Wrestling 12/19/2021 4:42:00 PM

Abney, Bronchos Prevail At Midwest Classic

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Dec. 19) – Dalton Abney polished off a perfect weekend with a clutch 4-0 finals shutout to claim the 197-pound championship and clinch the team title for Central Oklahoma in the prestigious Midwest Classic that wrapped up Sunday.

The top-ranked Bronchos – competing without two of its top starters -- finished with 106.5 points to edge host Indianapolis by nine points. Adams State came in third with 89 points in the big 42-team event that ranks as the toughest Division II tournament of the regular season and Wisconsin-Parkside (88.5) was fourth.

UCO also got runner-up showings from 141 Nate Keim and 149 Brik Filippo, while 184 Alex Kauffman placed third and 125 Paxton Rosen fourth. The Bronchos overcame the loss of two returning All-Americans before the tournament even started after illness knocked out 133 Tanner Cole and 157 Ty Lucas.

The tournament went down to the wire. Kauffman's consolation finals victory gave UCO a five-point cushion and Abney's shutout of Indy's Derek Blubaugh prevented the Greyhounds from pulling off a late rally.

"We didn't have a great day, but Dalton and Alex had two big wins for us at the end," head coach Todd Steidley said. "We lost a lot of tough matches today that could have gone either way, but overall it was a really good weekend for us."

"It's tough to lose two guys the caliber of Tanner and Ty before you even get started and the rest of the lineup picked up the slack. We had some guys really step up and win some key matches for us."

Abney went 5-0 on the weekend, breezing through three matches Saturday before adding a pair of shutouts Sunday.

The top-ranked and No. 1-seeded sophomore blanked Wisconsin-Parkside's Rodsean Graham 4-0 in the semifinals before beating Blubaugh by the same score to claim the gold medal.

Abney scored with a single-leg takedown 40 seconds into the finals to take a 2-0 lead, escaped 11 seconds into the second period to go up 3-0 and added a riding time point after neither wrestled scored in the final period.

Keim went 3-0 in first-day action and followed with a second-period fall Sunday morning to make the finals. He led San Francisco's Joshua Fuentes 2-0 heading into the second stanza of their semifinal meeting before turning a reverse into a fall at the 3:59 mark.

The fourth-seeded and 10th-ranked Keim got the first takedown in his finals bout with Findlay's second-seeded and No. 4-rated Branson Proudlock, but Proudlock used an escape and takedown to go ahead 3-2 after the opening three minutes.

Keim escaped to start the second period to tie it, then Proudlock got an escape of his own in the final period to take a 4-3 lead and that held up as he staved off Keim's frantic takedown tries in the last 45 seconds.

Filippo followed up a 3-0 opening-day performance with a big 5-3 semifinal win Sunday morning over second-seeded and fifth-ranked Jacob Ealy of Pittsburgh-Johnstown.

The third-seeded and seventh-ranked Filippo used a pair of takedowns to claim that victory, then dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decision to Gannon's Dominic Means in the finals.

Filippo broke a scoreless tie with an escape early in the second period, then got loose again after Means struck for a takedown. Means escaped 45 seconds into the final stanza to go ahead 3-2 and Filippo was unable to come up with a winning takedown in the final seconds.

Kauffman, wrestling in place of injured national champion Heath Gray, came through with a clutch third-place finish for the Bronchos. The eighth-seeded junior went 3-0 Saturday, but dropped a 4-2 semifinal decision Sunday morning.

Kauffman rebounded strong in the consolations with two big wins, making the consolation finals with a 6-2 victory before claiming third with a 7-4 triumph over 10th-ranked Noah Curreri of Queens.

Kauffman led Curreri 4-0 after two periods on the strength of a takedown, escape and penalty point. Curreri had two takedowns in the final 30 seconds, but it wasn't enough as Kauffman held on.

Rosen won three matches Saturday and was clinging to a 5-4 lead over Colorado Mesa's Dawson Collins in Sunday's semifinals when Collins turned a takedown into a last-second fall.

The fourth-seeded and sixth-ranked Rosen bounced back in the consolation semis with a methodical 6-1 victory before falling to third-rated Joe Arroyo of Wisconsin-Parkside in the bronze medal match.

Kalin Winkler (174) and Braden Morgan (Hvy) were both eliminated with losses in their first consolation match Sunday.

Central doesn't return to competition until going to Louisville, Ky. Jan. 6-7 for the NWCA Division II National Duals.

MIDWEST CLASSIC
Championship Finals
141 – Branson Proudlock, Findlay, dec. Nate Keim, UCO, 4-3.
149 – Dominic Means, Gannon, dec. Brik Filippo, UCO, 3-2.
197 – Dalton Abney, UCO, dec. Derek Blubaugh, Indianapolis, 4-0.

Consolation Finals
125 – Joe Arroyo, Wisconsin-Parkside, dec. Paxton Rosen, UCO, 8-2.
184 – Alex Kauffman, UCO, dec. Noah Curreri, Queens, 7-4.

Championship Semifinals
125 – Dawson Collins, Colorado Mesa, pinned Rosen, UCO, 6:52.
141 – Keim, UCO, pinned Joshua Fuentes, San Francisco State, 3:59.
149 – Filippo, UCO, dec. Jacob Ealy, Pittsburgh-Johnstown, 5-3.
184 – Martin Verhaeghe, Fort Hays State, dec. Kauffman, UCO, 3-2.
197 – Abney, UCO, dec. Rodsean Graham, Wisconsin-Parkside, 4-0.

Consolation Fourth Round
174 – Brock Biddle, Pittsburgh-Johnstown, tech. fall Kalin Winkler, UCO, 16-0.
Hvy – Sammy Deseirere, Western Colorado, dec. Braden Morgan, UCO, 3-1.

Consolation Semifinals
125 – Rosen, UCO, dec. Evan Carringan, Newberry, 6-1.
184 – Kauffman, UCO, dec. Reece Woracheck, Wisconsin-Parkside, 6-2.

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Players Mentioned

Dalton Abney: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman; 197

Tanner Cole: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Brik Filippo: 5' 8"; Sophomore; 149

Heath Gray: 5' 11"; Junior; 184

Nate Keim: 5' 7"; Sophomore; 141

Ty Lucas: 5' 9"; Sophomore; 157

Braden Morgan: 6' 2"; Freshman

Kalin Winkler: 6' 0"; Junior

Paxton Rosen: 5' 3"; Junior

Alex Kauffman: 5' 10"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Dalton Abney
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman; 197

Tanner Cole
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Brik Filippo
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; 149

Heath Gray
: 5' 11"; Junior; 184

Nate Keim
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; 141

Ty Lucas
: 5' 9"; Sophomore; 157

Braden Morgan
: 6' 2"; Freshman

Kalin Winkler
: 6' 0"; Junior

Paxton Rosen
: 5' 3"; Junior

Alex Kauffman
: 5' 10"; Junior