Havenstrite, ranked sixth in 2A at 145, is one of four ranked 2A wrestlers. UIC favorite MFL MarMac-Central has the other three – Mitch Funk (#5 at 103), Nick Winter (#7 at 140) and Charles Knipf (#6 at 285).There are five 1A rated wrestlers, two apiece from South Winn and Turkey Valley and one from Sumner-Fred. Freshman Brady Meyer (S-F) is ranked #10 at 112, senior Mark Riecks (TV) is #6 at 135, senior Tom Meirick (TV) is 10th at 145, junior Jay Devilbiss (SW) is #6 at 160, and junior Matt Schmelzer (SW) is ranked third at 171, the highest ranked wrestler in the UIC field.
A potential featured match-up would have Havenstrite going against.Meirick at 145. Havenstrite won a UIC title at 145 as a sophomore and took the 152-pound crown a year ago. He hasn’t lost a UIC tourney match since dropping a pair of decisions to South Winn’s Adam Hageman (10-0) and Sumner-Fred’s Jason Laabs (6-4) in 2007.
North Fayette was the last UIC team other than the Bulldogs to win a title, topping South Winn by half a point in 2004. The Hawks have finished in the UIC top three the last four times with three runner-up finishes, including last year’s second place showing.
With Central combining with MFL MarMac, this will be the smallest UIC field in a number of years with just eight schools competing. MFL/MM-Central, North Fayette, South Winn, Turkey Valley, Sumner-Fred, Valley, Clayton Ridge, and Postville make up the conference wrestling teams. The UIC touted 11 schools as recently as 2001, but West Central and North Winn wrestling programs were absorbed by Oelwein and Decorah which narrowed the field to nine teams for the last nine years.