Wrestling 11/20/2020 9:00:00 AM Mike Kirk

Friday Feature: A Repeat Title

Friday Features Are Brought To You By UCO ROTC

EDMOND – The presence of four individual champions gave Central Oklahoma plenty of firepower entering the 2002-03 wrestling season, making the Bronchos heavy favorites to claim a second straight team title.

Cole Province (133 pounds), Matt Dodgen (141) and Shawn Silvis (165) were defending champions, while Mark Dodgen was coming off a redshirt year after having won the 125 title in 2000. UCO also had two more returning All-Americans in Chris Saferite (125) and Jeff Henning (184), though Saferite would end up redshirting as Mark Dodgen finished his career.

"With some of the experienced people we have coming back I don't know why we wouldn't be excited," 21st-year head coach David James said in the media guide's preseason outlook. "We're proud of what we did last year, but we've got to forget about that and get ready to try and do it again."

Province suffered a preseason elbow injury and missed the first two months of action, but it didn't slow down the Bronchos.

Central won a school-record 18 duals, finishing 18-1. The lone loss was a 21-19 decision to Nebraska-Kearney in the semifinals of the Division II National Duals, but the Bronchos avenged that with 21-13 road victory a month later to regain their No. 1 ranking.

UCO also competed in three open tournaments and the Las Vegas Invitational before heading to Kirksville, Mo. for the Midwest Regional.

James' crew cruised to their 14^th consecutive regional crown, but left disappointed as only seven individuals qualified for the national tournament. Mark Dodgen, Province, Silvis and Henning won titles, while Matt Dodgen and Jason Tapia (174) were runners-up and Jerod Goodwin (149) finished fourth.

"It was a disappointing day for us," James said in the Vista's regional wrap-up. "We came here with the intention of sending all 10 guys to nationals. We lost a couple of matches we shouldn't have and we won't be able to afford any mistakes at the national tournament."

The NCAA Division II Championships were held in Wheeling, W.Va. – where UCO won its first-ever national wrestling title in 1979 – and the team actually did have a couple of slip-ups. But the Bronchos still had enough front-line strength to capture their 14^th championship, outpointing second-place UNK 87.5-73.5.

Mark Dodgen, Province and Silvis all won gold medals, while Henning took third and Goodwin seventh. The five All-Americans are the fewest by any UCO national championship team.

"Wheeling was good to us in the past and it was good to us this weekend," James told the Oklahoman after the tournament. "Obviously I've got great feelings and emotions right now because this is a tremendous achievement for our program."

It was the second straight Division II tournament to feature no seeding, though there were still national individual rankings. There were 16 qualifiers at each weight -- four from each of the four regions -- and first-round pairings were established by regional finishes.

The top-ranked Mark Dodgen finished off a stellar senior season in style. He opened with a 10-5 win, followed with a tight 2-0 shutout and cruised 7-1 in the semifinals before scoring a second-period fall over No. 2 Jared Haberman of Western Colorado for his second title. Dodgen won his last 25 matches in finishing 27-2.

Province, also ranked No. 1, claimed his third national championship with four easy wins. He routed No. 2 Tony Fratzke 12-4 in the semifinals and his 6-1 finals victory over No. 5 Mitch Waite of Nebraska-Omaha clinched the team title. Province, who finished the season 26-0, was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler and would go on to capture his fourth title in 2004.

The top-rated Silvis became a two-time champion in easy fashion. The junior outpointed his first three opponents a combined 26-10, then coasted past No. 2 Jake Emerick of Minnesota State-Mankato 8-4 in the finals to cap a 32-6 season.

Henning, ranked fourth, opened the tournament with a fall and 15-6 major decision before falling to No. 1 Tyler Jones of South Dakota State in the semifinals. The senior bounced back with a 4-0 shutout and technical fall to take the bronze medal for the second straight year.

The unranked Goodwin dropped a tough 5-3 decision to No. 1 Brandon Pfizenmaier of UNK in the first round. He won two straight consolation matches before losing again, then scored an 11-3 major decision in the seventh-place bout.

"We had to battle through some adversity, but had some guys really come through for us when the pressure was on," James told the Oklahoman. "Our three champions really stepped it up, but I can't say enough about the job Jeff Henning and Jerod Goodwin did for us in the consolations."

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