The 12th-ranked Fort Hays State wrestling team suffered its first dual loss of the season on Thursday evening at CSU-Pueblo by a score of 18-15. The Thunderwolves won six of the 10 matches within the dual. Fort Hays State is now 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the RMAC. CSU-Pueblo moved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC.
The Tigers got an early jump on the Thunderwolves as Collin Hase dialed up a pin in 2:00 over Dustin Appelt at 125 pounds, giving FHSU a 6-0 advantage.
The Thunderwolves cut that lead in half when their ranked wrestler, Jesse Hillhouse, defeated Kyle Johnson by a 6-1 decision. Hillhouse is ranked No. 4 at 133 pounds.
C.J. Napier came out victorious in his first match of the year for FHSU, defeating Marc Fisher by a tight 5-4 margin, pushing the FHSU lead back to six at 9-3.
The Thunderwolves once again climbed within three as Nick Stahler defeated Joey Dozier at 149 pounds 9-4.
Derek Koehn continued the see-saw trend in the dual, pushing the FHSU lead back to six points with a 3-1 sudden victory overtime win over Levi Jutila at 157 pounds. From that point, CSU-Pueblo went on a run that the Tigers could not overcome.
The Thunderwolves went on to claim the 165, 174, 184, and 197 pound matches to build an 18-12 lead. Matt Addington picked up a close victory over Sam Thoman at 165 pounds by a 7-6 decision, then Trevor Grant tied the dual with an 8-3 win over Benny Armstrong at 174. Adam Carey gave the Thunderwolves the lead with a 10-5 decision over Aaron Berscheidt at 184 pounds and then Cody Johnson knocked off Tanner Kriss 2-0 at 197 pounds. That gave the Thunderwolves a six-point cushion heading into the final weight, securing no worse than a tie.
The Tigers needed Justin Glenn to pick up a fall to get a draw in the dual, but it was not to be. He did win the match by a 3-1 decision over Bill Gray, but the Thunderwolves locked up the dual win by three points.
Fort Hays State continues its busy week of action on Sunday when it hosts Chadron State in another RMAC dual at 6 pm in Hays.
