EDMOND – Ryan Nichols and Paul Sharp notched back-to-back falls in the final two matches to cap a bonus-point blitz that put an exclamation point on Central Oklahoma's 41-3 drubbing of New Mexico Highlands Sunday afternoon.
It was the dual opener at Hamilton Field House for the No. 19-ranked Bronchos, who earned bonus points in seven of their nine wins and only lost a hotly-contested double-overtime match at one weight. UCO stretched its school-record home winning streak to 34 in a row with its 16th straight victory.
Nichols at 197 pounds and Sharp at heavyweight ended the day with pins after Cole Mayfield recorded the first one at 149. UCO also got a technical fall from 141 Hunter Hollingsworth along with major decisions from 133 Canon Acklin, 157 Landyn Sommer and 174 Cameron Johnson.
"I was proud of the guys," head coach Todd Steidley said. "I thought we wrestled hard and did a lot of good things for the first match of the season. We need to get more takedowns, but it was a great start for us."
The Bronchos won their first five matches to build a 22-0 lead and end any suspense on the outcome.
Devon Miller started things with a 5-2 triumph at 125 in his first-ever match at UCO, the difference coming on Miller's takedown with 11 seconds left in the first period
Acklin followed with an 11-1 major decision, clinching the bonus point victory on a takedown with just three seconds left. Hollingsworth also made his UCO debut and was virtually unstoppable in a 17-2 rout, recording four takedowns and a near-fall to end it just 29 seconds into the second period
Mayfield led 5-0 when he took Caden Gorishek-Cobbin to his back and stuck him at the 3:31 mark. Landyn Sommer swoped in for the first of his five takedowns just seven seconds into his bout on the way to a 17-5 romp to end the opening stretch that put the Bronchos on top 22-0.
UCO's lone loss came at 165 when Brady Benham dropped a hard-fought 5-2 overtime decision to All-American and fifth-ranked Ivan Smith. Benham came close to scoring a winning takedown in the first sudden victory period, but Smith ended up taking the match on a takedown with three seconds left in the second sudden victory stanza.
The Bronchos responded by taking the last four matches, three in dominating fashion.
Johnson got that streak started with a 13-0 major decision at 174, then Cooper Zickefoose moved up a weight and prevailed 8-4 behind a pair of takedowns.
That left it up to the big boys to finish off the dual, with Nichols turning a second-period reverse into a fall at 4:06 before Sharp ended it just 1:52 into the final match after an early takedown.
UCO is back home next Sunday to host No. 16 Augustana at 2 p.m.
UCO 41, NMHU 3
125 – Devon Miller, UCO, dec. Diego Camarillo, 5-2.
133 – Canon Acklin, UCO, major dec. Rocco Madrid, 11-1.
141 – Hunter Hollingsworth, UCO, tech. Fall Michael Romero-Cortez, 17-2 (3:29).
149 – Cole Mayfield, UCO, pinned Caden Gorishek-Cobbin, 3:31.
157 – Landyn Sommer, UCO, major dec. Sabastian Freeman, 17-5.
165 – Evan Smith, NMHU, dec. Brady Benham, 5-2 (SV-2).
174 – Cameron Johnson, UCO, major dec. Rylan Taylor, 13-0.
184 – Cooper Zickefoose, UCO, dec. Kage Mir, 8-4.
197 – Ryan Nichols, UCO, pinned Phil Chabot, 4:06.
HVY – Paul Sharp, UCO, pinned Kioni Benally, 1:52.
