HAYS, Kan. – The Fort Hays State wrestling team took to the mat against rival Central Oklahoma on Friday (Dec. 1). The Tigers fell to the Bronchos in the first MIAA dual of the season for FHSU 22-14.
Conrad Cole made a statement in the first bout of the evening as he upset the fourth-ranked wrestler in the nation in the 125-pound weight class, Joshua Lindsey, with a 16-1 technical fall victory to put the Tigers up 5-0 early. In the second match, Blake Dauphin cut into the FHSU lead with a 6-2 decision over Dy’Juan Carney in the 133-pound class to make the match score 5-3 in favor of the Tigers.
At 141 pounds, second-ranked Brandon Ball increased the Tigers lead to 8-3 in the dual as he defeated Rio Zamora with a 7-0 decision extending his undefeated start to the season in check as he moves to 10-0 in his sophomore season.
In the 149-pound bout, true freshman Brody Lewis dropped his match to Will Steltzlen by a 9-1 major decision as the Bronchos inched a little bit closer to the Tigers as the lead fell to one, 8-7.
Efe Osaghae battled with the #7 ranked wrestler in Division II, Bryan Dutton, until giving up an escape in the fourth overtime period. Dutton won with a sudden victory to give the Bronchos their first lead of the night in the match, 10-8.
In the 165-pound bout, Marty Verhaeghe didn’t hold up against Mason Thompson for long as Thompson pinned Verhaeghe in 1:44 to give the Bronchos a bit of breathing room in the match as they doubled their lead over the Tigers 16-8.
Dylan Wiesner took to the mat in the 174-pound weight class against the eighth-ranked Miguel Barreras to fall short after picking up a few stalling points on Barreras in the third period. Wiesner dropped the bout 8-5 and UCO started to pull away from the Tigers as they now lead 19-8.
The Tigers were not quite done as Micah Felton competed against Ried Rodich in the 184-pound class. Felton held on to the end of the bout to claim a 3-0 decision over Rodich and make the match score 19-11.
Rakim Dean picked up where Felton left off and added a few more points for the Tigers in the 197-pound bout as he squeaked a 6-5 decision by Colton Looper.
In the last bout of the evening, Dakota Gulley took the mat in the 285-pound match. Gulley wasn’t able to overcome an early takedown from fourth-ranked Caleb Cotter as Gulley dropped the bout 6-3 and Central Oklahoma won the match with a final score of 22-14.
The Tigers will take tomorrow off and come back on Sunday (Dec. 3) as they host the annual Bob Smith Open here in Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Open is set to commence at 9 a.m.