December 7, 2003

 Wrestling Places Seven in Kansas

Lopers Have Three Champions

            Kearney, NE – The 10^th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team had a triumph return to the mat this weekend as the Lopers placed seven different individuals at Fort Hays State’s Bob Smith Open, held Saturday in Kansas.

            Winning their respective weight classes were Kansas junior Bryce Abbey (125 lbs.), Lyman sophomore Jeff Sylvester (197 lbs.) and Mitchell redshirt freshman Matt True (141 lbs.).

            Placing third were Pennsylvania senior Jeremy Kirk (149 lbs.), Kansas redshirt freshman Jon Hausserman (165 lbs.) and Oklahoma true freshman Caleb Young (174 lbs.). North Platte junior Jered Jorgensen, finishing fourth at 197 lbs., rounded out the Lopers top performances of the meet.

            Sylvester proved why he was the No. 1 seed in his class as he pinned all four opponents he faced, each in under two minutes. In the finals, Sylvester pinned second seeded Mark Dubrovich of Colorado School of Mines at 1:59.

            Also the top seed in his class, Abbey pinned his first opponent and then won his next two matches by a combined 11-0. In the finals, he nipped second seeded Joe Comparin of Oklahoma, 2-1.

            True was the surprise of the tournament as he was the only unseeded individual to place first in his class.  In going 5-0, True beat three of the top five seeds, including the second seed Nate Pilcher of Colorado Mines in the first round. True reached the finals with a 5-3 decision over third seeded Ryan Freeman of Oklahoma State and then dominated fifth seeded Chase Skelley of Missouri Baptist, 15-9, in the finals.

            Kirk and Hausserman were each seeded sixth in their class. Kirk went 7-1 on the day and defeated top seeded David Nordhues of Fort Hays State, 3-1, in third place bout. Hausermann upset third seeded Jordan Johnson of Chadron State, 12-8, to reach the semis where he lost to second seeded O’sung Kim of Oklahoma, 6-0. He bounced back to win two matches, including a pin of fifth seed Phil Hart of FHSU in the third place match.

            Young, the third seed at 174 lbs., won his first two matches before losing to second seed Shawn Hart of Northern Colorado in the semifinals. Young won his next two matches over seeded wrestlers to finish third.

            At 197 lbs., Jorgensen beat teammate Donnie Moravec, 5-2, to reach the semifinals. In the round before, Moravec upset fifth seeded Gilbert Jones of Missouri Valley, 1-0. Jorgensen lost a 1-0 decision to top seeded Andrew Ubben of FHSU in the semis and then was beaten by Chris Johnson of Missouri Valley, 5-3, in the third place match. Jorgensen and McCook true freshman Nate Reicks, in his first action of the year, each went 3-2 on the day.

            Also of note was Lincoln junior Jake Froscheiser posting a 5-2 mark at 149 lbs.

            UNK hosts its annual tournament next Saturday in the Health & Sports Center.