Ten More Added to 2014-15 Greyhound Wrestling Incoming Class

Jackie Paquette, Asst. AD for Student Support & Sports Information

INDIANAPOLIS- In a second wave of additions, UIndy Wrestling Head Coach Jason Warthan has announced another 10 new Greyhounds for the 2014-15 season. The 10 new grapplers bring the incoming class for next season to 17 members.

Joining the UIndy roster in the fall will be Keith Bachert, Taylor DeLong, Jeff Dixon, Dylan Faulkenberg, Johnnie Foster, Mitch Goldbach, Justin Halaska, Brandon Hannigan, Jake Rickenbaugh and Alex Riegel. Three of the newcomers will be transfers into the Greyhound program, with the remaining seven coming on as true freshmen in August.

Bachert, a Crete-Monee (Illinois) product, will come to UIndy as a 165. He earned eight total letters for the Warriors, in wrestling, baseball and cross country. Bachert was a three-time all-conference selection on the mat and was team MVP as a junior, while leading the team in wins as a senior.

DeLong is a transfer to the Greyhounds as a 184 from NAIA Indiana Tech. The Westfield, Ind. native was an NAIA National Qualifier at Indiana Tech, and placed eighth in the state of Indiana as a senior in high school. He was also a member of the Indiana/Illinois All-Star team as a senior, and set both Westfield HS and county records for most pins.

Dixon will come to UIndy from Fishers, Ind. and Hamilton Southeastern High School. The 197 or heavyweight earned four letters for the Royals on the mat, and was a two-time semi state qualifier as a prep.

Faulkenberg, a three-sport student-athlete at Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter, will wrestle heavyweight as a Greyhound. He placed fourth in the state as a senior, and went 47-1 as a junior. The 12-time letter winner also helped CRHS to a football state title as a junior and a runner-up finish as a senior.

Foster, the second of three incoming Illinois natives, will come to UIndy from Bloom Trail HS as a 184. He was a state placer in Illinois last year, taking sixth. He also played football for the Trailblazers, and was an honor roll student as a prep.

Goldbach, also a transfer to UIndy, will make the move from NC State to the Greyhounds. A four-time conference champion and state qualifier in North Carolina as a prep, Goldbach will wrestle 133 for UIndy. The Wake Forest, NC native placed twice in his prep career, taking second as a sophomore and fifth as a senior, en route to a 147-20 high school record.

Halaska is the third transfer to join the Greyhounds, coming from Heidelberg University. The 197 earned seven letters as a prep for Parma, Ohio HS, placing twice at state. He took eighth as both a junior and a senior, earning All-Conference accolades and All-Ohio honors both seasons.

Hannigan also comes to UIndy via Illinois' Crete-Monee HS. The 174 was a state qualifier as a senior, earning the Warriors' MVP award in his final season. He was also a two-time All-Conference selection, as well as a three-sport athlete during high school.

Rickenbaugh is a two-time state qualifier from Heritage Hills High School. The 174 took eighth in the state as a junior, and was a two-time Pocket Athletic Conference champion. He also won a pair of regional and sectional titles, en route to a 114-10 career record for the Patriots over three varsity seasons. Rickenbaugh set the Heritage Hills single-season record for pins with 37 as a senior as well.

Riegel rounds out the newcomers, hailing from Evansville Reitz, which also produced two-time UIndy All-American and current assistant coach Alex Johns. Riegel, who will come to UIndy as a 157, was a team captain of a senior and posted a career record of 89-32 in earning three letters in wrestling at Reitz.

Kyle Keller, Brendon Kelley, Heath Lange, Tyler Scott, D.J. Smith, Brian Wagner and J.D. Waters round out the newcomers for 2014-15, with their accomplishments archived in an earlier release, found here. The Greyhounds lost seven of their 10 starters from last year's eighth-place finishing team at the NCAA Division II National Championships to graduation or exhaustion of eligibility.