As an alumnus who follows the program closely, I see encouraging signs for the future. McGowan (125) is greyshirting. Whalen (who won Midlands) and Mulhauser are taking a year off. Their current 125 pounder (Heethuis) is very good, but dropping a lot of weight. They have three freshmen starting who just need time to develop.
Not only did Ayres leave on short notice, their associate head coach Sean Gray also followed him. Give Dubuque a few years to develop this team.