SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Josh Taylor's stunning upset helped Central Oklahoma overcome a surprise loss of its own as the No. 2-ranked Bronchos won six of their first nine matches in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships.
No. 7 Wisconsin-Parkside leads UCO 12-5-11.5 in what is shaping up as a tight team race. No. 4 Grand Valley State is third with 10.5 points while No. 1 Gannon and No. 6 McKendree are tied for fourth with nine points each.
The tournament resumes at 5 p.m. with the quarterfinals and two rounds of consolations before finishing with two rounds Saturday.
Taylor knocked off second-seeded Jake Niffenegger of Gannon 8-5 in sudden victory at 141 pounds in one of the biggest first-round upsets. The Bronchos also got wins from 133 Jason Henschel, 157 Gabe Johnson, 174 Hunter Jump and 184 Branson Britten.
Fifth-seeded Eli Kirk suffered a 4-3 opening-round loss at 125 before bouncing back with a fall in the consolation preliminaries. Bam West (149) and Bryce Dauphin (165) fell to highly seeded opponents in the first round.
"It was a good start," head coach Todd Steidley said. "I thought the guys wrestled hard and we picked up some bonus wins, which is always important. We had a couple of tough losses, but Josh's win was huge.
"We're going to have to wrestle better tonight and keep moving guys forward."
Taylor trailed Niffenegger 4-2 in the third period before going ahead on a takedown with a minute remaining, but Niffenegger escaped to tie it and regular ended in a 5-5 tie. Taylor managed to stave off Niffenegger's takedown try early in the sudden victory period and came out on top in a mad scramble to secure the winning points.
Henschel cruised to a 16-3 major decision over Minnesota State's Chase Beckett, racking up more than four minutes of riding time while scoring three takedowns and two near-falls. The third-seeded senior takes on No. 6 Jakob Romero of Adams State in the quarterfinals.
Johnson started his bid for a third straight national title in impressive fashion, turning a quick takedown into a fall at the 1:37 mark. It was the 33rd straight win for the No. 1 seed, who will face No. 8 Brent Nicolosi tonight.
The top-seeded Jump turned back an upset bid by St. Cloud State's Bryce Dagel, overcoming a 3-2 deficit with a third period takedown and riding time point to prevail 6-3. It was the 17th consecutive victory for Jump, who meets unseeded Anthony Erickson of Central Missouri in the quarterfinals.
Britten eased into the quarters with a 10-0 major decision behind two takedowns and a reverse. The sixth-seeded senior takes on No. 3 Darion Johnson of McKendree tonight.
The fifth-seeded Kirk dropped a 4-3 decision to Logan Davis in the first round but bounced back in impression fashion in the consolation prelims, building an 11-1 lead before securing a fall at the 4:35 mark.
West fell to No. 3 seed Cody Thompson of Colorado Mines while Dauphin lost to two-time defending national champion and No. 2 David Hunsberger of Lander in their first matches.
NCAA DIVISION II WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND
125 – Logan Davis, West Liberty, dec. Eli Kirk, UCO, 4-3.
133 – Jason Henschel, UCO, major dec. Chase Beckett, Minnesota State, 16-3.
141 – Josh Taylor, UCO, dec. Jake Niffenegger, Gannon, 8-5 (SV).
149 – Cody Thompson, Colorado Mines, major dec. Bam West, UCO, 10-2.
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, pinned Basil Othman, San Francisco State, 1:36.
165 – David Hunsberger, Lander, pinned Bryce Dauphin, UCO, 4:24.
174 – Hunter Jump, UCO, dec. Bryce Dagel, St. Cloud State, 6-3.
184 – Branson Britten, UCO, major dec. Jack Mackiernan, Mount Olive, 10-0.
CONSOLATION PRELIMINARIES
125 – Kirk, UCO, pinned Benjamin Aranda, St. Cloud State, 4:35.
