UCO Leads National Tourney After First Day

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (March 10) – A tough quarterfinal round was followed by a clutch consolation performance that propelled Central Oklahoma into the lead after first-day action of the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships Friday.

The top-ranked Bronchos led after the morning session but lost five of eight matches in the quarters to fall down to sixth in the team standings before rebounding. UCO won six of seven consolation bouts to surge back in front of No. 2 Lander, 62.5-56.

No. 6 West Liberty is third with 38.5 points, followed by No. 3 St. Cloud State (38) and No. 11 Western Colorado (31.5). The tournament resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday with the semifinals and completion of all consolation matches before finishing with the 7 p.m. championship finals.

The Bronchos got quarterfinal wins from 165 Ty Lucas, 197 Dalton Abney and Hvy Shawn Streck, while 133 Dylan Lucas, 141 Nate Keim, 149 Brik Filippo, 157 Gabe Johnson, 174 Anthony DesVigne and 184 Alex Kauffman are still alive in the consolations.

Those nine are all guaranteed All-America honors, which is a school record. UCO had eight All-Americans on four other occasions.

"We did get off to a rough start, but our guys did a great job of battling back," head coach Todd Steidley said. "We won three out of eight in the quarters and on paper we were only favored in two of those so it was good to pick an extra one up.

"Our guys showed a lot of resolve and mental toughness coming back on the back side and winning six out of seven matches. Amazing job, an amazing round, but we're not finished yet. There's still a lot of wrestling to go and tomorrow's going to be a huge day."

T. Lucas had the biggest quarterfinal win for the Bronchos, knocking off No. 2 seed Alex Farenchak of Gannon 5-2. Lucas struck for a first-period takedown, then broke a 2-2 tie with an escape early in the third period before clinching it on a takedown with five seconds left.

The top-seeded Abney breezed into the semis with a 9-1 major decision, taking control with a takedown and four-point near-fall in the opening period.

Streck gave up his first takedown of the season in falling behind Lander's Juan Edmond-Holmes 2-0, but the No. 1 seed didn't get rattled. Streck broke a 3-3 tie with an escape and takedown in the second period, then added a penalty point in the third for a 7-3 win.

D. Lucas, Keim, Filippo, DesVigne and Kauffman all fell in the quarters before bouncing back with big consolation wins.

Lucas, who dropped a last-second 5-3 decision to the No. 1 seed in the quarters, picked up a second-period fall in the consolations over Central Missouri's Tommy Frezza.

Keim, Filippo and DesVigne shook off getting pinned in the quarters with clutch consolation wins.

Keim used a six-point move in the first period to clip Nebraska-Kearney's Nick James 11-9, Filippo blanked Mount Olive's Dallas Wilson 3-0 and DesVigne hung on for a 4-2 victory over McKendree's Zeke Waltz.

Kauffman battled top seed Billy Higgins of Nebraska-Kearney tough in a 3-2 quarterfinal loss, then used a riding time point to edge Glenville State's Cole Houser 7-6 in the consolations.

Johnson won two consolation matches in the evening session, winning 6-3 in his first bout behind a four-point near-fall before clipping Tiffin's fourth-seeded Casey Barnett 4-2.

Studd Morris cruised to a 13-6 win in his first consolation match before being eliminated by No. 4 seed Shane Corrigan of Wisconsin-Parkside 13-10.

NCAA DIVISION II WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS
133 – Quentrevion Campbell, Chadron State, dec. Dylan Lucas, UCO, 5-3.
141 – Nackary Donathan, Tiffin, pinned Nate Keim, UCO, 0:29.
149 – Jacob Ealy, Pittsburgh-Johnstown, pinned Brik Filippo, UCO, 0:47.
165 – Ty Lucas, UCO, dec. Alex Farenchak, Gannon, 5-2.
174 – Cade Lindsey, Fort Hays State, pinned Anthony DesVigne, 1:41.
184 – Billy Higgins, Nebraska-Kearney, dec. Alex Kauffman, UCO, 3-2.
197 – Dalton Abney, UCO, major dec. Luke McGonigal, Mercyhurst, 9-1.
Hvy – Shawn Streck, UCO, dec. Juan Edmond-Holmes, Lander, 7-3.

CONSOLATION FIRST ROUND
125 – Studd Morris, UCO, dec. Oscar Nellis, Minot State, 13-6.
157 – Johnson, UCO, dec. Devin Bahr, Northern State, 6-3.

CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS
125 – Shane Corrigan, Wisconsin-Parkside, dec. Morris, 13-10.
133 – Lucas, UCO, pinned Tommy Frezza, Central Missouri, 3:46.
141 – Keim, UCO, dec. Nick James, Nebraska-Kearney, 11-9.
149 – Filippo, UCO, dec. Dallas Wilson, Mount Olive, 3-0.
157 – Johnson, UCO, dec. Casey Barnett, Tiffin, 4-2.
174 – DesVigne, UCO, dec. Zek Waltz, McKendree, 4-2.
184 – Kauffman, UCO, dec. Cole Houser, Glenville State, 7-6.

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Players Mentioned

Dalton Abney: 6' 1"; Junior; 197

Anthony DesVigne: 5' 11"; Junior

Brik Filippo: 5' 8"; Senior; 149

Gabe Johnson: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

Alex Kauffman: 5' 10"; Senior

Nate Keim: 5' 7"; Senior; 141

Ty Lucas: 5' 9"; Senior; 157

Studd Morris: 5' 0"; Junior

Shawn Streck: 6' 1"; Junior; 285

Dylan Lucas: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Dalton Abney
: 6' 1"; Junior; 197

Anthony DesVigne
: 5' 11"; Junior

Brik Filippo
: 5' 8"; Senior; 149

Gabe Johnson
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

Alex Kauffman
: 5' 10"; Senior

Nate Keim
: 5' 7"; Senior; 141

Ty Lucas
: 5' 9"; Senior; 157

Studd Morris
: 5' 0"; Junior

Shawn Streck
: 6' 1"; Junior; 285

Dylan Lucas
: 5' 6"; Sophomore