February 26, 2005

Wrestling Wins 5^th RMAC/West Region Title

Lopers Dominate Meet

            Kearney, Neb. –   The Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team racked up 135.5 points en route to its fifth RMAC/West Region title in the past six years Saturday in Chadron.

            The Lopers had a school-record five individual champions, to go along with one runner up, one third place finisher, two fourth place finishers and, finally, one fifth place finisher.

            The point total is the second most by UNK at an RMAC meet, trailing only a 138 point effort in 2003. Of the five championship teams, this squad has the largest margin over the runner up (23 points).

            UNK will also send a school-record nine individuals to the NCAA Championships March 11-12 in Omaha. To make the NCAA meet, an individual had to place in the top four in his region.

            Adams State, which finished runner up with 112.5 points, pushed the Lopers until the championship round.

            Both the Lopers and Grizzlies placed six individuals in the finals and four more in the consoles. The two schools had many head-to-head matches with the Lopers coming out on top in most of them.

            Four of the Lopers' five champions were the top seed in their classes. The group consists of seniors Bryce Abbey (125 lbs.) and Aaron Dalton (165 lbs.), junior Jeff Sylvester (197 lbs.) and redshirt freshman Tervel Dlagnev (HWT).

            Kearney senior Adam Keiswetter was UNK's fifth champion and he was the second seed at 133 lbs.

            In the finals, Abbey (Goodland, Kans.) beat second-seeded Rob McCabe of Adams, 3-1, while Keiswetter upset top-seeded Raymond Dunning of Adams, 6-3, to avenge an early loss to him this year. 

            Dalton (Fremont) continued the Lopers success over the Grizzlies as he edged second seeded Evan Copeland, 5-4, to win his fist league title.

            Sylvester (Lyman) defended his league crown at 197 lbs. by majoring second seeded Dustin Trego of Fort Hays State, 13-2, while Dlagnev (Arlington, Texas) majored second seeded Derek Thompson of Colorado Mines, 14-6.

            Dlagnev, named the RMAC Freshman of the Year, received a first round bye so he'll enter the NCAA's one win shy of tying the Loper single season win record of 37.

            Idaho junior Zac Rice, seeded second at 174 lbs., lost to top seeded Matt Trout of Western State, 7-4, in the finals.

            Rice reached the finals thanks to a pin of Joel Cervantes (San Francisco State) and a 9-5 decision over third seeded James Reynolds of Adams.

            At 141 lbs., Mitchell sophomore Matt True, seeded third, fell to fourth seeded R.C. LaHaye of Western State, 8-4, in the third place match.

            True was nipped by second seeded Kortney Lake of Adams, 8-7, in the semifinals.

            Maybe the surprise of the tournament was Gretna true freshman Dan Hospodka (184 lbs.).

            On loan from the football team, Hospodka joined the wrestling team just a few weeks ago in order to replace an injured Caleb Young in the lineup.

            Entering the meet with one match of collegiate experience, Hospodka placed third and pinned, twice, fourth seeded Dillon Blackman of Colorado Mines.

            Hospodka, who was a wrestling state champ at Gretna last year, also got a forfeit win over Tim Pridmore of SFSU.

            The final Loper to place in the top four was Mitchelll sophomore Pat True.

            Seeded fourth at 149 lbs., True finished fourth as he fell to second seeded Anthony Aragon of Adams, 7-3, in the third place match.

            True pinned fifth seeded Ryan Hoffman of Chadron in round one

            Colorado redshirt freshman Lewis Hyatt, who hasn't wrestled in weeks due to injury,  placed fifth at 157 lbs.

            After losing his first two matches, Hyatt pinned sixth seeded Matt Weingart of Chadron in the fifth place bout. Complete meet information is available at: http://www2.csc.edu/athletics/wrestling/westregion05.htm .