SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Gabe Johnson and Hunter Jump moved into the finals and Central Oklahoma had two other top four placers to stay in the thick of a heated team battle Saturday afternoon at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships. 
 
Johnson cruised past Wisconsin-Parkside's fourth-seeded Easton Worachek 8-1 at 157 pounds to continue his bid for a third straight national crown, while Jump made the title bout for the first time with a tense 1-0 win over Lander's Maxwell Kiel at 174. 
 
The finals are set for 7 p.m. tonight at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. 
 
Jason Henschel finished third at 133 and Eli Kirk fourth at 125 for the No. 2-ranked Bronchos, who ended the afternoon in third place with 72 points. Defending champion and No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney leads with 78 points, followed by No. 7 Wisconsin-Parkside (73), UCO, No. 6 McKendree (67) and No. 5 St. Cloud State (61). 
 
"I was really proud of the way we fought today," head coach Todd Steidley said. "We only had four guys left and they did an amazing job staying focused on what they needed to do. 
 
"Gabe and Hunter have a great opportunity tonight and I'm looking forward to seeing them go after a national championship."

The top-seeded Johnson struck for a takedown with 1:02 left in the first period to take a 3-0 lead and controlled Worachek the rest of the way before also riding him the entire second stanza. Johnson added an escape and takedown in the third to make it 7-0, then gave up a late escape while tacking on a riding time point. 
 
It was the 35th straight win for Johnson, who will meet St. Cloud State's second-seeded and unbeaten Joel Jesuroga in a repeat of last year's finals. Johnson edged Jesuroga 4-1 in overtime in that showdown. 
 
Jump got to the finals by the slimmest margins against Kiel. Neither wrestler came close to scoring in the first period and it was the same in the second after Kiel chose neutral before Jump broke the deadlock with a quick escape to open the third. 
 
The top-seeded senior easily fended off Kiel the rest of the way to earn his 19th straight win. Jump will take on Nebraska-Kearney's third-seeded Otgonbayar Batsuuri in tonight's finals. 
 
Henschel was locked in a tight semifinal battle with Jacob Strausbaugh of Mary early in the second period when Strausbaugh came out on top of a scramble and got a fall. 
 
The third-seeded senior bounced back with two straight consolation wins to claim the bronze medal. He clinched a 12-7 victory over Glenville State's Zachary Parker with a late takedown before topped St. Cloud State's Dominic Ducato 5-0 behind a takedown, escape and riding time point. 
 
Henschel finished his final season 22-2 with 14 bonus-point wins.

Kirk rolled to two more lopsided wins to continue his impressive consolation bracket run before falling in the third-place match. He ended up winning five matches on the back win, earning bonus points in all five. 
 
The fifth-seeded sophomore scored a second period fall over Chadron State's Quade Smith and then got the last of his three takedowns with three seconds left to secure a 10-2 major decision over No. 1 seed Isaiah Gomez of Adams State in the consolation semis. 
 
Kirk fell to West Liberty's Logan Davis for the second time in the consolation finals. Davis won 4-3 in Friday's first round and 4-2 in the third-place match behind a final minute takedown. 
 
Kirk finished the season 16-3 with 12 bonus wins. 
 
"I thought Eli and Jason showed a lot of resilience in the way they bounced back from tough losses to finish how they did," Steidley said. "Eli scored a bunch of points for us on the back end and Jason won two tough matches to come back and get third." 

NCAA DIVISION II WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 
CONSOLATION FINALS 
125 – Logan Davis, West Liberty, dec. Eli Kirk, UCO, 4-2. 
133 – Jason Henschel, UCO, dec. Dominic Ducato, St. Cloud State, 5-0.

CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS 
133 – Jacob Strausbaugh, Mary, pinned Henschel, UCO, 3:44. 
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, dec. Easton Worachek, Wisconsin-Parkside, 8-1. 
174 – Hunter Jump, UCO, dec. Maxwell Kiel, Lander, 1-0. 
 
CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS 
125 – Kirk, UCO, pinned Quade Smith, Chadron State, 4:58. 
 
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS 
125 – Kirk, UCO, major dec. Isaiah Gomez, Adams State, 10-2. 
133 – Henschel, UCO, dec. Zachary Parker, Glenville State, 12-7.