No. 11 UCO Heads To National Duals

1/7/2015 10:49:00 AM

David James

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No. 11-ranked Central Oklahoma resumes the 2014-15 season this weekend when the Bronchos trek to Fort Wayne, Ind. for the NWCA/Cliff Keen Division II National Duals.

UCO, 0-2 in duals, will take on Augustana (6-2) at 8 a.m. (Central time) Friday in first-round action of the 16-team, double-elimination tournament at Memorial Coliseum.

Other opening-round matches pit No. 1 Notre Dame against Central Missouri, No. 2 Maryville against Lake Erie, No. 4 Ouachita Baptist against Alderson-Broaddus, No. 5 Mercyhurst against No. 17 Upper Iowa, No. 6 McKendree against No. 14 Newberry, No. 7 St. Cloud State against No. 19 Fort Hays State and No. 10 Lindenwood against No. 12 Kutztown.

The Bronchos will meet the winner/loser of the Notre Dame-UCM match at 12 p.m. Friday.

The tournament continues with another round of consolation matches Friday evening before resuming Saturday. Third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches will be at 12 p.m., with the finals in all five divisions – Division II, Division III, NAIA, junior college and women's – at 3:30 p.m.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS: UCO hasn't competed since finishing fourth in the Newman Invitational on Dec. 14.

The Bronchos have only one ranked individual in senior Chris Watson, who is No. 1 at 165 pounds. Watson is 17-0 with 16 bonus-point wins and has moved into 18^th place on the school's career win list with a 105-28 record.

Junior Spencer Rutherford is 16-2 with a nine-match winning streak at 149. He's won two tournament titles and been runner-up twice this season.

UCO has a 6-2 series lead over first-round opponent Augustana. The Vikings won the last meeting, earning a 16-15 victory during the 2011 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals.

The Bronchos finished fourth in last year's National Duals, winning their first two matches before losing two straight.

UCO is off to an 0-2 start for the first time since 1999-00.

A look at UCO's lineup for this weekend:

125 – Zac D'Amico, RS Fr. (15-6) and Josh Breece, So. (10-3).
133 – Dustin Reed, Sr. (11-5).
141 – Will Steltzlen, Fr. (10-7) and Josh Durham, Sr. (8-4).
149 – Spencer Rutherford, Jr. (16-2)
157 – Jeromy Davenport, Jr. (8-6).
165 – Chris Watson, Sr. (17-0).
174 – Colton Gallo, Jr. (8-3) and Dylan Harmon, Jr. (7-9).
184 – Caleb Hawes, Fr. (4-5) and Cason Montgomery, So. (3-8).
197 – John Finn, So. (8-7) and Michael Conner, Jr. (8-11).
Hvy – Kyle Factor, RS Fr. (15-5).

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