wabash for the Wabash College Invitational, and the other half will compete against Maryville on Jan. 31.