No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney, No. 5 Central Oklahoma, No. 9 Western State at Midwest Duals
KEARNEY, Neb. -- Nebraska-Kearney went 4-0 at the 2nd Annual Midwest Duals on Saturday at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds.
The dual tournament featured 22 teams (23 schools) competing on 13 mats. In all, 47 duals were held as well as exhibition matches.
UNK (9-3, 1-0) beat Central Oklahoma 23-18, Southwest Minnesota State 31-6, Northern (S.D.) State 45-6, and Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater 28-15.
The Lopers were still minus Lincoln sophomore Chase White but sophomore Daniel DeShazer, the 133 lbs. defending national champ, saw his first action of the 2013-14 season as he wrestled in the two afternoon duals.
The key match came right off the bat against the rival UCO Bronchos.
At 141 lbs., second-ranked Brock Coutu had a second period fall to give UNK a 10-4 lead. UCO countered with a fall and a tech to take the lead but then Gering senior Brock Smith stunned top-ranked Chris Watson 5-3 at 165 lbs.
Smith managed takedowns in each of the first two periods, and then got an escape in the third, to record his biggest win as a Loper.
Despite wins by senior Patrick Martinez and sophomore Romero Cotton, the dual came down to the heavy weight match.
There, veteran Kelsey Empting recorded a takedown in the first sudden victory period to beat eighth-ranked Cody Dauphin 5-3.
UNK had three falls and three majors to roll past NSU. One of the falls was by DeShazer, who spent the fall on the football field.Against Northern, Martinez tallied a 21-6 tech fall of sixth-ranked Jacob Begin with Coutu recording another pin.
Whitewater, ranked third in the NCAA Division III, fell behind 16-0 as Kansas junior Tyler Anderson had a late pin at 149 lbs. with Central City sophomore Connor Bolling winning by major decision at 125 lbs.
Later, Martinez had another fall with Empting losing in OT again.
No. 3 St. Cloud State and No. 10 Indianapolis at Ranger Duals
KENOSHA, Wis. -- St. Cloud State (11-1, 0-0 NSIC) continued to find success in 2013-14 with a perfect 3-0 record at the 2014 Wisconsin-Parkside Ranger Duals on Saturday.
The Huskies opened the day with a 31-10 win against Findlay and then continued in the next round with a 38-3 win against host Wisconsin-Parkside. In SCSU's final match of the day, the Huskies charted a 25-6 win against McKendree.
In the match against Findlay, the Huskies collected wins at 133 lbs., 141 lbs., 149 lbs., 157 lbs., 184 lbs., 197 lbs. and 285 lbs. to earn the win. Success continued for SCSU against UWP as the Huskies opened the match with seven consecutive victories and then finished with a pair of wins at 197 and 285 lbs.
The day was completed in a big win against nationally-ranked McKendree. The Huskies opened with a win by Tanner Johnshoy at 125 lbs. and continued with a victory at 133 lbs. by Andy Pokorny. Matt Nelson added a win at 141 lbs. and Josh Howk posted a key pin at 149 lbs. Ryan Zumwalt (165) and Clayton Jennissen (174) both earned wins for SCSU before Austin Goergen finished the event with a 10-2 major decision at 285-pounds.
Indianapolis went 1-1, opening the day with a win against the host Rangers before falling to Augustana.
Versus Wisconsin-Parkside, the Greyhounds (5-6) took the 24-18 win in thrilling fashion, with Evan Wooding (15-7) pinning his opponent in 1:06 at 285 to push UIndy to victory. Heading into the heavyweight bout, the teams were tied 18-18, with the Wooding pin deciding the victor.
No. 7 Kutztown vs. Gannon
KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Redshirt sophomore Brandan Clark secured a pin at 197 lbs. with Kutztown trailing by eight points to Gannon. Combined with a win at heavyweight by top-ranked Ziad Haddad, it catapulted the Golden Bears to a 18-17 come-from-behind victory on Saturday afternoon in their home opener at Keystone Arena.
The Golden Bears (7-3, 2-0 PSAC) were down eight points with two bouts to go, and needed two wins and some bonus points to avoid an upset by the Golden Knights (4-2, 2-1), who received votes in the latest coaches' poll.
Clark stepped on the mat with Kutztown down 17-9, as the team had trailed for most of the match. It didn't take long for Clark to gain complete control as he worked for a takedown midway through the first period. A minute later, Clark turned over Andrew Wood and pinned him in 2:42 to bring the Gannon lead to 17-15. It was his team-leading fifth pin of the season. All Kutztown needed to win the match was a win by decision by its top-ranked heavyweight in the country.
Haddad led for nearly the entire match, as his only hiccup was allowing Nick Budd to score a reversal in the final seconds of the first period. Haddad won handily with an 8-3 decision after 1:23 of riding time to seal the victory for Kutztown. Notably, Haddad has not allowed an opposing takedown the entire season, and improves his flawless record to 12-0.
