Complete Rankings
MANHEIM, Penn. – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) features three teams in the Top 25 of the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) NCAA Division II Rankings, released Friday afternoon (Dec. 3).
Lindenwood, McKendree, and Indianapolis are all nationally ranked, with the Lions highlighting the league’s squads at No. 5 with 57 total points and the Bearcats coming in just behind them at No. 6 with 49 points. The Greyhounds are D-II’s No. 14 team with 29 points.
The league's eight wrestling teams have a total of 16 ranked wrestlers, led by defending National Champion and top-ranked Abner Romero of Lindenwood. McKendree leads the way with six total ranked wrestlers, while UIndy has five.
There are GLVC wrestlers ranked in all 10 weight classes, with three wrestlers ranked at 141 and 174 leading the way. At 141, Peter Kuster of Drury comes in at No. 5 and is joined by No. 6 Colby Smith of Lindenwood as well as No. 9 Devin Schwartzkopf of McKendree. At 174, Romero is joined by No. 4 Josh Jones of McKendree and No. 6 Andrew Sams of UIndy.
At 125, McKendree’s Christian Mejia comes in at No. 5, while Tanner Hitchcock of Lindenwood represents the Conference at No. 4 at 133. UIndy’s Logan Bailey comes in at No. 8 at 149 for the league, while two GLVC wrestlers are ranked at 157 in Lindenwood’s Ronnie Gentile at No. 2 and UIndy’s Dawson Combest at No. 4.
Cory Peterson of McKendree comes in at No. 6 at 165 and is joined by No. 12 Jack Eiteljorge of UIndy in the Top 12. Another Bearcat represents the league at 184 in No. 3 Dan Fillipek. The GLVC just made it into the rankings at 197 and 285 with two ranked at No. 12 in the form of UIndy’s Derek Blubaugh and McKendree’s Ian Kuehl, respectively.