Kearney, Neb. – The 9th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team scored 67.0 points to finish in a tie for third place at the 2010 NCAA Division II Championships in Omaha, Nebraska.

The two-day meet was held at Sapp Fieldhouse on the University of Nebraska-Omaha campus. Full brackets are available HERE; there was an issue with team scoring so only the top five are available as of Sunday.

UNK has now had nine straight top 10 finishes at the NCAA meet, including five in a row in the top four. Since 1995, the Lopers have recorded 12 top 10 finishes.

Host Nebraska-Omaha, with seven wrestlers in the top three, won their second straight national title with 131 points. Augustana of South Dakota was runner up (72.0) with UNK and Upper Iowa third and Wisconsin-Parkside fifth (55.5).

Individually, five of UNK's six qualifiers finished as All-Americans (top eight finish).

Senior Marty Usman (Arlington, Texas) reached the 174 lbs. national title match with a 6-5 decision over eighth ranked Chris Barrick of Shippensburg (Pa.). Usman broke a four all tie with a late takedown.

An interview with Usman after this win can be viewed HERE, courtesy of www.themat.com.

In the finals, he faced fourth ranked Luke Rynish of Parkside. Usman had beaten Rynish twice last year and once during the regular season.

Finishing this season at 44-1, Usman recorded an early takedown to grab the lead. With the third period clock winding down, Usman was called for stalling for the second time, tying the match at 3-3.

However, literally seconds after that, he took Rynish down. Usman ends up as a three-time All-American and is UNK's 12th all-time national champ.

Senior Derek Ross (St. Francis, Kans.) earned his second All-American honor by recording three consecutive wins to place third at 184 lbs.

Ross got pins over Aaron Norgren of Minnesota State-Moorhead in 53 seconds to advance to the consolation semifinals. There, he pinned fifth ranked Patrick Walsh of Pittsburg-Johnstown in 1:51 to face sixth ranked Tim Darling of Kuztown of Pennsylvania for third place.

Ross managed a 8-3 decision over Darling, pushing his career win total to 104. He also ends up with an impressive 47 career falls.

Next, senior Taylor May (Imperial) earned his second All-American honor by going 1-2 on Saturday to place sixth at 165 lbs.

May pinned eighth ranked Matt Gille of Wisconsin-Parkside in 6:56 to face RMAC foe Victor Carazo of Grand Canyon in the consolation quarterfinals.

Carazo previously beaten May twice by the score of 3-1 (OT). Today's match had the same result as Carazo managed another 3-1 OT victory.

In the fifth place match, May faced fourth ranked Tad Merritt of St. Cloud State. Last year at the NCAA's, Merritt beat May by a 7-5 score. This time, he pinned May in 6:24 to claim fifth place.

May ends his Loper career with 84 wins.

At 149 lbs., sophomore T.J. Hepburn (East Hampton, Conn.) earned his first All-American honor by getting three decision to place third.

Hepburn got a 7-6 in consolation quarterfinals over second ranked Mitch Smith of West Liberty (W.V.). Then in consolation semifinals Hepburn picked up a 3-2 decision over Derek Bomsted of Minnesota State-Moorhead.

In the third place match, he got a 5-3 decision over fifth ranked Nate Herda of Augustana. The Colby C.C. transfer ends the year with a solid 44-9 mark.

Finally, sophomore Justin McKain (Sutherland) also earned his first All-American honor by finishing sixh at 197 lbs.

He started session three with a 3-1 decision over Matt Meuleners of Northern State in sudden victory one. Then, McKain meet  third-ranked Jacob Marrs of UNO in the consolation semifinals. Marrs edged McKain, 3-2, earlier this year in Kearney.

This time, McKain jumped out to an early 4-2 lead in the first period. However, Marrs would score the next five points to lead 7-2; McKain would get a late takedown to make the final score 7-4.

McKain then lost to  Mitch Knapp of West Liberty (W.V.) in the fifth place match, 4-3.