INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - No.13 McKendree University men's wrestling grabbed its first Great Lakes Valley Conference weekly honor on Tuesday with redshirt freshman 174
Zeke Waltz earning his first weekly collegiate honor. Waltz, a Jersyeville, Illinois-native, finished UW-Parkside's Jim Koch Open with a 5-1 record to take third place in his weight class. The honor marks the first since
Jose Champagne won the GLVC's wrestler of the week this past February (2/15/22). The No.13 Bearcats will be back in action on Sunday, December 11, against UW-Parkside during the Wisconsin Wrestling Showcase at UW Madison.
Waltz earned his third place finish at the open tournament with his 5-1 record, wrestling back into placement with four-striaght match victories to end the day. The redshirt freshman began the tournament with a 15-5 major over Maryville's Lance Hymer before dropping the second match by 7-5 decision to Wisconsin's Graham Calhoun. His four-straight wins kicked off with a second major, beating teammate Brand Lloyd, 10-1. The fifth-round consolation matchup took a 5-1 decision to claim as Waltz defeated Brody Hemauer of UW-Parkside. In the consolation semifinal round, Waltz took on reigning GLVC Wrestler of the Week and 12th-ranked Bret Heil of Maryville. The Jerseyville-product handled Heil with his third major of the weekend, winning 8-0. Waltz's third-place match had a face-off against Parkside's Crosby Schlosser, in which the Bearcat, Waltz, won via 6-5 decision.
With the 5-1 weekend, the redshirt freshman moved to 11-3 (.786) overall this season with four majors, one tech fall, and one pin victory.
UP NEXT
McKendree men's wrestling will be back in action on December 11 in Madison, Wisconsin, facing UW-Parkside during a three-division showcase held at the UW Madison campus.
