March 13, 2004

Sylvester Wins National Title

Lopers Have Three All-Americans

            Kearney, Neb. – For only the fourth time in school history, the Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team has an NCAA Division II National Champion.

            Today in Mankato, Minn., Lyman sophomore Jeff Sylvester won two matches to win the national title at 197 lbs. The two-time state champion from Morrill High follows in the footsteps of Brian Hagan (1990/118 lbs.), Ali Amiri-Eliasi (1990 and 1991/150 lbs.) and Frank Kuchera (2003/174 lbs.) as Lopers to win NCAA national titles.

            Ranked second in his class nationally, Sylvester upset No. 1 ranked Kevin Lochner of Central Oklahoma, 6-2, in the semifinals. The two had split their previous two meetings this year.

            There was no drama in the finals as Sylvester beat 4^th-ranked Brian Kraemer of North Dakota State, by major decision, 12-4. Sylvester this finishes the year with a 34-6 record.

            Yesterday, he defeated Findlay’s Clint Sailsbury, 8-0, and 7^th-ranked Howard Bell of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, 3-2, to reach today’s championship round. Sailsbury had handed Sylvester one of his six losses earlier this year.

            As a team, UNK tallied 52.0 points to place 8^th, its fifth Top 10 finish since 1998.

            Kansas junior Bryce Abbey became just the fourth Loper to earn All-American honors three times in a career when he finished third at 125 lbs.

            Yesterday in the second round, sixth-ranked Dustin Tovar of UNO, 8-6, upset Abbey, who was ranked second in the nation. Tovar went on to finish as national runner up. 

            After an 11-10 victory over third-ranked Curry Pickard of North Carolina-Pembroke, Abbey was dominant in victory. He had two pins and a major decision en route to his third place finish. In the third place bout, he beat Jamie Thomas of Shippensburg, 12-0. Abbey began his tournament by pinning Thomas at 4:45. 

            He concludes the year with a 37-5 mark, tying him with Kuchera (2002-03) for most wins in a single season.

            Earning All-American honors for the second straight year was Kearney junior Adam Keiswetter (133 lbs.). Keiswetter, who came into the meet ranked fifth in his class, finished fifth.

            After an opening round loss to eighth-ranked Mitch Waite of UNO, Keiswetter ripped off three straight wins, two by major decision. His win streak ended when he lost to fourth-ranked Roylando Lucas of UNC-Pembroke, 5-3, in the bout to reach the third place match.

            Keiswetter rebounded from that setback to beat third-ranked Kortney Lake of Adams State, 12-7, for fifth.

            Finally, Fremont junior Aaron Dalton (165 lbs.), Mitchell redshirt freshman Matt True (141 lbs.) and Oklahoma true freshman Caleb Young (174 lbs.) each went 0-2 in the tournament.