The seventh-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team defeated 20th-ranked Fort Hays State in Hays on Thursday night (Feb. 14) by a score of 28-6. It was the final dual of the season for FHSU, which finished at 11-8 overall and 2-3 in the MIAA. The Tigers tied for third in the conference dual standings with Central Missouri, finishing behind Central Oklahoma and Nebraska-Kearney.

Garrett Jones put the Tigers in front 3-0 to open the dual with an 8-3 decision over Connor Bolling at 125 pounds, but Daniel DeShazer evened the score for UNK when he edged Rory Wilkinson at 133 pounds with a 4-3 decision.

Fifth-ranked C.J. Napier picked up an 8-5 decision over Brock Coutu at 141 pounds to put FHSU in front by three again, but UNK evened the dual again when No. 1 ranked Raufeon Stots narrowly defeated Noah Killip 3-2. From that point, UNK went on a six-match run to close out the dual.

At 157 pounds, UNK took the lead when No. 3 ranked Chase White defeated Derek Koehn 2-1 with riding time advantage, then No. 4 Chase Nelson defeated Sam Thoman 5-2 at 165 pounds. Fifth-ranked Patrick Martinez gave UNK three more points with a 10-6 win over Travis Budke at 174 pounds.

Mark Fiala scored the first bonus points of the night for UNK with a 14-5 major decision over Zack Grimes at 184 pounds. Tanner Kriss, ranked No. 5 for the Tigers at 197 pounds, lost for the second time within a week to Romero Cotton of UNK, this time by a 9-5 decision. Nick Bauman closed the dual for UNK with a fall in 4:53 over John Close at heavyweight.

– FHSU Sports Information –