UNI's Loder confident, riding hot steak entering national tournament

CEDAR FALLS - Not having had a lot of experience with losing, Northern Iowa red-shirt freshman Ryan Loder was frustrated after a 3-4 start this season.

“It was tough to get over that,” he said. “I'm glad it's over now. I can just wrestle and not think about wins or losses and just do what I've been doing. The last couple months have been good for me.”

Loder has won 20 of his last 23 matches and is seeded sixth at 184 pounds in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships that begin Thursday.

“He's not flashy, but he's winning,” Coach Doug Schwab said. “To win as a freshman, that's huge.”

Loder (27-9) was able to turn close loses into wins and was bolstered by a fifth-place finish at the Midlands Championships, where he posted a 6-2 mark.

“It helps your confidence a lot when you can finally get that one-point win and finish up the match on top,” he said. “It helps you mentally.”

Schwab said he has noticed an increase in confidence from a mix of mat performance and training.

“To me it goes back to making a choice, making a choice ‘I'm good enough (and) I'm going to find a way to win this match,'” Schwab said. “I think he made the choice ‘I'm sick of losing these matches to guys I definitely could be beating.'”

Loder lost to two-time Wyoming All-American Joe LeBlanc, 6-5, in a dual to close the regular season, then avenged that loss with a 4-3 decision in the West Regional final. Loder said he was hesitant to initiate offense in the first match but opened up and forced his style in the rematch.

“It was really big,” Loder said. “He's a great wrestler. For me to beat that caliber of wrestler, it helps my confidence going into the national tournament. If he can do it, I can do it, too.”

Loder, 19, was 32-5 during his red-shirt season and was a four-time freestyle All-American as a prep in Granite Bay, Calif.

“This guy is going to be for real. He's going to be good,” Schwab said. “He's had a good season, but we want to cap it off the right way.”

Notes: Panthers placed 40th at last year's meet with one All-American ... UNI won Western Wrestling Conference dual title with a 5-0 record (12-9 overall) but placed second in the West Regional for the second year in a row ... Freshman Ryan Loder is UNI's only seeded wrestler, picked sixth at 184. Heavyweight Christian Brantley is in his third NCAA meet.

Panther qualifiers: 157 pounds, David Bonin (24-11); 184, Ryan Loder (27-9); Hwt., Christian Brantley (25-6)