LEBANON, Ill. – The No. 25 UIndy wrestling team fell via a tiebreaker to the No. 8 team in the country, McKendree, on Thursday night, 20-19. 

This is the first dual since 2023 that ended via a tiebreaker for UIndy, the Hounds won that dual in 2023 against No. 2 Nebraska-Kearney at the NWCA National Duals.

Thursday night's dual was littered with ranked wrestlers, eight in total, with a ranked match up at the 133 weight class between Aidan Sprague and Thaddeus Long, and eight of the 10 bouts involving at least one ranked wrestler.

INS & OUTS
Things started off strong for the Hounds picking up two major decisions and a decision win in three of the first four matches of the night. At 125, Nathan Smith got things going for UIndy with an 11-4 decision win over Colton King. Smith's two near falls and two reversals were good enough to push him past King.

Zach Haughton and No. 11 Gavin Garcia added another eight team points with major decision wins each in their bouts. Haughton pitched a shut out, his first shut out victory of the 2025-26 season, with a four-point near fall and a takedown. While Garcia showcased why he's No. 12 in the country, closing things out with a massive eight point third period, and an 11-3 win over Logan Rathjen.

In the lone ranked-on-ranked match up of the night, No. 4 Thaddeus Long outlasted the relentless Sprague, who attempted to take down Long at multiple points in the second and third period, but was unsuccessful as Long's two take downs proved to be enough over Sprague. The Hounds hung on to an 11-3 lead after four matches.

McKendree took four of the next five matches, with all four of those wins coming from top-15 nationally ranked Bearcat wrestlers. The lone win over that stretch came from Shane Bates who took advantage of Bruce Henry, in the 174 weight class, from the jump. His five point first period, and four point second period made for a comfortable third period for Bates to earn the major decision win.

Following No. 5 Logan Kvien's pin victory over the latest GLVC Wrestler of the Week, Ethan Farnell, McKendree led 19-15 headed to the final match. With Cale Gray needing to pick up a pin victory to avoid the tiebreaker scenario, Gray did everything he could to find the necessary six team points.

Gray jumped out to a 12-3 lead to earn the four points needed for the tie, and attempted a pin twice in the final minute, but was unsuccessful as Casey Olszowka fended off those two attempts. With the score at 19 all, the first tiebreaker was the total number of pin wins. With Kvien's pin that gave McKendree the one extra point to break the tie, after a wild back-and-forth affair on Thursday night. 

#25 UINDY 19, #8 MCKENDREE 20
125: No. 12 Nathan Smith over Colton King (Dec 11-4)
133: No. 4 Thaddeus Long over No. 10 Aidan Sprague (Dec 9-2)
141: Zach Haughton over Aiden Colbert (MD 9-0)
149: No. 11 Gavin Garcia over Logan Rathjen (MD 11-3)
157: No. 15 James Hoskinson over Michael Ortega (Dec 7-1)
165: No. 4 Sam Richardson over Gavin Davis (MD 8-0)
174: Shane Bates over Brice Henry (MD 10-2)
184: No. 6 Darion Johnson over Christian Chavez (Dec 7-3)
197: No. 5 Logan Kvien over Ethan Farnell (Fall 2:03)
285: No. 11 Cale Gray over Casey Olszowka (MD 12-3)

UP NEXT
The Hounds will conclude its regular season this weekend with the Greyhound Duals and the Greyhound Open on Saturday Feb. 8 and Sunday Feb. 9.