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 –

Fort Hays State baseball cruised to a 17-3 win over Bethany College on Wednesday afternoon at Larks Park in Hays. The win pushed Fort Hays State’s record to 3-1 heading into its first conference series of the season this weekend at Larks Park against Central Missouri.

The Tigers took the early 2-0 lead after one inning and never gave it back, scoring two in the second, three in the third, four in the fourth, and six in the fifth to build a comfortable lead of 17-3 after five innings. Neither team scored the rest of the way. Bethany got single runs in the second, third and fourth.

Horace Johnson was 5-for-6 at the plate for FHSU with a team-best five RBIs and three runs scored. He had a two-RBI double in the first, a RBI single in the third, and a two-run home run in the fourth to generate his five RBIs. He later had another double and single. On his double in the first, he was cut down trying for a triple, which could have given him the cycle for the game.

Nathan Miller generated all three of his RBIs on a three-run homer in the fifth. Shane Wade and Sam Thornton each had two RBIs. Clayton Garland, Kelton Rule, Ryan Busboom, Jay Sanders and Jordan Miller all had one RBI.

Nathan Zimmerman started and threw three innings, allowing two runs and six hits. He picked up the win by coaches pre-determination of innings pitched. Bethany scored one run off reliever Michael Edlefson, but it was not earned. Robert VanCour, Ty Thomas, Chase Newman and Logan Downing all pitched one inning and did not allow any runs.

Fort Hays State hosts Central Missouri in a three-game MIAA series this coming weekend in Hays (Feb. 16-17). Central Missouri is currently ranked No. 9 in the nation and is the defending conference champion. A doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday at 1 pm and a single game is scheduled for Sunday, also at 1 pm.

– FHSU Sports Information –

Fort Hays State swept the MIAA Baseball Athlete of the Week awards as Clayton Garland was named the hitter and Tyler Davis the pitcher.

MIAA Baseball Hitter of the Week
Clayton Garland, OF, Fort Hays State 
Garland hit .500 for the Tigers this past week. He reached base 12 times out of his 17 at bats. Garland reached base in all six of his plate appearances in the final game of the three-game series at Metro State and scored three times in that game in a 10-6 win for FHSU to take the series 2-1. He was 4-for-6 at the plate in that game and reached twice by error. The 6-1 junior outfielder is a native of Cheyenne, Wyo. where and previously played baseball at Barton Community College.

MIAA Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Tayler Davis, P, Fort Hays State
Davis went the distance for Fort Hays State in a 10-4 win on Friday (Feb. 8). Davis allowed all four of his runs in the first inning of a seven-inning contest, all which were unearned due to a dropped foul fly in the inning. He settled in to face the minimum amount of batters in three of his final six innings. He scattered five hits to the Roadrunners with three walks. He allowed just three hits over the final six innings. The 6-4 senior left hander is a native of Centennial, Colo. and pitched at Barton Community College.

Fort Hays State senior Maddie Holub was named the MIAA Softball Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday, February 12 for her efforts in the previous week against Nebraska-Kearney. Holub was an All-MIAA First Team selection at pitcher last year and turned in a dominating performance in her first game of 2013.

Holub started her senior campaign just as she did her junior year with a 16 strikeout shutout in the season opener against Nebraska-Kearney in a non-conference game. She set the single game strikeout record at FHSU last year when she struck out 16 UNK hitters in the season opener. Holub allowed just three Loper hits in her season opening appearance. She has now struck out 16 batters in a game four times in her career at FHSU, also accomplishing the feat against Pittsburg State twice last year.

– FHSU Sports Information –

The Fort Hays State wrestling squad finished fourth at the MIAA Tournament in Edmond, Okla. on Sunday. It was the first MIAA Tournament in wrestling since 1986, now that wrestling is a championship sport in the MIAA again starting this year. Nebraska-Kearney edged Central Oklahoma for the team championship, 109 points to 102. Central Missouri was third with 47 and FHSU scored 42.

Garrett Jones was the top placer for the Tigers, taking second in the 125-pound bracket. He got an opening round bye and then defeated Blayne Shockley of Lindenwood by pin in 3:35. He lost to Connor Bolling of Nebraska-Kearney in the championship match by a 4-1 decision.

Fort Hays State had four wrestlers place third, which included Rory Wilkinson at 133 pounds, C.J. Napier at 141 pounds, Sam Thoman at 165 pounds, and Zack Grimes at 184 pounds.

Wilkinson won his opening round match over Michael Caldwell of Lindenwood with a 7-2 decision, but then dropped to the consolation bracket losing by pin in 6:58 to Daniel DeShazer in the semifinals. He then pinned Dan Karlskin of Truman in 2:57 to reach the consolation final, where he edged Hunter Neighbors of Central Missouri by a 2-1 decision.

Napier lost 5-2 in the semifinals to Trison Graham of Central Oklahoma, but rebounded for a 3-2 overtime win over Jacob Janes of Lindenwood and then took third with a 3-1 decision over Brock Coutu of Nebraska-Kearney.

Thoman won his opening round match over Dustin McClintock of Truman by a 17-8 major decision, but lost to Chase Nelson of Nebraska-Kearney by a 12-4 major decision in the semifinals. He bounced back to win by injury default against Cullen Halpin of Lindenwood and defeated McClintock again for third by a 5-1 decision.

Grimes lost in the opening round to Mark Fiala of Nebraska-Kearney by an 8-5 decision, but defeated Tanner Keck of Central Oklahoma 5-3 to reach the consolation final. He defeated Nate Seiler of Truman by a 6-2 decision for third.

Fort Hays State wraps up its dual season on Thursday (Feb. 14) when it hosts Nebraska-Kearney at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays. The dual is set to begin at 7 pm.