UCO Ousted In National Duals

1/9/2010 7:49:18 PM

Cody Rowell

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (Jan. 9) – An early-morning development ended up putting Central Oklahoma in a hole it couldn't recover from in a pair of duals as the No. 3-ranked Bronchos were eliminated on the first day of the NWCA Division II National Duals here Saturday.

UCO was forced to compete without 125-pounder Casy Rowell after the fifth-ranked freshman standout – who leads the team with a 21-5 record – failed to make weight at the 7 a.m. weigh-in, forcing a forfeit that put the Bronchos behind 6-0 right off the bat.

That six-point deficit and six losses by one or two points led to an opening-round 24-12 setback to No. 13 West Liberty, with UCO bouncing back to upend No. 6 Western State 21-16 before being ousted from the tournament with a 26-15 loss to No. 11 Upper Iowa.

It's the first time the Bronchos, now 3-3 on the year, have failed to place in the top five in the national dual tournament.

“It was a tough day for us, no question about it,” UCO coach David James said. “We're not good enough at this time to give anybody – and I mean anybody – six points like we had to and that affected our whole team. We didn't do a very good job of overcoming that situation.

“Give a lot of credit to West Liberty in the first match, because they found a way to win six matches that were all close. They outwanted it in those situations and you have to give them credit for that. We found a way to win some matches that were tight against Western, but then we just didn't wrestle good enough to win against Upper Iowa.”

The forfeit a 125 and losses of 7-5, 2-1 and 8-6 in the next three weights led to a 15-0 deficit against West Liberty and that was simply too much. The Bronchos got wins from 157 Ed Jackson, 174 Cody Rowell and heavyweight Dustin Finn, with Finn scoring a first-period fall.

UCO won three straight matches after the opening forfeit against Western State, with 133 Trison Graham (5-0), 141 Scott Berens (11-4) and 149 Austin Standage (3-1) giving the Bronchos a 9-6 lead.

The Mountaineers won the next two matches to go on top 13-9, but Rowell prevailed 8-5 at 174 and Tanner Keck won by injury default at 184 to put UCO in front 18-13. A win at 197 pulled WSC within 18-16, but the fourth-ranked Finn clinched the victory with a clutch 2-0 victory in the final bout over No. 2 Charlie Alexander behind a second-period escape and riding time point.

UCO won four matches in the loss to Upper, getting wins from Graham, 149 Colby Robinson and 197 Jarrett Edison while Finn received a forfeit.

West Liberty 24, UCO 12
125 – Sean Jordan, WL, won by forfeit.
133 – Nick Wykoff, WL, dec. Trison Graham, 7-5.
141 – Kayne Melko, WL, dec. Sott Berens, 2-1.
149 – Mitch Smith, WL, dec. Colby Robinson, 8-6.
157 – Ed Jackson, UCO, dec. Brian Leggett, 12-5.
165 – Jarrod Shaw, WL, dec. Derrick Adkins, 6-4.
174 – Cody Rowell, UCO, dec. Matt Littleton, 7-5.
184 – Brandon Neield, WL, dec. Kenny Meredith, 3-1.
197 – Mitch Knapp, WL, dec. Jarrett Edison, 3-1.
Hvy – Dustin Finn, UCO, pinned J.D. Ramsey, 1:01.

UCO 21, Western State 16
125 – Kyle O'Brien, WSC, won by forfeit.
133 – Trison Graham, UCO, dec. Darren Hockett, 5-0.
141 – Scott Berens, UCO, dec. Hollan Gravley, 11-4.
149 – Austin Standage, UCO, dec. Justin Morris, 3-1.
157 – Kyle Francis, WSC, dec. Eden Bernstein, 10-6.
165 – Cody Frankum, WSC, major dec. Derrick Adkins, 14-5.
174 – Cody Rowell, UCO, dec. Zack Frazier, 8-5.
184 – Tanner Keck, UCO, won by injury default over Christian Griffith.
197 – Donovan McMahill, WSC, dec. Jarrett Edison, 6-2.
Hvy – Dustin Finn, UCO, dec. Charlie Alexander, 2-0.

Upper Iowa 26, UCO 15
125 – Cody Goble, UI, won by forfeit.
133 – Trison Graham, UCO, dec. Kyle Pedretti, 9-2.
141 – Steven Baker, UI, dec. Scott Berens, 14-12.
149 – Colby Robinson, UCO, dec. Brett Hakeman, 6-1.
157 – Justin Decker, UI, dec. Eden Bernstein, 4-1.
165 – Travis Eggers, UI, major dec. Ed Jackson, 15-4.
174 – Mitch Norton, UI, pinned Cody Rowell, 2:07.
184 – Mitch Schultz, UI, major dec. Patrick Finn, 11-0.
197 – Jarrett Edison, UCO, dec. Nick Shandri, 8-5.
Hvy – Dustin Finn, UCO, won by forfeit.

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