Coming off of their strong showing at the Midlands tournament, the U.N.I. wrestling team will be looking to make some noise at this weekend’s N-W-C-A Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls. Panther coach Doug Schwab says that with the event on U.N.I.’s home turf, the Panthers have extra motivation do perform well.
Schwab says U.N.I. hasn’t competed well for quite awhile and they want to turn that around and compete to be the top team in the country. Schwab says that the Panthers will be striving to survive to the tournament’s second day. He says once they make it there they want to wrestle Sunday afternoon, because that means they’re wrestling for a title.
U.N.I. opens up against Missouri tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. With a win, Panthers would face either top-ranked Cornell or Ohio State in the quarterfinal round. One team that won’t be taking part is three-time defending national champion Iowa. Schwab, a former assistant at Iowa, says that the National Duals are better when all of the top teams are involved.
Schwab says he wants them there, and says anyone would want them there because the bring a lot of fans to the meet.
By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls