Wrestling | 2/12/2017 5:23:20 PM
Kansas City, Mo. – It was close down the stretch, but Nebraska-Kearney held on to win their fifth straight MIAA Wrestling Tournament title, this time at home. The Lopers edged Central Oklahoma by just three points after the Bronchos notched the regular season championship.
Lindenwood finished in third place coming in just 2.5 points ahead of Fort Hays State who was fourth. Newman earned 31 points for fifth while Central Missouri finished the tournament in sixth place.
125 Pounds
Newman’s Dustin Reed got the matches only takedown as he pulled out a 3-2 victory over Carlos Jacquez of Lindenwood for his second straight MIAA title. Reed jumped out to the early lead with a two-point takedown late in the first minute of the first period. Jacquez would answer with about 1:03 to go in the first as he earned a point for an escape and cut the lead in half. Reed would open the scoring in the second period as he earned an escape of his own. Jacquez would then cut the lead back to one points with an escape two minutes into the third period. Zach D’Amico of Central Oklahoma defeated Nebraska-Kearney’s Vlad Kazakov 8-1 to take third place.
133 Pounds
Hunter Haralson of Lindenwood claimed his first MIAA title with the 4-2 decision over Nebraska-Kearney’s Bryce Shoemaker. Shoemaker got the first takedown less than a minute into the match as he jumped out to the early 2-0 lead. Haralson would answer about 30 seconds later turning things around with a two-point reversal. Shoemaker would than walk back Haralson’s ride time advantage keeping him on the mat for the first minute, but a second reversal gave the Lion his first lead of the match at 4-2 going to the third. Blake Dauphin of Central Oklahoma pinned Central Missouri’s John Feeney at the 2:25 mark for third place.
141 Pounds
Central Oklahoma’s Joshua Ailey used two takedowns and a near fall to hold on for a 6-5 victory over Fort Hays State’s Brandon Ball to win the MIAA Championship. Less than a minute into the match Ailey notched the first takedown giving himself the early lead in the match. After 29 seconds of ride time Ball would extricate himself to pick up the escape point. After a scoreless second period Ball took the down position and used his second escape to tie the match up. Ailey would break that tie quickly as he earned his second takedown of the match and fallowed that with a two point near fall. Ball would grab the final point of the match with an escape and got within one points with a late takedown late in the third. Jacob Wasser of Nebraska-Kearney defeated his teammate Jeff Bizzle 3-0 in the third place match.
149 Pounds
Keith Surber of Nebraska-Kearney needed just sequence in the second period to pull out a 8-0 major decision over Newman’s Tyler Mies. Surber wouldn’t get the scoring started until the second period when he opened with an escape, following by a takedown and finally a four-point near fall. Surber grabbed a final point thanks for ride time advantage to earn the title. Will Steltzlen of Central Oklahoma pinned Fort Hays State’s William Homalon at the 2:52 mark to take third place.
157 Pounds
Greg Tooley of Fort Hays State needed some late match points, but pulled out a 3-1 decision over Nebraska-Kearney’s Destin McCauley. McCauley got the scoring going one-second into the second period with an escape to take the 1-0 lead. Tooley would than tie things up with an escape of his own eight seconds into the third period. Then with just two seconds on the clock Tooley got a takedown to escape with the win. Bryan Dutton of Central Oklahoma defeated Seth Harrington of UNK 4-3 to finish in third place.
165 Pounds
Calvin Ochs of Nebraska-Kearney earned a 10-0 major decision over Central Missouri’s Jesse Reser to earn the MIAA Championship. Ochs got two early points for a takedown and two more points with a near fall to take a 4-0 lead into the second period. He then opened the second with an escape to take a five point advantage just 15 seconds in. His second takedown of the match quickly made it a 7-0 advantage. He would then start the third period with a takedown and with ride time add to his major decision. Dakota Head of Central Oklahoma would defeat Nebraska-Kearney’s Nickalas Babcock 12-5 for third place.
174 Pounds
Miguel Barreras earned a 14-4 major decision over Nebraska-Kearney’s Isaac Deaton to claim the 174-pound title. Barreras got the scoring started with a takedown just under a minute into the match. Just 16 seconds of ride time later Deaton would cut that lead in half with an escape. Barreras was not done though earning another takedown before allowing an escape to make it a 4-2 lead. Barreras would open the second period with an escape of his own followed by the two-point takedown. A four-point near fall would put the match out of reach making it a 13-3 lead after another escape followed by a takedown. Deaton would open the third period with an escape, but get the lead back under double digits. Micquille Robinson of Fort Hays State earned a 7-5 win over Newman’s Kyle Ryan for third place.
184 Pounds
Lindenwood got their second title of the day as David Hamil defeated Zach Stodden of Nebraska-Kearney 9-4 to claim the crown. Hamil opened the scoring with a takedown, but 11 seconds later Stodden earned the point for his escape. Hamil grabbed a second takedown later in the period to push his advantage back to three points. Stodden cut the lead back to just two points as he earned an escape early in the second period. Hamil would escape to open the third period, then would have to escape again as Stodden tightened the match with a takedown. Hamil grabbed a final takedown to push the match to the final tally late in the third. Rakim Dean of Fort Hays State defeated UCO’s Gage Stallworth 6-5 to earn third place.
197 Pounds
Central Oklahoma’s Greg Wilson took the lead early in the third period and held on to win the MIAA Championship 5-4 over Fort Hays State’s Jon Inman. Late in the first period Inman would earn a takedown that would be answered by a Wilson escape just eight seconds later. Inman opened the second with a reversal and Wilson would again earn the escape. Wilson was awarded a takedown late in the second period to tie up the match. An escape by Wilson just two seconds into the third period would give him his first lead of the match. Lindenwood’s Dillon Archer pinned Newman’s Dalton Weidl 1:47 into his match to earn third place.
285 (Heavyweight)
Caleb Cotter escaped a tight match with a 3-2 victory to earn the MIAA title over Nebraska-Kearney’s Kevin Barrett. Cotter would finally grab the first point of the match about halfway through the second period earning an escape. A Barrett takedown followed by another Cotter escape would make the match all square heading into the third period. Cotter would claim an deciding point on ride time after holding on through the final period. Christian Lance of Fort Hays State earned a 5-2 victory over Lindenwood’s Jacob Borgmeyer to finish in third.
The teams will now travel to regional tournaments, which will take place on Feb. 24-25 in Golden, Colo. and Moorehead, Minn.