MOUNT UNION - A little more than two days after landing one of the state's top recruits, Northern Iowa's wrestling program received a second verbal commitment from a highly sought-after in-state recruit.

Columbus Junction senior-to-be Seth Noble, a two-time state finalist, said he'll ink the dotted line on Nov. 11, when the early signing period starts for future college wrestlers.

Noble, a native of Mount Union, made his commitment today.

"It is not too far from where I live, and they have a good coaching staff," Noble said. "Plus, Randy Pugh (Panther assistant coach) is from Columbus Junction, I know him. It just seemed like they (UNI's coaches) really wanted me to wrestle for them."

Noble won a 2A state title as a sophomore at 135 and lost a controversial decision to Ballard of Huxley's Tanner Hiatt, 5-4, this past February in the 140-pound state finals.

He was fifth as a freshman at 135.

"I thought I had that match won," Noble said of the state finals loss that snapped an 89-match win streak. "That is what sucks is I have nobody to blame but myself. Right now, I'm working on doing the things I need to do to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Noble will carry a 134-6 mark into his senior season and expects to wrestle at 141 as a Panther. He was getting regular correspondence from Iowa State before Cael Sanderson left for Penn State, but felt all along he'd end up in Cedar Falls.

"Growing up, I figured pretty much I was going to wrestle at UNI when I went to college," Noble said. "They got a new major - geographical information science - that I'm excited about. UNI is a good fit for me."

Noble has had a busy offseason wrestling at the Northern Plains regional and more recently at the Fargo Nationals where he reached the round of 16 in his first foray to Fargo.

"I haven't wrestled that much freestyle before," Noble said. "There were about 99 kids in my bracket and I would've liked becoming an all-American, but I was pretty happy with how I did for as little freestyle I've wrestled."

Noble joins Denver-Tripoli's Levi Wolfensperger as the second known verbal commitment to Brad Penrith's Panther program.

Ironically, Noble has faced a Denver-Tripoli wrestler in the state semifinals three years in a row - Blake Hilmer in 2007 (loss), Oz Wolfensperger in 2008 (5-4 win) and Wolfensperger again in 2009 (fall in 5 minutes and 36 seconds).