|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top-ranked Nebraska-Omaha bests #2 Minnesota State Matmen
Feb. 12, 2005
Mankato, MN --- The top-ranked Mavericks of Nebraska-Omaha upended the second-ranked Mavericks of Minnesota State in front of the largest crowd ever to see a wrestling dual at Bresnan Arena. A total of 819 fans saw UNO win seven of 10 matches to leave town with the 25-10 North Central Conference win. With the setback, Minnesota State holds a record of 15-3 heading its final dual of the season. The match featured 15 wrestlers ranked nationally in their respective weight classes and five head-to-head matchups between ranked opponents.
Nebraska-Omaha took a commanding lead by winning the first three matches of the evening. Freshman Nick Smith (Yankton, S.D.), the fourth-ranked 125-pounder in the nation, dropped a heartbreaker to #5 Dustin Tovar in overtime 6-5 to open the evening. Fourth-ranked Mitch Waite extended the UNO lead to six with a 6-4 triumph over sophomore Efrain Ayala (Grand Island, Neb.) at 133 pounds. The #4 Eli Dominguez capped off a three-match run for UNO with an 8-5 win over #8 Brandon Girtz (Forest Lake, Minn.) at 141 pounds.
Minnesota State got on the board at 149 when sophomore Jason Rhoten (Kasson, Minn.) used a late takedown and three-point nearfall to win a marquee matchup over Shane Unger. Rhoten, the third-ranked 149-pounder in all of NCAA Division II, pasted the second-ranked Unger with an 11-3 major decision to improve to 23-5 on the season.
At 157, MSU yielded a mild upset when #8 Patrick Allibone topped #5 Mathias Bitz (Bismarck, N.D.) by a score of 5-1. Nebraska-Omaha pushed its lead to 16-4 with a major decision win at 165 by top-ranked J.D. Naig. Fourth-ranked sophomore Travis Krinkie (Blue Earth, Minn.) looked to get MSU back into the match but was forced to default due to injury. Minnesota State got decisions from #3 John Koons (Crosby, Minn.) and #6 Josh Janousek (Greenbush, Minn.) to close the gap to 22-10 but defending national champion Les Sigman defeated #7 Mike Engelmann (Spencer, Iowa) to complete the dual.
The Mavericks finish the dual portion of the season by heading to Kirksville, Mo., on Feb. 18 to face #17 Truman State at 7:00 p.m.