Rough Start

3/10/2010 5:06:42 PM

Dustin Finn

OMAHA, Neb. (March 12) – It wasn't a good start for Central Oklahoma in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships here Friday afternoon.

The No. 11-ranked Bronchos won just two of their six first-round matches, getting a pin from heavyweight Dustin Finn and a 3-0 shutout by 133-pounder Scott Berens. Derrick Adkins (165), Cody Rowell (174), Tanner Keck (184) and Jarrett Edison (197) all lost to drop in the consolation bracket.

Click here for UCO's tournament notes. Click here for the tournament website.

Defending champion and top-rated Nebraska-Omaha stormed to a big early lead in the team race, going a perfect 10-0 to pile up 20 points for an eight-point lead over second-place St. Cloud State. UCO was tied for 12th with 4.0 points.

The tournament resumes at 6 p.m. with the quarterfinals and two rounds of consolations and then resumes Saturday at 10 a.m. with the semifinals and completion of all consolation matches. The championship finals are set for 7 p.m. Saturday.

“We definitely didn't get out of gate like we wanted,” UCO coach David James said. “Dustin and Scott both did a good job, but we lost a couple of matches we probably shouldn't have and those guys are going to have to battle through the back door.”

Finn, the national runner-up the past two years, advanced to the quarterfinals with a second-period pin of Kutztown's Kevin Bolinsky. The third-ranked senior broke a scoreless tie with a reverse early in the second period and quickly took Bolinsky to his back to score the fall at the 3:22 mark.

Finn will take on fourth-ranked Charlie Alexander of Western State tonight.

Berens moved on with a 3-0 blanking of Chadron State's Ryan Fillingame, using an escape and takedown in the final 30 seconds of the second period to earn that victory.

The eighth-ranked senior will meet No. 7 Laramie Shaffer of Augustana in the quarterfinals.

Adkins, Rowell and Edison all lost close decisions, while Keck was pinned by top-ranked Charlie Pipher of Western State after taking an early 2-0 lead in that match.

Rowell battled hard against No. 3 J.J. Davis and tied it up at 5-5 on a takedown with 1:15 left before Davis went on to earn an 8-6 win. The sixth-ranked Edison was upset by Northern State's Matthew Meuleners 4-2 in the tiebreaker and Adkins fell 5-3 to Augustana's Gavin Nelson.

NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships
First Round
133 – Scott Berens, UCO, dec. Ryan Fillingame, Chadron State, 3-0.
165 – Gavin Nelson, Augustana, dec. Derrick Adkins, UCO, 5-3.
174 – J.J. Davis, North Carolina-Pembroke, dec. Cody Rowell, UCO, 8-6.
184 – Charlie Pipher, Western State, pinned Tanner Keck, UCO, 4:04.
197 – Matthew Meuleners, Northern State, dec. Jarrett Edison, UCO, 4-2 (TB).
Hvy – Dustin Finn, UCO, pinned Kevin Bolinsky, Kutztown, 3:22.

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