CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (Jan. 10) – Back-to-back upset falls by Kelly Henderson and Mikey Morgan fueled a dominating win by No. 5-ranked Central Oklahoma in the first round of the NWCA/Cliff Keen Division II National Duals here Saturday morning.
Henderson pinned No. 5-ranked John Sundgren at 157 pounds and Morgan followed with a third-period fall over eighth-rated Tad Merritt at 165 as the Bronchos won the first seven matches en route to a 33-8 trouncing of No. 12 St. Cloud State.
UCO improved to 6-2 with the win and advanced into the 1 p.m. quarterfinals against No. 3 Minnesota State-Mankato, which beat Findlay in its opening-round match of the 16-team tournament. Click here for the live stats of that match.
A win over the Mavericks would put the Bronchos in Sunday's 11 a.m. semifinals, while a loss will drop them into a 5 p.m. elimination bout.
“It was a good start for us,” UCO coach David James said. “Kelly and Mikey obviously got a couple of big falls for us in the middle, but our lightweight guys came out and set the tone early.”
Tim Elliott, an All-American for the Bronchos at 133 pounds last year and currently ranked No. 8 at that weight, made his debut at 125 and it was an impressive one as the senior racked up four takedowns and three near-falls in a 17-2 technical fall that gave UCO early control.
Scott Berens followed with an 8-0 major decision, then 141 Colby Robinson (2-0) and 149 Luke Elmore (6-5) came through with hard-fought wins that gave the Bronchos a comfortable 14-0 lead.
Henderson and Morgan then put the dual away with their consecutive falls.
Henderson took Sundgren down early in the opening period before putting him on his back and ending it in 2:06 for his fourth straight win by fall and Morgan decked Merritt in 6:19, getting an escape and takedown early in the third period to overcome a 4-2 deficit before getting the pin.
Tommy McCarty's 6-2 win at 174 made it a 29-0 lead before St. Cloud won the next two matches, but UCO ended the dual with a 5-1 win at heavyweight by freshman Cameron Gladd, who is wrestling in place of top-ranked Dustin Finn this weekend.
Finn played in a Division II all-star football game Friday night in Kingsville, Texas and was scheduled to join UCO for Sunday's competition, but a ruling by the tournament committee ruled him out of the entire tournament since he wasn't available for both days.
UCO 33, St. Cloud State 8
125: Tim Elliott, UCO, tech fall Pat Levasseur, 17-2.
133: Scott Berens, UCO, major dec. Adam Helgeson, 8-0.
141: Colby Robinson, UCO, dec. Gabriel Suarez, 2-0.
149: Luke Elmore, UCO, dec. Jacob Roberts, 6-5.
157: Kelly Henderson, UCO, pinned John Sundgren, 2:06.
165: Mikey Morgan, UCO, pinned Tad Merritt, 6:19.
174: Tommy McCarty, UCO, dec. Derek Skala, 6-2.
184: Brad Padgett, SCSU, dec. Daniel Morrison, 7-3.
197: Lucas Munkelwitz, SCSU, tech. fall Zach James, 16-1 (4:54).
Hvy: Cameron Gladd, UCO, dec. Robert Ross, 5-1.
