Wrestling 1/7/2022 4:26:00 PM

Champions!

UCO Ends Long St. Cloud Winning Streak

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Jan. 7) – Three narrow escapes in the middle weights propelled Central Oklahoma to the championship of the NWCA Division II National Duals Friday afternoon as the Bronchos snapped St. Cloud State's historic winning streak.

Top-ranked UCO prevailed 19-14 over the No. 2-rated and four-time defending champion Huskies, who had won an NCAA-record 77 straight matches. The Bronchos moved to 7-0 with their 13th consecutive win in claiming the Nationals Duals title for the first time since 2002.

Central sandwiched sudden-death wins from 149 Brik Filippo and 165 Hunter Jump around Ty Lucas' one-point victory at 157 to open up a 15-8 lead, then got a clutch major decision at 184 from defending national champion Heath Gray before SCSU won the final two matches.

The other two wins for the Bronchos came in the first two weights from 125 Paxton Rosen and 133 Tanner Cole.

UCO was without three starters, while the Huskies were down two regulars. Kalin Winkler (174) didn't make the trip because of illness, while 141 Nate Keim and 197 Dalton Abney fell sick after Friday morning's semifinal rout of Newberry.

"It was a tough, physical match and every one of our guys wrestled hard," head coach Todd Steidley said. "We pulled out some really hard wins and that's what you have to do in duals like this.

"It's a great win for us, especially coming against a team like St. Cloud. We faced a lot of adversity here, but guys stepped up. Now we just have to continue building on this the rest of the season."

Rosen gave UCO a lead it would never relinquish in the opening match, collecting a pair of takedowns in a methodical 6-1 decision. The top-ranked Cole followed with a 6-0 shutout that included more than four minutes riding time.

The Huskies drew within 6-5 on No. 1 Joey Bianchini's technical fall of back-up Peter Rolle, but the Bronchos responded with the three straight close wins that ultimately decided the outcome.

Filippo and Jake Barzowski traded escapes in ending regulation deadlocked at 1-1 before Filippo scored the winning takedown with 50 seconds left in the first sudden-victory period.

Lucas pulled out a wild 9-8 victory on an escape with 29 seconds left, then Jump came through with the biggest upset of the day.

Making his varsity debut in this event, Jump knocked off No. 8 Devin Donovan 3-1 on a takedown with 29 seconds remaining in sudden victory to cap of a perfect 4-0 performance in the tournament and give the Bronchos a 15-5 lead.

UCO got another key performance in a losing cause at 174 from Anthony DesVigne, who bumped up from 165 and took fourth-ranked Dominic Murphy to overtime before losing 2-1 in the tiebreaker.

Gray then basically clinched the win with his 13-5 major decision. The senior star struck for the last of his five takedowns with 30 seconds left and controlled Cade Linn the rest of the way to collect the extra team point that made it 19-11.

Alex Kauffman bumped up from 184 to fill in for Abney and wrestled tough against No. 2 Nolan Ryan in dropping a 5-2 decision. And the same happened at heavyweight, where Braden Morgan lost 6-2 to defending national champion Kameron Teacher.

UCO returns home next Saturday to host No. 3 McKendree for a 2 p.m. dual. The Bearcats overcame a first-round National Duals loss to win four straight in taking fifth.

UCO 19, St. Cloud State 14
125 – Paxton Rosen, UCO, dec. Paxton Creese, 6-1.
133 – Tanner Cole, UCO, dec. Daniel Valeria, 6-0.
141 – Joey Bianchini, SCSU, tech. fall Peter Rolle, 18-3.
149 – Brik Filippo, UCO, dec. Jake Barzowski, 3-1 (SV).
157 – Ty Lucas, UCO, dec. Anthony Herrera, 9-8.
165 – Hunter Jump, UCO, dec. Devin Donovan, 3-1 (SV).
174 – Dominic Murphy, SCSU, dec. Anthony DesVigne, 2-1 (TB1).
184 – Heath Gray, UCO, major dec. Cade Linn, 13-5.
197 – Nolan Ryan, SCSU, dec. Alex Kauffman, 5-1.
Hvy – Kameron Teacher, SCSU, dec. Braden Morgan, 6-2.

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Players Mentioned

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

Tanner Cole: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Anthony DesVigne: 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman

Brik Filippo: 5' 8"; Sophomore; 149

Heath Gray: 5' 11"; Junior; 184

Nate Keim: 5' 7"; Sophomore; 141

Ty Lucas: 5' 9"; Sophomore; 157

Hunter Jump: 6' 2"; Freshman

Braden Morgan: 6' 2"; Freshman

Peter Rolle: 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

Tanner Cole
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Anthony DesVigne
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Freshman

Brik Filippo
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; 149

Heath Gray
: 5' 11"; Junior; 184

Nate Keim
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; 141

Ty Lucas
: 5' 9"; Sophomore; 157

Hunter Jump
: 6' 2"; Freshman

Braden Morgan
: 6' 2"; Freshman

Peter Rolle
: 5' 7"; Freshman