Eastern’s wrestling squad has come upon the perfect time to compete against lesser competition. The Panthers travel to play Division I-AA Southern Illinois at Edwardsville Friday in hopes of finally solving the injury bug.

One wrestler that has been consistent is junior Matt Veach. The Iowa State transfer has compiled an overall record of 24-9 and is one of four Panthers who are undefeated in dual match competition.

In Eastern’s dual match at Indiana, Veach received the Panthers only majority decision of the evening in a dissapointing 35-13 loss.

“I think that if we’d had all of our guys, we would’ve been a lot more competitive,” Veach said.

Veach made a decision before the season started to go to a weight class from 157 to 164 and feels like more success has come from the decision.

“It’s been a lot better season than last years but I haven’t felt like I’m carrying the team yet,” Veach said “Everything seems a lot easier now that I’ve bumped up in weight.”

Eastern will look to have 197-pound Ross Bracey back from injury and will hope that he can get back to 100 percent before the home meet against Missouri Sunday.

Junior Pat Dowty will likely sit out Friday but has been practicing and is scheduled to return against the Tigers.

The Panthers will likely have to forfeit the heavyweight position because sophomore Pete Ziminski is on the shelf.

“If we can get everybody back by Sunday, I think that we should do reall well,” Veach said “Because of the forfeit, wrestlers like Chris Jordan and Brian Sbertoli will have to step up.”

SIU-Edwardsville will be the only Division I-AA school that the Panthers will compete against this season, but they will look to build momentum toward the last two months of the season.

“I don’t overlook anybody and I know nobody on the team will either,” Veach said.