Berryhill, Gray Lead UCO At Midwest Classic

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Dec. 15) – Heavyweight Blake Berryhill and 184-pounder Heath Gray advanced to the semifinals to lead Central Oklahoma on the first day of the 40th Annual Midwest Classic Saturday.

The unranked Bronchos are eighth in the team standings heading to Sunday's final day with 39.5 points. Lake Erie leads the huge 39-team field that features 16 top-25 teams from NCAA Division II with 65.5 points, followed by Maryville (61), Lindenwood (55.5) and McKendree (55).

Action resumes at 8 a.m. (Oklahoma time) Sunday and concludes with placement matches at 12 p.m.

Berryhill and Gray both went 3-0 in marching into the semifinals, while157 Dayton Garrett, 165 Wyatt Jordan and 197 Colton Looper are still alive in the consolations.

"It was a long day, but I thought we wrestled hard for the most part," head coach Todd Steidley said. "We got off to a great start and then had a rough round, but we won some tough matches. We've got five guys still alive and hopefully they can keep it going tomorrow."

Berryhill and Gray led the way with their march to the final four.

Berryhill opened the day with a huge upset, knocking off second-seeded Tristen Weirich of Ashland 11-5. The sophomore big man followed with a first-period pin and then escaped early in the second tiebreaker period to pull out a 2-1 win over Drury's Ben Melton in the quarterfinals.

The unbeaten Gray continued a dominating season with three bonus-point wins.

Gray started with a 16-2 major decision, rolled to an 18-2 technical fall in the second round and capped the day with a 13-0 romp over fifth-ranked Dalton Hahn of Upper Iowa in the quarterfinals.

Garrett had the toughest road of the day, bouncing back from a tough 3-2 setback in the preliminary round to win four straight consolation matches. He scored two falls, a technical fall and 9-5 victory in that impressive comeback.

Wyatt won his first two matches, including a 4-2 sudden-victory decision over Brock Benitz of Upper Iowa, before falling 3-2 in the quarterfinals.

Looper lost in the second round after starting the day with a fall, but rebounded to secure a second-period pin and 5-4 win in staying alive.

Every wrestler won at least one match on the opening day in contributing to UCO's point total, with 133 Rio Zamora, 141 Nate Keim and 149 Brik Filippo each winning two each.

CHAMPIONSHIP PRELIMS
133 – Rio Zamora, UCO, dec. Cody Fatzinger, Western Colorado, 2-1.
141 – Nate Keim, UCO, major dec. Hunter Langeloh, Tiffin, 11-2.
157 – Bailey Moore, Marian, dec. Dylan Garrett, UCO, 3-2.

CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND
125 – Noah McQuigg, UCO, dec. Jacob Dunlap, Gannon, 4-2.
133 – Zamora, UCO, dec. Ronnie Pietro, North Carolina-Pembroke, 3-1.
141 – Keim, UCO, tech. fall Parker Mazik, West Liberty, 17-2.
149 – Chase Glasen, Chadron State, dec. Brik Filippo, UCO, 6-3.
165 – Wyatt Jordan, UCO, dec. Jake Willochell, Seton Hill, 9-4.
174 – Miguel Barreras, UCO, major dec. Jake Flakus, Northern State, 14-5.
184 – Heath Gray, UCO, major dec. Ruger Wyneken, Western Colorado, 16-2.
197 – Colton Looper, UCO, pinned Tyler Koreski, Ohio Valley, 2:50.
Hvy – Blake Berryhill, UCO, dec. Tristen Weirich, Ashland, 11-5.

CHAMPIONSHIP SECOND ROUND
125 – Nick Daggett, North Carolina-Pembroke, pinned McQuigg, UCO, 4:31.
133 – Brandon James, Marion, pinned Zamora, UCO, 1:15.
141 – Tyler Kenney, Seton Hill, dec. Keim, UCO, 6-4.
165 – Jordan, UCO, dec. Brock Benitz, Upper Iowa, 4-2 (SV).
174 – Adam Blees, Minnesota State-Moorhead, dec. Barreras, UCO, 5-3 (SV).
184 – Gray, UCO, tech. fall Kaden Campbell, Northern State, 18-2.
197 – Nicholas Mason, Tiffin, pinned Looper, UCO, 6:33.
Hvy – Berryhille, UCO, pinned Cole Ridley, King, 2:17.

CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS
165 – Rodney Shepard, North Carolina-Pembroke, dec. Jordan, UCO, 3-2.
184 – Gray, UCO, major dec. Dalton Hahn, Upper Iowa, 13-0.
Hvy – Berryhill, UCO, dec. Ben Melton, Drury, 2-1 (TB).

CONSOLATION PRELIMS
157 – Garrett, UCO, pinned Josh Cornell, West Liberty, 1:40.

CONSOLATION FIRST ROUND
149 – Filippo, UCO, dec. Cole Menck, Davenport, 6-2.
157 – Garrett, UCO, tech. fall Quinton Lopez, Davenport, 15-0.

CONSOLATION SECOND ROUND
125 – Ethan Cota, Augustana, dec. McQuigg, UCO, 8-5.
133 – Charles McNeal, McKendree, major dec. Zamora, UCO, 13-4.
141 – Keim, UCO, dec. Tyler Stegall, Maryville, 10-4.
149 – Filippo, UCO, dec. Gage Branson, Bellarmine, 8-2.
157 – Garrett, UCO, dec. Chance Esmont, Ashland, 9-5.
174 – Garrett Beam, Limestone, by disqualification over Barreras, UCO.
197 – Looper, UCO, pinned Benjie Hund, Queens, 4:17.

CONSOLATION THIRD ROUND
141 – Jacob Wynn, King, won by medical forfeit over Keim, UCO.
149 – Carson Speelman, Ashland, dec. Filippo, UCO, 4-1.
157 – Garrett, UCO, pinned Eric Beck, Bellarmine, 2:13.
197 – Looper, UCO, dec. Ryan Vasbinder, McKendree, 5-4.

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Players Mentioned

Blake Berryhill: 6' 3"; Sophomore; 285

Brik Filippo: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman; 149

Dayton Garrett: 5' 10"; Junior; 157

Heath Gray: 5' 11"; Sophomore; 174

Nate Keim: 5' 7"; Redshirt Freshman; 141

Colton Looper: 5' 8"; Senior; 197

Noah McQuigg: 5' 5"; Sophomore; 125

Rio Zamora: 5' 7"; Junior; 133

Wyatt Jordan: 5' 11"; Junior; 165

Players Mentioned

Blake Berryhill
: 6' 3"; Sophomore; 285

Brik Filippo
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman; 149

Dayton Garrett
: 5' 10"; Junior; 157

Heath Gray
: 5' 11"; Sophomore; 174

Nate Keim
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Freshman; 141

Colton Looper
: 5' 8"; Senior; 197

Noah McQuigg
: 5' 5"; Sophomore; 125

Rio Zamora
: 5' 7"; Junior; 133

Wyatt Jordan
: 5' 11"; Junior; 165