@UNCBearsWrestle Back on the Road to Take on No. 16 UNI, NDSU

Friday, January 25

Cedar Falls, Iowa

6 PM

University of Northern Colorado

Northern Iowa

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

1/23/2019 12:38:00 PM | Wrestling

Northern Colorado will face two Big 12 opponents this weekend

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

Northern Colorado wrestling continues its time away from home this weekend, as they travel for two Big 12 duals. UNC will take on No. 16 Northern Iowa on Friday and North Dakota State on Sunday.

"I think our confidence is really high right now," head coach Troy Nickerson said. "I think the guys are understanding that they are getting better each and every time they go out, which is really what we're looking for them to do. I think we preformed well last weekend and we can preform a little bit better this weekend. Obviously the competition steps up this weekend. If we can continue to raise the bar; I think we should come out with some promising results."

The Bears are coming off a strong weekend on the road with a pair of dual wins in California, starting with a 28-14 victory over Cal Poly on Friday. On Sunday, UNC made it two in a row with a 17-16, comeback win over CSU Bakersfield.

Rico Montoya, Chris Sandoval, Jordan Robison and Robert Winters Jr. all went 2-0 in the two duals.

After a successful weekend, Montoya continues to hold firm in the national rankings and is slated at No. 17 by Intermat.com, Trackwrestling.com and W.I.N. Magazine. Montoya is also No. 19 in both Flowrestling.com and The Open Mat's individual rankings. This season, Montoya has a 4-3 record in duals and 11-4 overall to lead the team. He also leads the team with four falls and four tech falls this season.

Jacob Seely also holds a strong position in the rankings, listed as high as No. 14 in the 197 lb weight class by W.I.N. and is No. 17 by Trackwrestling. Seely is ranked No. 18 by The Open Mat and No. 19 by Intermat. Over the weekend, Seely went 1-1 with a 6-4 decision win over Bakersfield's Matt Penyacsek. Seely has a 6-2 record in duals and 10-4 overall, while tying for the team lead with five decision wins.

Both Montoya and Seely look to be included in the NCAA coaches individual rankings initial release on Thursday.

Northern Colorado is 4-5 for the season with a 3-2 road record and 0-3 in Big 12 duals.

"[Northern Iowa] has some really tough guys. I think in the upper weights were favored a little bit and wrestle strong up there. 125 is probably a big match for us, we will slightly favored. We have some toss ups at 133 and 157 that we need to come out and wrestle hard, Nickerson added.

Scouting the Panthers
Northern Iowa is ranked No. 16 in the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll with an 3-4 overall record and 3-0 in Big 12 duals this season. This past weekend, the Panthers went 1-1 after dropping a road dual against No. 5 Missouri 29-12. UNI rebounded with a 29-9 win over Air Force on Sunday. The Panthers field five, top-15 wrestlers including Josh Alber(141) at No. 6, Max Thomsen(149) at No. 10, Bryce Steiert(165) at No 12, Taylor Lujan(174) at No. 8 and Drew Foster(184) at No. 5.

UNC last faced UNI in January of 2013, with the Panthers winning the dual 40-6.

Scouting the Bison
North Dakota State enters the weekend with 6-5 record and 2-3 in Big 12 duals. The Bison were off last week, but have dropped its last two duals, both against ranked opponents. NDSU lost to No. 21 Iowa State and No. 18 Pittsburgh, 22-11. The Bison have three nationally ranked wrestlers, with Brent Fleetwood(125) at No. 9, Cam Sykora(133) at No. 15 and Andrew Fogarty(165) at No. 22.

UNC met North Dakota State in January of 2017, dropping the dual 19-16. The Bison were ranked No. 22 at the time.

Following the Bears
Northern Colorado will battle No. 16 Northern Iowa on Friday, January 25^th at 6 pm(MST). UNC will have a quick turnaround and travel to take on North Dakota State on Sunday, January 26^th at 1 pm(MST).

Both duals will be streamed live on Flowrestling.com and live scoring will also be available on Trackwrestling.com. Follow both matchups on Twitter for live updates and results with @UNCBearsWrestle

Projected Lineups
Northern Colorado [4-5, 0-3 Big 12]
125- No. 17 Rico Montoya Sr, 11-4 OR Michael Johnson RSo, 3-4,
133- Sean Cannon Jr., 3-10
141- Chris Sandoval So., 3-5 OR Owen Lamb RSo., 0-10
149- Armando Santillan So., 1-6 OR Dante Rodriguez RSr., 1-0
157- Jordan Robison So., 6-10
165- Macoy Flanagan RSo., 6-9
174- Sethan Bogulski RSo, 2-10 OR Trenton Schultz So, 5-6
184- Dalton Robertson Jr, 10-7
197- No. 14 Jacob Seely RJr, 10-4
285- Robert Winters Jr. RSo, 8-8

No. 16 Northern Iowa [3-4, 3-0 Big 12]
125: Jay Schwarm (7-7)
133: Jack Skudlarczyk (6-8)
141: Josh Alber (22-4)
149: Max Thomsen (14-5)
157: Paden Moore (3-2) or Patrick Schoenfelder (4-17)
165: Bryce Steiert (16-5)
174: Taylor Lujan (18-3)
184: Drew Foster (18-3)
197: Tyrell Gordon (19-7)
285: Carter Isley (7-5) or Izaak Shedenhelm (6-14)

North Dakota State [6-5, 2-3]
125 -- #9 Brent Fleetwood (17-3) OR Paul Bianchi (3-5)
133 -- #17 Cam Sykora (15-5) OR Nico Colunga (5-5)
141 -- Sawyer Degen (8-10) OR Taylor Nein (0-3)
149 -- Jaden Van Maanen (13-8)
157 -- Luke Weber (5-2) OR Nick Knutson (7-10)
165 -- #21 Andrew Fogarty (12-3)
174 -- Lorenzo De La Riva (12-8)
184 -- Michael Otomo (7-7)
197 -- Cordell Eaton (13-7)
285 -- Brandon Metz (11-9) OR Dan Stibral (16-5)