FHSU Press Release:
Tigers Fall to Kearney, Take Second in RMAC
Feb. 17, 2010
The No. 14 Fort Hays wrestling squad was host to a triangular on Wednesday evening (Feb. 17) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. They defeated No. 20 Grand Canyon in the first dual, but were unable to defeat No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney in the night cap. The loss to Kearney also allowed the Lopers to claim the RMAC regular season dual crown and dropped the Tigers to second place.
No. 14 Fort Hays State vs. No. 20 Grand Canyon
The Tigers started the dual with the Antelopes with a 7-4 decision for No. 3 Tommy Edgmon before Travis Kuhn lost a tough 3-2 decision to No. 6 Todd Wilcox at 133 pounds. Two major decisions in favor of the Tigers followed as Aldon Isenberg topped Kyle Wilson by a 20-7 score and Levi Younkin downed Dan Rubio 11-1. A 6-3 victory for No. 5 Danny Grater at 157 pounds allowed the Tigers to take a 14-3 team lead.
A match-up of ranked wrestlers took place at 165 and the match did not disappoint. No. 6 Victor Carazo of the Antelopes edged out No. 7 Blake Malloy with an overtime takedown as time expired for the 6-4 decision. Grand Canyon recorded two more decision victories, with Daniel Garay and Ryan Becerra defeating Shawn Kuhlman and JT Hudson to cut the Tiger lead to 14-12.
Steven Kyler came up huge for the Tigers in the 197 pound match, pinning Kevin Treftz in the second period to put the dual out of reach. Justin Glenn then won by forfeit in the heavyweight match, bringing the final dual score to 26-12.
No. 14 Fort Hays State vs. No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney
The Tigers started off the dual with the Lopers strong, gaining two decision victories in the first two matches. No. 3 Tommy Edgmon was once again victorious, defeating Danny Luttrell by a 3-1 score followed by Travis Kuhn and his 6-2 decision over Jordan White.
The Lopers came right back in the next two matches, gaining decisions of their own. Tyler Baker downed Aldon Isenberg 6-4 at 141 pounds and No. 4 TJ Hepburn was pushed by Levi Younkin of the Tigers, but Hepburn prevailed by a score of 8-3.
The 157-pound match would prove to be the final victory of the night for the Tigers, as Danny Grater defeated Aaron Hill by a 6-1 decision to give the Tigers a 9-6 dual lead going into the intermission. From there it was all Nebraska-Kearney. Taylor May upset No. 7 Blake Malloy at 165 pounds, No. 1 Marty Usman got a technical fall over JT Hudson at 174 pounds, and Derek Ross pinned Shawn Kuhlman in the first period to give the Lopers a commanding lead. Two more falls by Justin McKain over Steven Kyler and Ben Hohensee over Justin Glenn gave the Lopers the victory by a score of 26-9.
The Tigers finish the regular season with a 12-5 overall record and 8-1 in the RMAC. The next action for the team will come February 27 at the NCAA Division II West Regional/RMAC Championships in Alamosa, Colorado.
