Contact: Emily Adlfinger, Direct of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970 (Written by Simon Schuler, Athletic Communications Student Assistant)

Feb. 21, 2021 – After an unusual regular season that was cut in half for 2021, the No. 9 Loras College wrestling team completed the last triangular of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) regular season by splitting against the Central College Dutch and No. 14 Coe College Kohawks.

The Duhawks began their Sunday by facing off against the battle-tested Dutch in the second dual of the triangular. In a high scoring affair, freshman and Bettendorf, Iowa native Aiden Evans defeated Central's Chase Poston 10-7. Scoring a victory over a ranked opponent was Zach Thompson at 133 lbs. A native of Perry, Iowa, Thompson used an early cradle to knock down contender Shandon Akeo. With his brother Eddie Smith coaching at his side, Wisconsin native Zeke Smith manufactured a 4-2 decision over Brock Beck. In a matchup of top grapplers at 157 lbs., it was California native No. 5 Daniel Ruiz who came on top, scoring an 8-4 decision over No. 7 Robert Areyano.

Adding to the dual team score at 165 lbs., junior Tad Griffith used a series of takedowns to defeat Luke Condy while All-American No. 3 Jacob Krakow pushed the pace against Christian Wilson, tallying a late third-period fall. Continuing his stellar 2021 campaign at 184 lbs., sophomore All-American Shane Liegel put on a takedown clinic against Griffin McBride. In the final two bouts of the dual, the Duhawks strung together two falls courtesy of Brady Vogel and No. 5 Wyatt Wriedt at 197 lbs. and heavyweight, respectively, making the final team score 37-3.

The final dual of the afternoon saw a fierce battle between the Duhawks and the Kohawks. Facing an early deficit due to two Kohawk victories, freshman Jalen Schropp brought the Duhawk faithful to their feet scoring a takedown late in an action-packed overtime victory over No. 9 Riley Wright at 141 lbs. At 149 lbs., the Duhawks tacked on four team points thanks to a major decision for Smith over No. 3 Josh Gerke.

A run of two Kohawk victories pushed the team score to 7-14 in favor of Coe but a hard-fought major decision courtesy of Krakow at 174 lbs. closed the gap to three points. A decision victory for Liegel at 184 lbs., put the two A-R-C foes deadlocked at fourteen with two matches to go. A tight decision victory for Vogel at 197 lbs. put the Duhawks up by three but was not enough as the Kohawks used a victory at heavyweight to win the dual on tiebreaker, 18-17. The Kohawks tallied 62 match points to Loras' 61, the deciding factor in the tie breaker.

The Duhawks finished the regular season with an overall record of 6-4 and 6-2 in conference action.