February 15, 2008

Adams State Edges Wrestling, 23-21

Three Loper Falls Not Enough

     Kearney, Neb. – The 3^rd-ranked Adams State Grizzlies used two major decisions and two overtime decisions to beat the 4^th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team, 23-21, Thursday night in Alamosa, Colo.

      Adams (11-1, 9-0 RMAC) remains unbeaten in league duals while the Lopers (11-6) fall to 5-2 in RMAC action.

      The night started with heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev (Arlington, Texas) pinning Jeff Schossow at 4:27, his second fall in as many days and his 10^th of the year.

      Adams countered with 5^th-ranked Arsenia Barksdale recording a major decision at 125 lbs. and 5^th-ranked Raymond Dunning pinning Brett Allgood at 133 lbs. (3:28).

      Dunning improves to 22-6 while this was Allgood's first match of the 2007-08 season.

      UNK won two of the next three weight classes to grab a 15-13 lead. Senior Jeff Rutledge, ranked third nationally, used six near fall points to beat Josh Hensley, 8-5, while senior Joe Ellenberger pinned Noomis Jones with one second left in his match.

      Ellenberger, ranked second nationally at 157 lbs., was leading Jones, ranked fifth, 9-1 at the time of the dramatic fall.

      The Lopers could've led by more but Joey Deaguero rallied from a 5-1 deficit to beat Ryan Etherton at 149 lbs., 8-6 in sudden victory. Ranked sixth nationally, Etherton (Lincoln East) managed to force overtime thanks to riding time but Deaguero used a take down 40 seconds into the extra session to win.

      Adams used another overtime win at 165 lbs. to retake the lead, 16-15. Eighth-ranked Keenan McCurdy led 3-1 over Mike Gallegos but the match went into sudden victory tied at four. Gallegos appeared to win 4-3 in regulation but was called for stalling, for the second time, at the end of regulation.

     But, Gallegos made up for that by scoring a reversal and three near fall points to win by five in the first tiebreaker.

      The Grizzlies luck continued as 2^nd-ranked Evan Copeland edged 3^rd-ranked Marty Usman, 4-3, at 174 lbs. The scoring consisted of two takedowns for Copeland and three escapes by Usman (Arlington, Texas).

      Adams then wrapped up the dual win when top-ranked, and defending national champion, Jared Deaguero won by major decision at 197 lbs., 12-1.  The night concluded when Wahoo junior Derek Ross (184 lbs.) pinned Collin Backlund at 1:39.

      UNK has three more duals this season, the first coming next Tuesday night at Fort Hays State.