Wells Wins Title To Pace UCO

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Dec. 17) – Garrett Wells capped an impressive weekend by capturing the 184-pound championship in leading Central Oklahoma to a third-place finish in the prestigious Midwest Classic that wrapped up Sunday afternoon.

Wells won four one-point matches in going 5-0 in the two-day tournament that attracted 51 teams from around the country. The No. 4-ranked Bronchos also got runner-up finishes from 141 Dylan Lucas and 157 Gabe Johnson, while Hvy Braden Morgan came in sixth and 197 Emmanuel Skillings finished seventh.

Top-ranked Lander won the team title with 126 points, 14 ahead of No. 7 Wisconsin-Parkside. UCO was third with 109 points, followed by No. 9 Upper Iowa (108.5) and No. 5 Mary (98.5).

"We had a good weekend and just came up a little short," head coach Todd Steidley said. "I'm really proud of Garrett for what he was able to do this weekend. He grinded out some tough wins against a lot of really good guys and did a great job establishing himself on a national level.

"I thought our guys fought hard this weekend. It was a long two days and we did a lot of good things."

Wells was the catalyst.

The unseeded redshirt freshman opened the weekend with a 7-2 win and then survived a pair of one-point nailbiters in advancing to Sunday before doing the same on the final day in taking the title.

Wells knocked off second-seeded Reece Worachek of Wisconsin-Parkside 3-2 in the semifinals before capping his weekend with a 5-4 victory over Central Missouri's Damon Ashworth on a late escape.

The third-seeded Lucas rolled into the semis with three bonus-point wins and an overtime victory, then blitzed No. 2 seed Tate Murty of Upper Iowa 9-1 Sunday morning. The returning All-American fell to top-seeded Zack Donathan of Tiffin 4-3 in the title bout.

The top-seeded Johnson won three matches Saturday and got past No. 5 seed Drew Wiechers of Ashland 6-2 in Sunday morning's semifinals. He lost to Lake Erie's third-seeded Jack Haskin 8-1 in the finals.

Morgan pulled off three big wins Saturday in making the semis, highlighted by a 4-3 quarterfinal upset of top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Juan Edmond-Holmes. The junior lost three matches Sunday in coming in sixth, two of those in the tiebreaker.

Skillings wrestled an amazing nine matches on the weekend, going 7-2. The sophomore went 5-1 Saturday, opened the final day with a major decision and then lost in the consolation quarterfinals before finishing with a 8-6 win to take seventh.

It was the last action of the first semester for the defending national champion Bronchos, who return Jan. 5-6 at the NWCA Division II National Duals.

MIDWEST CLASSIC
Championship Finals
141 – Zack Donathan, Tiffin, dec. Dylan Lucas, UCO, 4-3.
157 – Jack Haskin, Lake Erie, dec. Gabe Johnson, UCO, 8-1.
184 – Garrett Wells, UCO, dec. Damon Ashworth, Central Missouri, 5-4.

Fifth Place
Hvy -- Luke Tweeton, Mary, dec. Braden Morgan, UCO, 4-2 (TB).

Seventh Place
197 – Emmanuel Skillings, UCO, dec. Isaiah Huus, Minnesota State-Moorhead, 8-6.

Championship Semifinals
141 – Lucas, UCO, major dec. Tate Murty, Upper Iowa, 9-1.
157 – Johnson, UCO, dec. Drew Wiechers, Ashland, 6-2.
184 – Wells, UCO, dec. Reece Worachek, Wisconsin-Parkside, 3-2.
Hvy – Mason Watt, Chadron State, dec. Morgan, UCO, 2-1 (TB).

Consolation Sixth Round
165 – Jace Fisher, Newman, dec. Jump, UCO, 4-1 (SV).
197 – Skillings, UCO, major dec. Wyatt Miller, Grand Valley, 13-4.

Consolation Quarterfinals
197 – Matt Kaylor, Mary, tech. fall Skillings, UCO, 15-0.

Consolation Semifinals
Hvy – Dauton Mayer, Thomas More, pinned Morgan, UCO, 5:24.

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Players Mentioned

Gabe Johnson: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

Braden Morgan: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Emmanuel Skillings: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

Dylan Lucas: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Garrett Wells: 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Gabe Johnson
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

Braden Morgan
: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Emmanuel Skillings
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

Dylan Lucas
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Garrett Wells
: 5' 11"; Freshman