Drury University’s wrestling team, competing in their inaugural season this year, is picked to finish fifth in the seven-team Great Lakes Valley Conference according to the league’s preseason coaches’ poll.
The GLVC is also entering into its first year as a wrestling conference. Drury and Bellarmine both added the sport for the 2016-17 season.
Maryville is picked to win the conference. The Saints are also ranked second in the nation in NCAA-II and finished fifth at the national championship tournament last season. McKendree was picked to finish second in the poll and Wisconsin-Parkside was third.
Panthers wrestling will be unveiled on Wednesday night when Drury holds an intra-squad meet starting a 7 p.m. in Weiser Gym. The season opener for the Panthers is Sunday, Nov. 6 at the Dan Harris Open at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas.
The Panthers are led by head coach James Reynolds. The Colorado native was previously an assistant at Maryville, Nebraska-Omaha and Adams State, his alma mater. He has 31 wrestlers on his roster for the 2016-17 season. Nearly all of them will be in action on Wednesday night.
Drury’s program brings collegiate wrestling back to the area for the first time in 23 years. The last wrestling team to compete at the college level was Missouri State’s program that was discontinued after the 1994 season.
The GLVC Preseason Poll
Rank, Team, (first place votes), points
Maryville (5), 31
McKendree (1), 30
UW-Parkside (1), 26
Indianapolis, 25
DRURY, 14
Truman St., 12
Bellarmine, 9
