December 5, 2004

Wrestling Places Seven at Hays

Three Lopers  Finish First

            Kearney, Neb. – Lyman junior Jeff Sylvester, Mitchell sophomore Matt True  and Texas sophomore Tervel Dlagnev led the 3^rd-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team at the Fort Hays State/Bob Smith Open Saturday in Kansas. 

            The Lopers had seven finish in the top four with Sylvester (197 lbs.), True (141 lbs.) and Dlagnev (HWT) each winning their respective classes.

            In addition, current graduate assistant coach and former Loper All-American Riley Ross competed unattached and placed fourth at 174 lbs.

            At 125 lbs., senior Bryce Abbey (Goodland, Kans.) was runner up with sophomore Trevor Charbonneau (Green, Kans.) finishing third. Next, true freshman Keenan McCurdy (Lincoln) placed fourth at 165 lbs. while Fremont senior Aaron Dalton was third at 174 lbs.

            Ranked No. 1 in the nation, Sylvester breezed to a first place finish. His first three wins came by pin and then he blanked 2^nd-seeded Reece Hopkin of Northern Colorado, 7-0, in the finals.

            True was the other Loper to be a top seed in the tournament. He went 5-0 on the day and had two “sudden victory” wins.

            The first one came in the third round vs. 8^th-seeded Jarrod Spoon of Neosho C.C., 6-4, and then in the finals, he edged 3^rd-seeded Kyle Evans of Central Oklahoma, 3-1.

            Continuing his impressive early season showing, Dlagnev (Arlington, Texas) went 5-0 in the tournament.

            Seeded third, he reached the finals with an 11-9 victory over Adam Nuru of Missouri Valley College. Dlagnev then won the title when top seeded Andrew Ubben of Fort Hays State couldn’t take the mat due to injury.

            Abbey, seeded second, rolled into the 125 lbs. finals thanks to four easy wins, including two by fall. However, he fell there to Oklahoma State’s Coleman Scott, 3-0.

            Scott pinned Abbey two weeks ago at the Kaufman/Brand Open in Omaha.

            Eigth-seeded Charbonneau, who also lost to Scott on the day,  went 6-1 in the tournament. He pinned 4^th-seeded Kory Lira of Fort Hays in the third place match.

            McCurdy, seeded fifth, went 4-2 in the tournament. He reached the semifinals before falling to top seeded Eric Luedke of Colby CC, 3-0.

            In the third place bout, he lost to 3^d-seeded Cort Petersen of Central Oklahoma, 2-0.

            Finally, UNK had four entries at 174 lbs., plus Ross. Third-seeded Dalton went 5-1, losing only in the semifinals to Steven Kimpel of Colorado Mines.

            Dalton bounced back to win two matches in the consoles including a 4-3 decision over Ross in the third place match.

            Ross, seeded fifth, went 6-2 in the tournament while junior Zac Rice (Pocatello, Idaho) won four matches at this class as well.