Morgan Leads UCO On First Day of Midwest Classic

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Dec. 16) – Heavyweight Braden Morgan pulled off a couple of big upsets to lead Central Oklahoma to a second-place showing after first-day action in the 44th Midwest Classic Saturday.

Morgan knocked off the Nos. 1 and 8 seeds in capping off a 4-0 day and was joined in the semifinals by 141 Dylan Lucas, 157 Gabe Johnson and 184 Garrett Wells. Hunter Jump (165) and Emmanuel Skillings (197) are still alive in the consolations.

Top-ranked Lander leads the 51-team field with 83 points, 5.5 ahead of the fourth-rated and two-time defending tournament champion Bronchos. No. 13 Chadron State is third with 70 points, followed by No. 5 Mary (69) and No. 7 Wisconsin-Parkside (67.5).

The largest regular-season tournament in Division II resumes at 9 a.m. (Oklahoma time) Sunday and concludes with the finals at 2 p.m.

"It was a long day and I thought our guys battled hard," said head coach Todd Steidley after a 12-hour day of action. "We put ourselves in position to win the tournament, but there's a long ways to go and we'll have to come out tomorrow ready to go."

"All four of our guys in the semis wrestled well today and came out with some tough wins."

Morgan is filling in for defending national champion Shawn Streck and more than held his own in making it to the final four.

The junior started strong with a pair of first-period falls, then used two takedowns to topple eighth-seeded Tyler Doyle of Colorado Mesa 7-3. Morgan followed that up with a huge 4-3 quarterfinal win over top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Juan Edmond-Holmes.

Lucas also went 4-0 on the day in making the semis. The No. 3 seed and Outstanding Wrestler in the tournament last year, Lucas outscored his first three opponents a combined 47-3 in breezing into the quarters before using an overtime takedown to clip Indianapolis' Blake Mulkey 4-1.

Johnson and Wells both followed first-round byes with three wins in advancing to the semis.

The top-seeded Johnson opened with a 13-3 major decision before pulling out tough 4-2 and 7-4 wins. Wells had three hard-fought victories, highlighted by a 3-2 quarterfinal upset of third-seeded Wyatt Lidberg of Mary.

Jump drew an opening-round bye, then notched a major decision and third-period fall before dropping a tight 2-0 quarterfinal decision to top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Chase Luensman of Upper Iowa.

Skillings had the longest day of any Broncho, going 5-1. He started with a 17-3 major decision before losing in the second round, but rebounded with four straight consolation wins to stay alive.

Guy Clevenger (125) and Dylan Brown (149) both won three matches on the day before being ousted.

MIDWEST CLASSIC
Championship First Round
125 – Guy Clevenger, UCO, tech. fall Tyson Upchurch, King, 1:03.
133 – Timothy Luker, Mount Olive, major dec. Peter Rolle, UCO, 17-5.
141 – Dylan Lucas, UCO, tech. fall Aaron Moroch, American International, 17-1.
149 – Dylan Brown, UCO, tech. fall Austin Vincent, 17-1.
174 – Calan Staub, Mount Olive, dec. Jaxon Randall, 4-1.
197 – Emmanuel Skillings, UCO, major dec. Garrett Steele, North Carolina-Pembroke, 17-3.
Hvy – Braden Morgan, UCO, pinned Gabe Croom, Lincoln Memorial, 2:32.

Championship Second Round
125 – Jose Diaz, Gannon, dec. Clevenger, UCO, 13-8.
141 – Lucas, UCO, tech. fall Sahran Russell, Quincy, 18-1.
149 – Brown, UCO, tech. fall Brandon Seawright, Limestone, 18-3.
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, major dec. Cooper Warshel, Pittsburgh-Johnstown, 13-3.
165 – Hunter Jump, UCO, major dec. Asa Walton, Newberry, 15-4.
184 – Garrett Wells, UCO, dec. Mason Diel, Minnesota State-Moorhead, 7-2.
197 – Sage Harrison, Western Colorado, pinned Skillings, UCO, 4:54.
Hvy – Morgan, UCO, pinned Rubin Izzard, Allen, 1:39.

Championship Third Round
141 – Lucas, UCO, major dec. Omar Armengol, Coker, 12-1.
149 – Jackson Hoover, Indy, dec. Brown, UCO, 7-0.
157 – Johnson, UCO, dec. Max Stedeford, Mercyhurst, 4-2.
165 – Jump, UCO, pinned John Ridle, Central Missouri, 6:19.
184 – Wells, UCO, dec. Wyatt Lidberg, Mary, 3-2.
Hvy – Morgan, UCO, dec. Tyler Doyle, Colorado Mesa, 7-3.

Quarterfinals
141 – Lucas, UCO, dec. Blake Mulkey, Indy, 4-1 (SV).
157 – Johnson, UCO, dec. Will Kuster, Drury, 7-4.
165 – Chase Luensman, Upper Iowa, dec. Jump, UCO, 2-0.
184 – Garrett Wells, UCO, dec. Jason Bynarowicz, Colorado Mesa, 6-5.
Hvy – Morgan, UCO, dec. Juan Edmond-Holmes, Lander, 4-3.

Consolation Second Round
125 – Clevenger, UCO, dec. Hunter Heim, Minnesota State-Moorhead, 5-4.
133 – Rolle, UCO, won by medical forfeit over Noah Cantu, Indy.
174 – Randall, UCO, dec. Aiden Knight, Montevallo, 8-5.
197 – Skillings, UCO, dec. Jack Trautman, Limestone, 12-6.

Consolation Third Round
125 – Clevenger, UCO, tech. fall Isaac Bourge, Quincy, 18-1.
133 – Rolle, UCO, pinned Tyler Masters, Ashland, 1:44.
174 – Jahman Spiller, Thomas More, dec. Randall, UCO, 4-1.
197 – Skillings, UCO, dec. Kaleb Walley, Coker, 13-7.

Consolation Fourth Round
125 -- Anthony Aniciete, Tiffin, major dec. Clevenger, UCO, 17-4.
133 -- Jeremiah Echevarria, Gannon, pinned Rolle, UCO, 6:48.
149 -- Brown, UCO, dec. Joey Semerad, McKendree, 2-1 (TB).
197 -- Skillings, UCO, major dec. Jeremiah Larson, Maryville, 12-3.

Consolation Fifth Round
149 -- Ethen Doty, Upper Iowa, pinned Brown, UCO, 1:04.
197 -- Skillings, UCO, dec. Brayden Dillow, Central Missouri, 4-1.

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Players Mentioned

Gabe Johnson: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

Hunter Jump: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Braden Morgan: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Peter Rolle: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Emmanuel Skillings: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

Shawn Streck: 6' 1"; Junior; 285

Guy Clevenger: 5' 4"; Freshman

Dylan Lucas: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Jaxon Randall: 5' 11"; Freshman

Garrett Wells: 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Gabe Johnson
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

Hunter Jump
: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Braden Morgan
: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Peter Rolle
: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Emmanuel Skillings
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

Shawn Streck
: 6' 1"; Junior; 285

Guy Clevenger
: 5' 4"; Freshman

Dylan Lucas
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Jaxon Randall
: 5' 11"; Freshman

Garrett Wells
: 5' 11"; Freshman