Bronchos Advance To National Duals Semifinals

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (Jan. 5) – Anthony DesVigne's upset win at 174 pounds ignited a closing stretch that catapulted Central Oklahoma past McKendree and into the semifinals of the NWCA Division II National Duals Friday at the UNI Dome.

The top-ranked Bronchos trailed 10-0 early and were down 13-7 with four matches left before rallying. DesVigne's gritty 5-2 victory over No. 7 Matt Ortiz got the comeback started, Garrett Wells and Dalton Abney followed with five-point wins to put UCO on top and Shawn Streck's technical fall demolition put an exclamation point on a 21-13 triumph over the No. 10 Bearcats.

Central, which breezed past No. 12 Upper Iowa 28-9 in the first round, is now 4-0 with an 11-match winning streak. The Bronchos collide with No. 6 St. Cloud State in Saturday's 11 a.m. semifinals, then will take on either No. 3 Lander or No. 17 Augustana at 3 p.m. in the first- or third-place bout.

UCO and SCSU have met in the finals of this event the past two seasons, with the Bronchos winning in 2022 before the Huskies prevailed last year.

"We had two really good team wins today," said head coach Todd Steidley, whose team has won 36 of its last 37 duals. "I was proud of the way we battled and I thought we wrestled hard. We had some guys who hadn't wrestled much this year go out and do some good things for us.

"It was a tough day, but it's going to be even tougher tomorrow. We're going to have to be better, we know that, but I'm looking forward to seeing how our guys respond."

McKendree put the Bronchos on the ropes early in the quarterfinals, opening with a major decision and then picking up two more wins to go ahead 10-0.

Bam West gave UCO a spark at 149 with a 12-3 major decision. The redshirt freshman, who made his varsity debut in the opener against UIU, used a big seven-point move midway through the second period to go up 7-1 before tacking on a third-period takedown and riding time point.

Fourth-ranked Gabe Johnson cruised 9-2 at 157 behind a pair of first-period takedown, but Hunter Jump lost his second straight overtime decision of the day to a ranked opponent in the next match. Jump fell 4-1 to No. 4 Cort Peterson, who got the winning takedown 27 seconds into the sudden-victory period.

That gave the Bearcats a 13-7 lead, but it was all UCO after that.

DesVigne, making his first appearance at 174 after competing at 184 the first semester, struck for an early takedown against Ortiz to go up 3-0 and that was a difference in a 5-2 victory.

Wells had a pair of takedowns in an 8-3 win to tie it before Abney put the Bronchos on top. The two-time national champion had a first-period takedown, second-period escape and nearly four minutes riding time in a 5-0 shutout that gave UCO a 16-13 lead and the Bearcats had no chance with Streck up next.

Making his season debut this weekend, Streck was his usual dominating self. The defending national champion had five takedowns and a near-fall in a 20-3 technical fall that ended early in the third period.

The Bronchos scored five bonus-point wins in brushing past Upper Iowa to start the day, getting major decisions from West, DesVigne and 141 Dylan Lucas along with technical falls from Abney and Streck.

The second-ranked Lucas drummed No. 4 Tate Murty 10-2, West scored takedowns in each period for a 10-2 rout and DesVigne did the same while adding a near-fall in a 13-3 romp. Abney had three takedowns and two near-falls in an 18-1 drubbing, then Streck ended the dual with a 21-4 thumping behind a six-takedown attack.

UCO also got wins from 125 Garrett Steidley and Johnson.

Steidley prevailed 5-1 behind a third-period takedown in his first match of the season, while the fourth-rated Johnson used a first-period takedown to trim No. 7 Eric Faught 4-2.

Jump took No. 2 Chase Luensman to the tiebreaker before losing 3-2 on riding time.

UCO 28, Upper Iowa 9
125 – Garrett Steidley, UCO, dec. Treyton Ackman, 5-1.
133 – James Davis, UI, dec. Peter Rolle, 11-6.
141 – Dylan Lucas, UCO, major dec. Tate Murty, 10-2.
149 – Bam West, UCO, major dec. Ethen Doty, 10-2.
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, dec. Eric Faught, 4-2.
165 – Chase Luensman, UI, dec. Hunter Jump, 3-2 (TB).
174 – Anthony DesVigne, UCO, major dec. Lawson Losee, 13-3.
184 – Colter Bye, UI, dec. Garrett Wells, 4-2.
197 – Dalton Abney, UCO, tech. fall Cameron Lopez, 18-1 (5:20).
Hvy – Shawn Streck, UCO, tech. fall Jordan Baumler, 21-4 (5:29).

UCO 21, McKendree 13
125 – Christian Mejia, MU, major dec. Garrett Steidley, 9-1.
133 – Ryan Ripplinger, MU, dec. Shaun Muse, 6-3.
141 – Ronan Schuelke, MU, dec. Dylan Lucas, 9-6.
149 – Bam West, UCO, major dec. Ryan Schepers, 12-3.
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, dec. Josh Laubach, 9-2.
165 – Cory Peterson, MU, dec. Hunter Jump, 4-1 (SV).
174 – Anthony DesVigne, UCO, dec. Matt Ortiz, 5-2.
184 – Garrett Wells, UCO, dec. Zeke Waitz, 8-3.
197 – Dalton Abney, UCO, dec. Logan Kvien, 5-0.
Hvy – Shawn Streck, UCO, tech. fall Caleb Guise, 20-3 (5:12).

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Players Mentioned

Dalton Abney: 6' 1"; Junior; 197

Anthony DesVigne: 5' 11"; Junior

Gabe Johnson: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

Hunter Jump: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Peter Rolle: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Garrett Steidley: 5' 5"; Redshirt Freshman

Shawn Streck: 6' 1"; Junior; 285

Dylan Lucas: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Shaun Muse: 5' 6"; Freshman

Garrett Wells: 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Dalton Abney
: 6' 1"; Junior; 197

Anthony DesVigne
: 5' 11"; Junior

Gabe Johnson
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

Hunter Jump
: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Peter Rolle
: 5' 7"; Sophomore

Garrett Steidley
: 5' 5"; Redshirt Freshman

Shawn Streck
: 6' 1"; Junior; 285

Dylan Lucas
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Shaun Muse
: 5' 6"; Freshman

Garrett Wells
: 5' 11"; Freshman