The Fort Hays State wrestlers hosted two of the RMAC elite on Wednesday night (Feb. 15) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The No. 15 Tigers fell to No. 7 Grand Canyon, 22-12, in the first dual and lost to No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney, 19-12, in the nightcap. FHSU is now 7-5 on the season and 3-5 in the RMAC.
Grand Canyon 22, FHSU 12
The Tigers took four of the 10 matches, all in decisions to score 12 points against No. 7 Grand Canyon, but the Lopes won six matches, including a pin and a major decision for the 22-12 score.
FHSU jumped out to a 6-0 lead, taking the first two matches. Kyle Johnson started the dual with a close 3-2 win over Lino Estrado at 133 pounds. C.J. Napier continued the Tiger winning streak, defeating Vince Hererra in an 8-3 decision and upping the Tiger advantage to 6-0.
The Lopes won the next two matches to tie the score at 6-6. In a battle of top wrestlers, No. 8 Bobby Ward defeated No. 2 Mitchell Means, 7-3, in a decision. Grand Canyon’s Teddy Bristol then won a tight 5-4 decision over Derek Koehn at 157 pounds.
FHSU’s Sam Thoman gave the Tigers a lead at 9-3 after Thoman won a 3-0 decision over David Wilbur in the 165-pound class.
The Lopes pulled away with 13-straight points in three matches. A major decision win by Victor Carazo over Josh Rodriguezstarted the run then Brett Sanchez upset No. 1 Walker Clarke, 4-1, to push Grand Canyon’s lead to 13-9. An early pin by Celic Bell of Grand Canyon upped their score to 19 points as Bell pinned Tanner Kriss at 0:28.
Senior Justin Glenn win an exciting 3-2 decision over No. 3 Jordan Johnson at heavyweight to give the Tigers their final three points and 12 points total in the dual.
A late comeback by Kyle Mccrite downed Collin Hase, 11-8, at 125 pounds in the final match of the dual, upping the Lopes score to 22-12.
Nebraska-Kearney 19, FHSU 12
After losing the first six matches to fall behind 19-0, the Tigers rallied to win the final four matches for the final 19-12 in favor of the visiting Lopers.
The Tigers dropped the first six matches in the dual to fall behind 19-0, but won the last four for the final 19-12 score.
FHSU then won the next four matches to score 12 points. No. 1 Walker Clarke redeemed himself after his earlier loss to defeat Ross Brunkhardt by a close 3-2 score. Tanner Kriss made it two straight Tiger wins, defeating Matt Lenagh, 6-1, and upping the Tiger score to six points. Justin Glenn notched his second win of the night, defeating Kevin Barrett by a close 3-2 score to pull the Tigers to 10 at 19-9. Glenn was undefeated in duals for the Tigers this season. At 125 pounds, Collin Hase won 6-4 over Jordan White for the final 19-12 score.
With the losses, FHSU is 7-5 on the season and 3-5 in the RMAC.
The Tigers now prepare for the NCAA Division II West Regionals/RMAC Champions on Feb. 25-26, hosted by Fort Hays State at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The event starts at 9 p.m. on Saturday.
– FHSU Sports Information –