UNI's Loder earns WWC Wrestler of the Week honors

University of Northern Iowa's 184-pounder Ryan Loder was selected Western Wrestling Conference's Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday. The red-shirt freshman went 3-0 at the Cliff Keen/National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals last weekend at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

Loder's biggest win came in an 8-2 victory over Oklahoma State's Chris Perry. he also beat Missouri's No. 13 Mike Larson (3-1) and Ohio State's 20th-ranked Cody Mangum of Ohio State (6-4). This comes after Loder was one of three UNI medalists at the Midlands Championships where he placed fifth.

Below is the news release from UNI's sports information department:

OREM, Utah – University of Northern Iowa's Ryan Loder, a 184-pound redshirt freshman from Granite Bay, Calif. (Granite Bay HS), has been named the Western Wrestling Conference Wrestler of the Week as announced Tuesday by the league.

Loder finished the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record, including three wins over ranked opponents, at the 2011 Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals last weekend.

In the Panthers dual against No. 13-ranked Missouri, Loder upset No. 13 ranked Mike Larson 3-1. Loder then scored a crucial 6-4 decision over No.20-ranked Cody Magrum (Ohio State) to give UNI a 16-13 team lead with two matches remaining.

Against No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State, Loder upset his third ranked wrestler of the day, scoring a 8-2 victory over No. 11 Chris Perry.

Loder is 16-8 this season and has won nine of his last 11 matches. This is also Loder's second conference honor of the season.

The Western Wrestling Conference, which is in its fifth year of competition, is comprised of seven schools including the Air Force Academy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming.

Other Nominees:

North Dakota State: Trent Sprenkle, 125 pounds, So. (Billings, Mont./Billings HS)

Northern Colorado: Casey Cruz, 133 pounds, Jr. (Colorado Springs, Colo./Wasson HS)

South Dakota State: Nick Flynn, 157 pounds, Jr. (Lansing, Kan./Lansing HS)

Utah Valley: Jeb Clark, 165 pounds, Sr. (Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork

HS)