UCO Falls To Lopers

1/27/2011 11:55:40 PM

Jarrett Edison

KEARNEY, Neb. (Jan. 27) – A forfeit and a sudden fall in back-to-back matches put Central Oklahoma in a big hole and the No. 5-ranked Bronchos never recovered in falling to No. 11 Nebraska-Kearney 21-15 here Thursday night in a battle of NCAA Division II wrestling powers.

The dual was tied 3-3 after the first two bouts, but UCO was forced to forfeit at 141 pounds and then was pinned at 149 in a match that was tied at the time in falling behind 15-3. The Bronchos won four of the final six weights, but it wasn't enough.

UCO had a 10-match winning streak snapped in falling to 12-3 on the year, while the Lopers improved to 11-2. The road gets no easier for the Bronchos, who move on to challenge top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Nebraska-Omaha Friday night.

“Giving up six points with a forfeit made it hard enough, but getting pinned at 149 really put us in a bind and we didn't do enough to make up for that,” UCO coach David James said. “Even in the matches we won we seemed to do just enough to get by and it's certainly a disappointing loss.”

Each team won five matches in the dual, but the forfeit and fall were more than enough to tilt the tide in UNK's favor.

The Lopers got a 10-5 win from fourth-ranked Josh Smith in the opening match at 125 to take a 3-0 lead, but UCO tied it on Trison Graham's wild 9-8 win at 133.

The seventh-ranked sophomore led 8-3 in the third period before Stephen Weimer tied it with an escape, takedown and two-point near-fall in the final 40 seconds, but Graham pulled out the win with a 1:26 riding-time advantage that earned him an extra point.

UNK moved in front to stay with its forfeit win at 141 and the Lopers essentially put the dual away with the fall at 149 that made it 15-3.

UCO's Austin Standage used a three-point near-fall midway through the second period to take a 4-3 lead over No. 2-ranked T.J. Hepburn and escaped early in the third to go up 5-3, but Hepburn stunned the Bronchos when he took Standage down to his back and got the fall at the 5:21 mark.

No. 7 Cory Dauphin pulled out a 5-4 overtime victory at 157, controlling Islam Abitov in the first 30-second tiebreaker before escaping early in the second one to claim his 13th consecutive win.

Eighth-ranked Derrick Adkins dropped a 9-4 decision to No. 5 Joey Wilson at 165 and then Kelly Henderson used a takedown with 14 seconds remaining to claim a narrow 3-1 victory at 174.

No. 7 Tanner Keck suffered a 3-1 sudden-victory upset loss to 184 to put UCO in a 21-9 hole before the Bronchos won the final two bouts.

Fifth-ranked Jarrett Edison had a takedown and reverse in the second period to prevail 5-1 at 197 and UCO finished the dual on a high note when unranked freshman Cody Dauphin knocked off No. 4 Ben Hohensee 3-2 on the strength of a first-period takedown.

Nebraska-Kearney 21, UCO 15
125 – Josh Smith, UNK, dec. Zach Housley, 10-5.
133 – Trison Graham, UCO, dec. Stephen Weimer, 9-8.
141 – Dalton Jenson, UNK, won by forfeit.
149 – T.J. Hepburn, UNK, pinned Austin Standage, 5:21.
157 – Cory Dauphin, UCO, dec. Islam Abitov, 5-4 (TB).
165 – Joey Wilson, UNK, dec. Derrick Adkins, 9-4.
174 – Kelly Henderson, UCO, dec. Drew Comito, 3-1.
184 – Ross Brunkhardt, UNK, dec. Tanner Keck, 3-1 (SV).
197 – Jarrett Edison, UCO, dec. Nick Bauman, 5-1.
Hvy – Cody Dauphin, UCO, dec. Ben Hohensee, 3-2.

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