The field is highlighted by three-time NCAA Division I defending national champion Oklahoma State University. The Cowboys are currently the top-ranked team in the country and have four top-ranked wrestlers at their respective weight classes. Oklahoma State is joined by #9 Central Michigan, #12 Penn State, #15 Northwestern and #18 Arizona State as Division I top-20 teams in the field. All 10 weight classes will have at least two nationally-ranked D-I wrestlers and four weights have six ranked competitors.
Upper Iowa enters the tournament as the 17th-ranked Division II team in the country. Finishing in the top half of this loaded tournament would be a major accomplishment for the Peacocks.
Upper Iowa will be led by a pair of seniors in Ralph Acosta and C.J. MacNaught. Acosta was a 2002 All-American at 133 pounds while MacNaught was a National qualifier, narrowly missing All-American status, at 174 pounds.
Two-time All-American Brian Black will be replaced in the Peacock lineup by junior Tyson Brown at heavyweight. Brown is coming off a fourth-place finish at the McCready Open Saturday, which included an impressive 8-4 decision over Northern Iowa freshman Mike Zimmerly.
Sophomore Kyle Burkle has two individual titles under his belt already this year, winning the 141-pound championships at the Dubuque Spartan Open and the McCready Open. He won all three of his matches by pinfall at the McCready Open.
Red-shirt freshman Tyler Mumbulo dropped a 5-3 decision in the 125-pound championship at the McCready Open and finished sixth at Dubuque. Sophomore Tee Adams (149 pounds) and senior Brandon Heying (157) earned fifth-place finishes at the McCready Open. Three sophomores – 165-pounder Brady Hakeman, 184-pounder Matt Norton and 197-pounder Dan Goodson – round out the expected UIU lineup.
With 27 schools participating, this is the largest Reno Tournament of Champions to date. Oklahoma State won the 19-team tournament last year.
Wrestling gets underway at 9 a.m. at the Reno Livestock Event Center. The championship finals are slated to begin at 6 p.m.
Upper Iowa probable starters for Reno Tournament of Champions:
125 – Tyler Mumbulo (RSFr., Bainbridge, N.Y.)
133 – Ralph Acosta (Sr., Orlando, Fla.)
141 – Kyle Burkle (So., Coggon, Iowa)
149 – Tee Adams (So., Bessemer, Ala.)
157 – Brandon Heying (Sr., Sumner, Iowa)
165 – Brady Hakeman (So., La Porte City, Iowa)
174 – C.J. MacNaught (Sr., Walton, N.Y.)
184 – Matt Norton (So., Waverly, Iowa)
197 – Dan Goodson (So., Rochester, Minn.)
285 – Tyson Brown (Jr., Gladbrook, Iowa)
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