HAYS, Kan. (Dec. 5) -- Heavyweight Dustin Finn claimed Central Oklahoma's lone individual title and led four placers for the No. 4-ranked Bronchos in the Fort Hays State Open here Saturday.
UCO also got runner-up finishes from 125-pounder Casy Rowell and 133-pounder Trison Graham, while 149-pounder Colby Robinson came in fourth in the all-day tournament that featured no team scoring and attracted 370 entries in the 10 weight classes.
It was the last competition of the first semester for the Bronchos, who don't return to action until going to the NWCA Division II National Duals on Jan. 9-10.
“It was a long, hard day and we had some guys get some quality mat time,” UCO coach David James said. “Our four placers all did a great job and won some tough matches that they had to really grind out, which I liked to see.
“We made some positive strides today, but we still lost some matches we shouldn't have and there's a lot of things we need to clean up. It will be good to have a little break because we've been going at it pretty hard since the season started with four tournaments.”
Finn earned his gold medal the easy way with a medical forfeit win over David Benson of Labette (Kan.) Community College.
The senior star, a two-time national runner-up currently ranked third in Division II, pinned his first three opponents -- two in the first period -- and then rallied with two takedowns in the final 30 seconds to clip Nebraska's Levi Woffard 5-4 in the semifinals.
Rowell had takedowns in each of the first two periods in making a 5-2 lead into the final stanza of his championship bout with Oklahoma State's Jon Morrison, but Morrison rallied in the final period and handed Rowell a 7-6 setback on a takedown with nine seconds remaining.
The rookie standout opened the tournament with a 17-2 technical fall and scored a late second-period fall in the quarterfinals while trailing in addition to winning two regular decisions to advance to the finals.
Graham dropped a 15-6 major decision to two-time Division II national champion Cody Garcia of Nebraska-Omaha in the finals, who ended up winning the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler award.
The redshirt freshman had back-to-back falls in his first two matches, followed with a 7-3 quarterfinal victory and knocked off Oklahoma State's Ladd Rupp 6-5 in the semifinals in a battle of former four-time high school state champions -- Graham for Arkansas City, Kan. and Rupp for Perry.
Robinson ended up wrestling eight matches in a grueling day, winning three consecutive matches in making the quarterfinals before losing a 3-2 decision there and then bouncing back to reel off three straight wins in making the consolation finals.
Highlighting that streak for the sixth-ranked Robinson was a 5-4 upset of No. 1 Esai Dominguez of Nebraska-Omaha, with Robinson using a riding time point to claim that victory. Robinson dropped a 12-6 decision to Air Force's Josh Kreimer in the third-place bout.
FORT HAYS STATE OPEN
Championship Finals
125 -- Jon Morrison, Oklahoma State, dec. Casy Rowell, UCO, 7-6.
133 -- Cody Garcia, Nebraska-Omaha, major dec. Trison Graham, UCO, 15-6.
Hvy --
Consolation Finals
149 -- Josh Kreimer, Air Force, dec. Colby Robinson, UCO, 12-6.
CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Pigtail Round
149 -- Colby Robinson, UCO, dec. Timur Abdurakhamov, Colby, 8-5.
174 -- Cody Rowell, UCO, dec. Jacob Weaver, Newman, 6-2.
First Round
125 -- Seth Johnson, UCO, major dec. Diamond Wilson, Labette, 16-4; Casy Rowell, UCO, tech. fall Kyle Johnshoy, Western State, 17-2.
133 -- Trison Graham, UCO, pinned Kyle McMinn, Colorado Mines, 4:07.
141 -- Cody Gillenwater, Central Missouri, dec. Scott Berens, 5-2.
149 -- Robinson, UCO, major dec. Tanner Weltzen, Air Force, 10-0.
157 -- Joe Snedden, UCO, dec. Dylan Granard, Mesa State,8-7; Eden Bernstein, UCO, major dec. Justin Narduzzo, Hastings, 12-1; Justin Suskey, UCO, dec. Chad Stich, Colorado Mines, 11-4.
165 -- Derrick Adkins, UCO, major dec. Conner Robinson, UCO, 12-1.
174 -- Carter Adams, Air Force, dec. Rowell, UCO, 9-8.
184 -- Kenny Meredith, UCO, dec. James Griffin, Pratt, 6-3.
197 -- Jarrett Edison, UCO, dec. Shane Miller, Mesa State, 3-1 (SV).
Hvy -- Dustin Finn, UCO, pinned Peter Cordella, Bacone, 1:18.
Second Round
125 -- Johnson, UCO, pinned Cody Wark, Colby, 4:50; Rowell, UCO, dec. Jeff Vesta, Neosho, 12-7.
133 -- Graham, UCO, pinned J.J. Goblet, OSU, 5:51.
149 -- Robinson, UCO, major dec. Colby Crank, Fort Hays State, 8-0.
157 -- Chase Nelson, Labette, dec. Bernstein, UCO, 6-3; Nathan Sigman, Nebraska-Omaha, dec. Suskey, UCO, 4-2; Cody Compton, Nebraska, dec. Snedden, UCO, 10-4.
184 -- Meredith, UCO, dec. Devin Hightower, Air Force, 9-6.
165 -- Aaron Hynick, Wichita State, dec. Adkins, UCO, 9-8.
197 -- Edison, UCO, dec. Dominic DeMarco, Adams State, 6-4.
Hvy -- Finn, UCO, pinned Tanner McCleary, Labette, 0:51.
Quarterfinals
125 -- Jon Morrison, Oklahoma State, dec. Johnson, UCO, 8-2; Rowell, UCO, pinned Cody Tyler, Nebraska-Omaha, 4:56.
133 -- Graham, UCO, dec. Trent Cox, Nebraska-Omaha, 7-4.
149 -- Jesse Snider, Colorado Mines, dec. Robinson, UCO, 4-3.
184 -- Austin Boehm, Nebraska-Omaha, pinned Meredith, UCO, 1:10.
197 -- Edison, UCO, dec. Tyler Downs, Pratt, 4-0.
Hvy -- Finn, UCO, pinned Brandon Hays, Central Missouri, 5:05.
Semifinals
125 -- Rowell, UCO, dec. Terrell McKinney, Nebraska-Omaha, 7-3.
133 -- Graham, UCO, dec. Rupp, OSU, 6-5.
197 -- Keldrick Hall, OU, dec. Edison, UCO, 6-5.
Hvy -- Finn, UCO, dec. Levi Woffard, Nebraska, 5-4.
CONSOLATION RESULTS
Pigtails
174 -- Rowell, UCO, major dec. Nate Alvarez, Wichita State, 10-1.
First Round
141 -- Austin Cordova, Colorado Mines, dec. Berens, UCO, 3-2.
165 -- Trevor Grant, CSU-Pueblo, dec. Robinson, UCO, 11-9 (SV).
174 -- Rowell, UCO, pinned Justin Grosse, Mesa State, 6:34.
Second Round
157 -- Snedden, UCO, dec. Clint Harbord, Central Missouri, 4-1; Dylan Granard, Mesa State, dec. Bernstein, UCO, 8-5; Bobby Williams, OSU, major dec. Suskey, UCO, 14-6.
165 -- Adkins, UCO, dec. Cody Frankum, Western State, 8-1.
174 -- Cody Gillispie, Fort Hays State, dec. Rowell, UCO, 6-4.
Third Round
165 -- Adkins, UCO, dec. Justin Shadrix, Air Force, 7-3.
Fourth Round
125 -- Johnson, UCO, major dec. Dustin Dooley, Fort Hays State, 9-0.
149 -- Robinson, UCO, dec. Alec Williams, Air Force, 2-1.
165 -- Adkins, UCO, won by default over Islam Abitov, Nebraska-Kearney.
184 -- Elliot Hellwege, OSU, dec. Meredith, UCO, 7-4.
Quarterfinals
125 -- Johnson, UCO, dec. Jordan White, Nebraska-Kearney, 6-0.
149 -- Robinson, UCO, dec. Esai Dominguez, Nebraska-Omaha, 5-4.
165 -- Alex Ward, Nebraska, dec. Adkins, UCO, 6-5 (TB).
Semifinals
125 -- Terrell McKinney, Nebraska-Omaha, dec. Johnson, UCO, 7-4.
149 -- Robinson, UCO, dec. Will Forrest, Central Missouri, 7-0.
197 -- Jacob Marrs, Nebraska-Omaha, dec. Edison, UCO, 6-3.
