Gray, Wilson Advance For UCO

CLEVELAND, Ohio (March 8) – Central Oklahoma 184-pounder Heath Gray and heavyweight Greg Wilson advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships Friday afternoon at the Wolstein Center.

The second-ranked Gray breezed to an 11-4 victory in his first-round bout, while Wilson prevailed 3-2 in a tight preliminary-round battle before knocking off seventh-rated Jordan Will of Minot State 8-4 in the first round.

Nate Keim is also alive for the Bronchos, bouncing back from a preliminary loss to pull out a 7-6 consolation victory at 141 pounds. Devin Crawl lost two straight matches at 174 and was eliminated.

The tournament resumes at 4 p.m. (Oklahoma time) with the championship quarterfinals and two more rounds of consolations.

"It wasn't the start we were looking for, but we've still got three guys going and hopefully they can keep moving forward," head coach Todd Steidley said. "Greg won a couple of tough matches and Heath did what he's been doing all year."

Gray had four takedowns in cruising past Indianapolis' Brody Conner for his 18th straight win. The sophomore star, now 33-1 on the season, will meet Tarrence Williams of Colorado State-Pueblo in the quarterfinals.

Wilson edged Weston Hunt of Colorado School of Mines 3-2 in his first match on a takedown with 15 seconds remaining, then used an early takedown and four-point near-fall to take a 6-0 lead en route to his upset of Will.

The senior, 12-3 on the year, will face off against No. 2 Kameron Teacher of Notre Dame College in the quarterfinals.

Keim fell to Notre Dame's seventh-ranked Jose Rodriguez in the prelims before rebounding for his tight one-point consolation win over North Carolina-Pembroke's Jonathan Miller.

The redshirt freshman led 6-1 late in the second period, but Miller scored a reverse in the final seconds and then added an escape and takedown in the third to tie it. An escape with just under a minute remaining gave Keim a 7-6 lead and he held on.

Keim will go against Kylan Udero of Adams State in his next consolation match.

CHAMPIONSHIP PRELIMINARIES
141 – Jose Rodriguez, Notre Dame, major dec. Nate Keim, UCO, 15-2.
174 – Cornell Beachem, Notre Dame, major dec. Devin Crawl, 15-3.
Hvy – Greg Wilson, UCO, dec. Weston Hunt, Colorado Mines, 3-2.

CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND
184 – Heath Gray, UCO, dec. Brody Conner, Indianapolis, 11-4.
Hvy – Wilson, UCO, dec. Jordan Will, Minot State, 8-4.

CONSOLATION PRELIMINARIES
141 – Keim, UCO, dec. Jonathan Miller, North Carolina-Pembroke, 7-6.
174 – Fanis Teia, UNC-Pembroke, dec. Crawl, UCO, 4-1.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Heath Gray: 5' 11"; Sophomore; 174

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

Devin Crawl: 5' 10"; Junior; 174

Greg Wilson: 5' 10"; Senior; 197

Players Mentioned

Heath Gray
: 5' 11"; Sophomore; 174

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

Devin Crawl
: 5' 10"; Junior; 174

Greg Wilson
: 5' 10"; Senior; 197