(LEBANON, Ill. – Jan. 7) – The No.5 McKendree University men's wrestling team is set op open their Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) competition this weekend against No.4 Lindenwood and Maryville.

James Kisgen's team opened their 2020-21 season at Kentucky Wesleyan, Tuesday night, and left with a 51-0 victory. There, five Bearcats tallied their first victory of the season by pin, including Devin Schwartzkopf (St. Louis, MO/Francis Howell Central and Greenways Academy), No.6 Nate Smalling (Belleville, IL/Belleville West), Cory Peterson (Valmeyer, IL/De Smet Jesuit), Logan Kvien (Mundelein, IL/Mundelein), and Vincenzo Scaletta (Harwood Heights, IL/Ridgewood).

No.4 Lindenwood closed out their 2019-20 season with a 9-4 record and were 6-1 in GLVC competition. The Lions finished third in the NCAA Regional and was ranked No.7 heading into the NCAA Championships, before the cancelation due to COVID.

Maryville closed their 2019-20 season with a 7-6 overall record and were 2-4 in GLVC competition. The Saint finished fifth in the NCAA Regional with one wrestler earning a spot in the NCAA National Championship, before the cancelation due to COVID.

The Bearcats will compete Jan. 9-10 in the Robert F. Hyland Arena, in St. Charles, MO.