NATIONAL CHAMPS!

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (March 11) – There's strength in numbers and Central Oklahoma certainly proved that old adage correct in breaking a long drought at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships Saturday afternoon at Alliant Energy Powerhouse.

The top-ranked Bronchos placed nine of their tournament-high 10 qualifiers in the top seven and that superior depth was more than enough to propel UCO to its first national title since 2007.

Central entered Saturday with a 6.5-point lead over No. 2 Lander, then went 14-5 in the all-important consolation rounds to pull away from the field. The Bronchos finished the morning session with a unsurmountable 35-point cushion over Bearcats (113-78) to clinch their 16th championship.

Dalton Abney (197) and Shawn Streck (Hvy) will compete in Saturday night's finals. UCO also got third-place finishes from 133 Dylan Lucas, 141 Nate Keim and 165 Ty Lucas, while 184 Alex Kauffman took fifth, 149 Brik Filippo sixth and 157 Gabe Johnson and 174 Anthony DesVigne seventh.

"It's long overdue," said seventh-year head coach Todd Steidley. "Our guys have really, really worked hard and it hasn't sunk in yet. We're all so excited and we still have two big matches tonight in the championship finals.

"I'm so proud of our guys and not just the 10 guys who wrestled here. It's all the guys in our room, the UCO community, the booster club. It doesn't just happen with 10 guys, it takes a team and a family and that's what we preach and that's what we are."

Abney will go for his second straight national title after pulling out an overtime victory in Saturday morning's semifinals. The top-seeded junior and No. 4 Dominic Murphy of St. Cloud State were deadlocked 2-2 after regulation, but Abney scored off a single-leg takedown shot 20 seconds into the sudden-victory period to advance.

Streck made the finals with a workmanlike 5-3 victory over Ouachita Baptist's Johnny Green. The No. 1 seed, Streck had two first-period takedowns and was never in trouble in moving to 25-0 with his third win of the season over the fourth-seeded Green.

Dylan and Ty Lucas became the ninth set of brothers to earn All-America honors for the Bronchos with their third-place finishes.

Dylan won three matches Saturday, all against higher seeds. The eighth seed, Dylan started with a 3-0 shutout of No. 4 Elijah Lusk of Lander, then edged No. 7 Vincent Scollo of West Liberty before cruising past No. 2 Eric Bartos of Mercyhurst 10-3 for the bronze medal.

Ty dropped a 6-2 decision in the semifinals before bouncing back with two hard-fought wins. The seventh-seeded senior clipped West Liberty's Alec Cook 3-1 on a takedown with 30 seconds left in the sudden-victory period, then edged No. 4 Daniel Hunsberger of Lander 3-2 behind a second-period takedown to become a three-time All-American.

Keim went 3-0 on the day to join his dad (Mike) as the fourth pair of father-son All-Americans in program history.

The seventh-seeded senior opened with a 6-2 win, followed with a big 7-4 upset of No. 1 seed Zeth Brower of Lander and then pinned long-time nemesis Peter Kuster of Drury in the consolation finals. There was no score in the second period of that match when Keim grabbed Kuster's head and arched back to get the rare defensive fall.

The unseeded Kauffman knocked off fifth-seeded Reece 6-4 on a takedown midway through the two-minute sudden-victory period in his first bout of the day before falling to the No. 2 seed. He earned a medical forfeit victory in the fifth-place match in becoming a two-time All-American.

Filippo rolled past Newberry's Devan Moore 9-3 to start the day, then lost tough matches in the consolation semifinals and fifth-place match to finish sixth to earn All-America accolades for the second time.

Johnson and DesVigne both lost in the consolation quarterfinals to open the session before ending the tournament with wins in their seventh-place matches.

Johnson turned an early takedown into a fall at the 1:18 mark and DesVigne held on for a 5-3 victory.

NCAA DIVISION II WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
CONSOLATION FINALS
133 – Dylan Lucas, UCO, dec. Eric Bartos, Mercyhurst, 10-3.
141 – Nate Keim, UCO, pinned Peter Kuster, Drury, 4:18
165 – Ty Lucas, UCO, dec. Daniel Hunsberger, Lander, 3-2.

FIFTH PLACE
149 – Jacob Ealy Pittsburgh-Johnstown, dec. Brik Filippo, UCO, 9-6.
184 – Alex Kauffman, UCO, won by default over Billy Higgins, Nebraska-Kearney.

SEVENTH PLACE
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, pinned Avery Shay, Shippensburg, 1:18.
174 – Anthony DesVigne, UCO, dec. Nate Barett, Ashland, 5-3.

CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
165 – Chase Luensman, Upper Iowa, dec. Ty Lucas, UCO, 6-2.
197 – Dalton Abney, UCO, dec. Dominic Murphy, St. Cloud State, 4-2 (SV).
Hvy – Shawn Streck, UCO, dec. Johnny Green, Ouachita Baptist, 6-3

CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS
133 – Lucas, UCO, dec. Elijah Lusk, Lander, 3-0.
141 – Keim, UCO, dec. Jake Niffenegger, Mercyhurst, 6-2.
149 – Filippo, UCO, dec. Devan Moore, Newberry, 9-3.
157 – Noah Hermosillo, Adams State, dec. Johnson, UCO, 9-4.
174 – Max Bruss, Mary, pinned DesVigne, 3:31.
184 – Kauffman, UCO, dec. Reece Worachek, Wisconsin-Parkside, 6-4 (SV).

CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
133 – Lucas, UCO, dec. Vincent Scollo, West Liberty, 5-2.
141 – Keim, UCO, dec. Zeth Brower, Lander, 7-4.
149 – Jalen Spuhler, Wisconsin-Parkside, dec. Filippo, UCO, 11-4.
165 – Lucas, UCO, dec. Alec Cook, West Liberty, 3-1 (SV).
184 – Daniel Beemer, Ashland, dec. Kauffman, UCO, 6-2.

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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

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

Shawn Streck
: 6' 1"; Junior; 285

Dylan Lucas
: 5' 6"; Sophomore