The Panthers will wrestle five top 25 teams in the 2014-15 season and host No. 8 Virginia Tech.

UNI will open January with a long stretch at home and host Virginia Tech before hitting the road for most of the latter part of its season.

The Panthers open their home season Nov. 29 and host the UNI Open Dec. 13. Their conference competition starts at home Jan. 4 with Eastern Michigan, and UNI will wrap up its January home stretch with Virginia Tech.

UNI’s 1974-75 national championship wrestling team will be inducted into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame Jan. 4.

Top 25 teams they will wrestle (place at last year’s national tournament):

 

Cornell (7)

Virginia Tech (8)

Iowa State (12)

Missouri (14)

Old Dominion (23)

 

SCHEDULE:

 

Nov. 15 @Cobber Open 9 a.m. Moorhead, Minnesota

Nov. 23 @Purdue/Indiana Tech TBA

Nov. 29 Iowa Central CC 7 p.m. West Gym

Dec. 5-6 Cliff Keen Invite Las Vegas, Nevada

Dec. 13 UNI Open 9 a.m. UNI-Dome

Dec. 21 @ Grapple in the Garden vs. Cornell, Drexel, George Mason - New York City

Jan. 4 Eastern Michigan* 2 p.m. West Gym

Jan. 9 Northern Illinois* 7 p.m. West Gym

Jan. 10 Buffalo* 2 p.m. West Gym

Jan. 16 Virginia Tech 7 p.m. West Gym

Jan. 25 @Central Michigan* 1 p.m. CT Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Jan. 30 @Missouri* 7 p.m. Columbia, Missouri

Feb. 6 @Ohio* 6 p.m. CT Athens, Ohio

Feb. 8 @Kent State* noon CT Kent, Ohio

Feb. 15 @Iowa State 2 p.m. Ames, Iowa

Feb. 20 Old Dominion* 7 p.m. West Gym

March 7-8 MAC Tournament Columbia, Missouri

March 19-21 Division I NCAA National Tournament St. Louis, Missouri

 

Home events – bold * Conference team

 

SEASON TICKET INFORMATION

The Panthers saw the biggest jump in attendance in at least 14 seasons, posting the ninth highest numbers in the nation last season. Four home duals in the West Gym were sell-outs, so fans are encouraged to buy season tickets to reserve their spots.

Season tickets cost $39 and will go on sale 8:30 a.m. CT Aug. 19. Single-meet passes are $7.

Season ticket holders will receive a keepsake card for admission and be allowed early admittance to all home duals.

Call (319) 273-4849 or go online to UNIPanthers.com for season tickets. (link: http://bit.ly/19RdoYz)

 

LAST SEASON

UNI was the only Division I team to finish the dual season undefeated (13-0).

Seven Panthers earned automatic bids to the NCAA tournament, the most since 2007-08 when nine qualified. Five wrestlers earned a top-15 seed: No. 5 Dylan Peters (125 pounds), No. 1 Joe Colon (133 pounds), No. 11 Joey Lazor (141 pounds), No. 10 Cooper Moore (165 pounds), No. 15 Ryan Loder (184 pounds). The team took 15th overall.

Head coach Doug Schwab crowned his third, fourth and fifth All-Americans when Colon grabbed third place and Peters and Lazor took sixth. It was the most All-Americans since 2002. Peters became the first freshman to earn the honor since 1996.

Peters' 13 falls against Division I opponents was the fifth most in the U.S. Colon had 10 tech falls, which was the same number as the nation's Division I leader.

The team implemented its first Mid-American Conference schedule, and took second to Missouri at the championships, reaching as high as fifth in the national rankings.

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