Bronchos In The Lead At Midwest Classic

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Dec. 14) – Central Oklahoma pushed four wrestlers into the semifinals and rode a flurry of bonus-point wins to grab the team lead after first-day action in the 41st Annual Midwest Classic Saturday.

The No. 16-ranked Bronchos earned extra points in 15 of their 23 wins and finished the day with 70 points, giving them a one-point lead over No. 19 Tiffin. Second-rated McKendree is third with 61.5 points, followed by Western Colorado (49.5) and Gannon (46).

The huge 37-team tournament that features 16 top-25 clubs resumes at 8 a.m. Sunday (Oklahoma time). Placement matches will start at 12 p.m.

Tanner Cole (125 pounds), Ty Lucas (157), Dayton Garrett (165) and Heath Gray (184) all moved into the semifinals for UCO, while 141 Nate Keim, 149 Brik Filippo and 197 Kalin Winkler are still alive in the consolation bracket.

"We had a good day, but there's still a lot of wrestling to do," head coach Todd Steidley said. "Our guys came out ready and they got off to a great start. We scored a lot of bonus points and that's always huge.

"Tomorrow will be a big day. We need to come out with the same focus we had today and finish the job."

UCO got off to a fantastic start, winning nine of its 10 opening-round matches with seven bonus wins. Garrett, Gray, Lucas, Winkler and Garrett Beier all had falls – with Garrett's coming in just 18 seconds – while Filippo and Noah McQuigg added major decisions.

The Bronchos went 6-3 in the second round with five more bonus victories. Cole, Filippo and Gray combined for 58 points in scoring easy technical falls, with Keim and Lucas notching major decisions.

Cole started the day with a 4-0 win and 18-2 rout before pulling off a big 7-3 upset of third-ranked Nick Daggett of North Carolina-Pembroke in the quarterfinals. The sophomore had takedowns in each of the first two periods to open up a 5-0 over Daggett and held on from there.

Cole will meet McKendree's third-rated Marcus Povlick in Sunday morning's semifinals.

Lucas cruised in the first two rounds with an opening-period fall and 14-5 major decision. The high-scoring sophomore continued his offensive assault in the quarterfinals with a wild 10-7 win over Nate Smalling of McKendree.

Lucas will go against Limestone's Sean Glasgow in the semifinals.

Garrett followed his 18-second first-round fall two straight one-point wins. The junior used a riding time point to prevail 4-3 in the second round and then trimmed Limestone's 12^th-ranked Garrett Beam 3-2 in the quarterfinals behind the only takedown of the match.

Garrett will face No. 8 Logan Grass of Mercyhurst in the semifinals.

Heath continued to dominate with three more bonus wins. The second-ranked junior opened the day with a second-period pin, followed with a 17-2 technical fall and then cruised to a 13-4 major decision.

Heath will take on Newberry's 10^th-rated ZeBrando Gant for a berth in the finals.

Keim didn't allow a point in his first two matches with 5-0 and 8-0 victories to move into the quarterfinals, where he dropped a tough 2-1 decision to No. 10 Peter Kuster of Drury.

Filippo had no trouble in his first two matches, recording a 12-4 major decision and 23-5 technical fall. Tiffin's Christop Donathan caught Filippo early in their quarterfinal match to score a 21-second fall.

Winkler dropped a 6-4 second-round decision after his opening-round fall, but bounced back to stay alive with a medical forfeit victory and first-period pin.

MIDWEST CLASSIC
Championship First Round
125 -- Tanner Cole, UCO, dec. John Watts, Coker, Dec 4-0.
133 – Noah McQuigg, UCO, major dec. Trey Taylor, Ouachita Baptist, 15-5.
141 – Nate Keim, UCO, dec. Nicholas Volies, Emmanuel, 5-0.
149 – Brik Filippo, UCO, major dec. Gavin Melendez, CSU-Pueblo, 12-4.
157 – Ty Lucas, UCO, pinned Trevor Smith, Kentucky Wesleyan, 2:29.
165 – Dayton Garrett, UCO, pinned Kristian Steed, Emmanuel, 0:18.
174 – Evan Foster, Minnesota State-Moorhead, dec. Gage McBride, UCO, 7-6.
184 – Heath Gray, UCO, pinned Austin Weldon, Ouachita Baptist, 3:08.
197 – Kalin Winkler, UCO, pinned Cole Gustavson, Adams State, 4:18.
Hvy – Garrett Beier, UCO, pinned Brian Stears, Bellarmine, 6:20.

Championship Second Round
125 – Cole, UCO, tech. fall Brandon Lucas, Bellarmine, 18-2.
133 – Cody Fatzinger, Western Colorado, pinned McQuigg, UCO, 6:43.
141 – Keim, UCO, major dec. Blaine Martinez, Lindenwood, 8-0.
149 – Filippo, UCO, tech. fall Austin Shaw, Seton Hill, 23-5.
157 – Lucas, UCO, major dec. Cole Houser, Urbana, 14-5.
165 – Garrett, UCO, dec. Eric Beck, Bellarmine, 4-3.
184 – Gray, UCO, tech. fall Dominique Hampton, Central Missouri, 17-2.
197 – Augustus Boyd, Ouachita Baptist, dec. Winkler, UCO, 6-4.
Hvy – Jared Rennick, Drury, dec. Beier, UCO, 5-3.

Championship Quarterfinals
125 – Cole, UCO, dec. Nick Daggett, UNC-Pembroke, 7-3.
141 – Peter Kuster, Drury, dec. Keim, UCO, 2-1.
149 – Christop Donathan, Tiffin, pinned Filippo, UCO, 0:21.
157 – Lucas, UCO, dec. Nate Smalling, McKendree, 10-7.
165 – Garrett, UCO, dec. Garrett Beam, Limestone, 3-2.
184 – Gray, UCO, major dec. Brandon Sloop, UNC-Pembroke, 13-4.

Consolation First Round
174 – McBride, UCO, tech. fall Myles Williams, Emmanuel, 16-1.

Consolation Second Round
133 – Derek Sharp, Findlay, pinned McQuigg, UCO, 2:46.
174 – Bret Heil, Maryville, dec. McBride, UCO, 19-15.
197 – Winkler, UCO, won by medical forfeit over Cory Schmidt, Minnesota State-Moorhead.
Hvy – Beier, UCO, dec. Logan Church, Western Colorado, 5-2.

Consolation Third Round
197 – Winkler, UCO, pinned Keaton Fogler, Lindenwood, 1:57.
Hvy – Caleb Gossett, McKendree, major dec. Beier, UCO, 9-1.

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Players Mentioned

Tanner Cole: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Brik Filippo: 5' 8"; Sophomore; 149

Dayton Garrett: 5' 10"; Junior; 165

Heath Gray: 5' 11"; Junior; 184

Nate Keim: 5' 7"; Sophomore; 141

Ty Lucas: 5' 9"; Sophomore; 157

Noah McQuigg: 5' 5"; Junior; 133

Garrett Beier: 6' 0"; Junior

Gage McBride: 6' 1"; Junior

Kalin Winkler: 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Tanner Cole
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Brik Filippo
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; 149

Dayton Garrett
: 5' 10"; Junior; 165

Heath Gray
: 5' 11"; Junior; 184

Nate Keim
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; 141

Ty Lucas
: 5' 9"; Sophomore; 157

Noah McQuigg
: 5' 5"; Junior; 133

Garrett Beier
: 6' 0"; Junior

Gage McBride
: 6' 1"; Junior

Kalin Winkler
: 6' 0"; Junior