Wrestling DIVISION II
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Wrestling DIVISION II Highlights Nebraska-Omaha dominates wrestling finals: Talk about lack of suspense. The NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships was decided around 11 a.m. March 13 at Nebraska-Omaha’s Sapp Fieldhouse. It was that one-sided as the host school won its second straight national title nine hours before the Saturday-evening championship round began. Nebraska-Omaha so dominated the first two rounds March 12 that it needed just a couple of wins in the first Saturday session to lock up a seventh championship - six com- ing as an NCAA Division II competitor and five in the last seven years. Nebraska-Omaha won an NAIA national championship in 1969. Nebraska-Omaha finished with 131 points, compared with 72 by runner-up Augustana (SD) College. You’d think the Mavericks and their coach, Mike Denney, would be euphoric after such a feat. Not necessarily. The Mavericks advanced five into the championship round but lost the first four, including the 133-pound bout, where senior Cody Garcia was shooting for his third indi- vidual title and an unbeaten season. Only 285-pounder Elijah Madison kept the evening from being a total washout for Nebraska-Omaha. The No. 2-ranked redshirt freshman used enough riding time to defeat top-rated Brady Wilson of Minnesota State Moorhead, 1-0. Madison’s win kept the Mavericks from being the first team in meet history to win a national crown without an individual titlist. Denney expressed a positive outlook on the evening. “The thing is, as a coach you take a look at the total performances,” he said. “We got all we could out of the guys. We had tremendous effort.” Computer glitches Friday night and early Saturday caused confusion over team scoring. But the question wasn’t which team was ahead; it was by how much. Even those keeping unofficial scoring knew an hour after Saturday’s morning session began that Nebraska-Omaha had the title wrapped. Denney said even though his wrestlers were aware, there wasn’t a letdown in the final round. “We never look at team scores,” he said. “We just perform and hope to get the best out of them. We look at the whole thing.” The Mavericks’ surprising showing in the final round dampened some enthusiasm from those b acking the home team among the 2,174 fans Saturday night. That didn’t mean there was a total lack of excitement during the final 2½ hours. Case in point: second-ranked Garcia’s match against No. 1 Shane Valko of Pitt.-Johnstown. Garcia took a 2-0 lead on a takedown with three seconds left in the opening period. Valko slipped away for a one-point escape with 1:20 left in the second to cut the lead in half, then scored a takedown and near fall to basically put the match away. Garcia pulled off an escape with 17 seconds left in the second, but that ended scoring and wiped out Garcia’s hopes for an unbeaten season. “I exposed myself a little bit, and he took advantage of it,” Garcia said. “That’s wrestling.” Garcia appeared to have injured an ankle in his 6-3 semifinal win over Gannon’s Corey Bowers in the semifinals, but he wouldn’t use that as an excuse for the loss. “I just never got going,” he said after finishing 47-1. “I wasn’t confident in my conditioning, and I kind of held back a little bit.” In other matches drawing roars from the crowd: - Augustana (SD) College 141-pounder Jay Sherer took a 3-1 overtime win over Nebraska-Omaha’s Mario Morgan. - Craig Becker of Wisconsin-Parkside nipped Nebraska-Omaha’s Esai Dominguez, 4-3, at 149 pounds. - Ashland 157-pounder Jonathan Jackson defeated Nebraska-Omaha’s George Ivanov 3-1. - In the 174 final, Kamarudeen Usman of Nebraska-Kearney got by Wisconsin-Parkside’s Luke Rynish, 5-4. - An overtime thriller came at 184, where Bryant Blanton of Newberry held off Shane Mallory of East Stroudsburg, 2-1. A bit of a surprise final came at 197 pounds. Donovan McMahill of Western State defeated Augustana’s Tyler Copsey in the final. McMahill upset Keeno Griffin of Newberry, and Copsey upended Nebraska-Omaha’s Jacob Marrs in the semifinals. And, Nebraska-Omaha’s Madison kept the Sapp Fieldhouse stragglers entertained with his 1-0 win over Wilson in the tournament’s final match. He and his coach embraced after the match. “There was a lot of pressure on me to win it,” Madison said. “We had five guys in the final. We wanted five champs.” 2010 TEAM STANDINGS 21. Limestone .......................................................... 16½ 2010 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 22. Central Mo. ............................................................16 1. Neb.-Omaha ........................................................131 125-POUND CLASS 2. Augustana (SD) .....................................................72 23. UNC Pembroke ................................................ 15½ 3. Neb.-Kearney .........................................................67 24. East Stroudsburg ................................................13 First round: Kenny Trumbetta, Seton Hill, def. Brandon Upper Iowa .............................................................67 25. San Fran. St. ...........................................................12 Davis, Ashland, 1-0; Thomas Edgmon, Fort Hays St., def. 5. Wis.-Parkside ...................................................... 55½ 26. Minn. St. Moorhead ...........................................11 Andy Forstner, Minn. St. Mankato, 3-2; Ryan Link, Pitt.- 6. Minn. St. Mankato ........................................... 52½ 27. Seton Hill ............................................................ 10½ Johnstown, def. Cody Zimmerman, Wis.-Parkside, 5-3 (sud- 7. St. Cloud St. ....................................................... 50½ 28. Shippensburg ......................................................10 den victory); Seth Wright, N.M. Highlands, def. Alex Meger, 8. Gannon ....................................................................46 29. Northern St. .........................................................4½ Newberry ...............................................................46 Augustana (SD), 10-8; Tyler Mumbulo, Upper Iowa, def. Kyle 10. Western St. ............................................................41 30. Southwest Minn. St. .........................................2½ O’Brien, Western St., 6-1; Terrell McKinney, Neb.-Omaha, def. 11. Pitt-Johnstown ....................................................37 31. Findlay ........................................................................2 Russell Weakley, UNC Pembroke, 5-2; Arsenia Barksdale, 12. Fort Hays St. ...................................................... 35½ 32. Belmont Abbey ..................................................1½ Adams St., pinned Corey Ulmer, Minn. St. Moorhead, 5:52; 13. Adams St. ........................................................... 32½ 33. Chadron St. ................................................................1 Alex Johns, Indianapolis, def. Matt Oliver, Newberry, 4-3. 14. Mercyhurst ............................................................30 Colorado St.-Pueblo ..............................................1 15. Central Okla. ..................................................... 27½ Indianapolis .............................................................1 Quarterfinals: Edgmon def. Trumbetta, 3-1; Wright def. Link, 9-3; Mumbulo def. McKinney, 5-4; Barksdale def. Johns, 16. Kutztown ................................................................22 36. Ashland ..................................................................... ½ 11-4. Semifinals: Wright def. Edgmon, 4-2; Mumbulo def. 17. Anderson (SC) .......................................................20 Mary ........................................................................... ½ N.M. Highlands ....................................................20 Newman ................................................................... ½ Barksdale, 9-4. Final: Wright def. Mumbulo, 17-4. 19. Grand Canyon ......................................................18 20. West Liberty ...........................................................17 2 DIVISION II WRESTLING—INDIVIDUAL RESULTS WRESTLEBACKS WRESTLEBACKS Norton def. Petrella, 7-2. Fifth place: Barrick def. O’Grady, First round: Forstner def. Davis, 14-6; Meger def. First round: Smith def. Nolan, 17-4; Hepburn pinned 6-3. Seventh place: Bailes def. Rowell, 10-8. Zimmerman, 3-1 (sudden victory); Weakley def. O’Brien, McIntyre, 4:34; Espinoza def. Juby, 14-9; McElhaney pinned 184-POUND CLASS 7-3; Ulmer def. Oliver, 5-4. Second round: Forstner def. DeSantis, 2:37. Second round: Smith def. Stolarzyk, 10-7; First round: Tim Darling, Kutztown, def. Craig Draper- Johns, 7-2; McKinney def. Meger, 15-6; Weakley pinned Link, Hepburn def. Collick, 5-2; Elg def. Espinoza, 8-4; McElhaney Johnson, Southwest Minn. St., 6-3; Austin Boehm, Neb.- 6:40; Trumbetta def. Ulmer, 2-0. Third round: Forstner def. def. Arnold, 3-2. Third round: Hepburn def. Smith, 7-6; Omaha, pinned Zachariah Jimenez, San Fran. St., 0:30; McKinney, 6-4 (sudden victory); Trumbetta def. Weakley Elg pinned McElhaney, 4:22. Semifinals: Hepburn def. Shane Mallory, East Stroudsburg, def. Derek Skala, St. Cloud (medical forfeit). Semifinals: Forstner def. Edgmon, 8-5; Bomsted, 3-2; Herda def. Elg, 12-4. Third place: Hepburn St., 7-6; Derek Ross, Neb.-Kearney, def. Jeffery Havelka, Barksdale def. Trumbetta, 4-3. Third place: Barksdale def. def. Herda, 5-3. Fifth place: Elg pinned Bomsted, 1:12. Findlay, 8-2; Charlie Pipher, Western St., pinned Tanner Keck, Forstner, 6-5. Fifth place: Edgmon def. Trumbetta, 2-1. Seventh place: Smith