Kansas City, Mo. — Fort Hays State’s C.J. Napier has been named the MIAA Wrestler of the Week for the second time this season as he takes the award for week nine.

MIAA Wrestler of the Week
C.J. Napier, Fort Hays State 
Napier, the No. 6 ranked wrestler at 141 pounds, finished 5-0 for the week in dual action. He knocked off two ranked wrestlers to help the Tigers to a record of 3-2 in the duals he participated in.

Napier started the 5-0 run for the week with a pin of Eric Mateo of Central Missouri with five second remaining in the match helping FHSU to a 31-9 victory. He then knocked off fifth ranked Josh Myers of Ouachita Baptist 4-3 in a 33-11 win for the Tigers over #10 OBU.

At the NWCA National Duals on Saturday, Napier started his day by defeating B.J. Young of Newberry, the #2 team in the nation. He then scored a 12-3 major decision over Zach Frederich of Augustana to help the Tigers to a 22-10 win over the #13 team in the nation. He ended his week with a 7-3 win over Joseph White of #8 Findlay.

Napier is now 18-3 overall on the season for the Tigers. The junior 141 pounder is native of Columbus, Kan. and wrestled at both Columbus High School and the University of Nebraska.

– MIAA Media Relations –

Fort Hays State faced three nationally ranked opponents at the NWCA National Duals in Springfield, Ill. on Saturday (Jan. 12) and won one match-up, now at 7-5 overall on the season. The Tigers fell to second-ranked Newberry in the opening round 28-9, but bounced back in the first consolation round to defeat 13th-ranked Augustana 22-10. The Tigers were knocked out of the tournament by eighth-ranked Findlay 26-13, coming one dual short of getting into the placing duals on Sunday.

No. 2 Newberry (S.C.) 28, No. 19 Fort Hays State 9
Newberry College (S.C.) (8-0 overall), ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II, won six of the first seven matches against FHSU (6-4 overall) to cruise to a 19-point win in the opening round of the NWCA National Duals. Fort Hays State took two of the last three matches by decision, but it was too late with Newberry already leading 22-3 heading into the 184-pound class.

No. 19 Fort Hays State 22, No. 13 Augustana (S.D.) 10
Fort Hays State (7-4 overall) survived the first elimination round of the tournament by knocking 13th-ranked Augustana (S.D.) (4-3 overall) from the tournament. The dual bounced back-and-forth early with Augustana taking three of the first five matches. The Tigers went on a run from that point, winning the final five matches to oust the Vikings.

No. 8 Findlay (Ohio) 26 , No. 19 Fort Hays State 13
Eighth-ranked Findlay jumped out to a 9-0 lead and the Tigers could never catch up as the Oilers knocked Fort Hays State (7-5 overall) from the tournament and a chance to wrestle in the placing duals on Sunday. Bonus points were a key to victory for Findlay (7-2 overall), which took six of the 10 matches.

Fort Hays State hosts Adams State in a non-conference dual on Thursday, January 17 at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays. The dual is set to begin at 7 pm.

– FHSU Sports Information –

The 19th-ranked Fort Hays State wrestling team finished 2-1 at the Central Missouri Duals in Warrensburg, Mo., on Tuesday evening (Jan. 8). The Tigers fell to No. 18 Ashland in the first dual of the evening by a tight 22-16 margin, but bounced back to defeat Central Missouri 31-9 in conference action and then knocked off No. 10 Ouachita Baptist 33-11 in their final dual of the evening. Fort Hays State is now 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the MIAA.

No. 18 Ashland 22, No. 19 Fort Hays State 16
Ashland looked to be running away with the dual early up 12-0 after the first three matches, but a pair of major decisions by Noah Killip (149 pounds) and No. 4 ranked Derek Koehn (157 pounds) and a tech fall by Sam Thoman at 165 pounds closed the gap in a hurry and gave FHSU a 13-12 lead through six matches.

A Josh Rodriguez decision at 174 pounds extended the FHSU lead to 16-12, but a major decision by Bryson Hall of Ashland over Zack Grimes knotted the dual at 16-16 with two matches remaining.

That set up the feature match of the dual, No. 3 ranked Joe Brandt of Ashland against No. 6 ranked Tanner Kriss of FHSU. Brandt edged Kriss by a tight 4-3 decision to give Ashland the upper hand 19-16.

The dual came down to the heavyweights and it proved to be a thriller as John Close of FHSU and Kurt Schaefer of Ashland were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. Unfortunately, the Tigers could not come up with the tie or better as Schaefer got a takedown in overtime for the sudden victory.

No. 19 Fort Hays State 31, Central Missouri 9
Fort Hays State evened up its MIAA record for the season cruising to a 31-9 win over host Central Missouri. The Mules had the upper hand early, taking the 125 and 133-pound matches for a 6-0 lead. C.J. Napier, ranked No. 6 at 141 pounds, erased that lead in a hurry with a pin just before regulation expired to tie the dual.

FHSU would keep the momentum and take the next two matches as Mitchell Means (149) and Brad Little (157) each won by decision to give FHSU a 12-6 advantage. UCM picked up its final points of the dual at 165 pounds to close the gap back to 12-9.

FHSU rolled from that point with a major decision from Josh Rodriguez (174), a pair of pins by Zack Grimes (184) and No. 6 ranked Tanner Kriss (197), and a decision by John Close (285) for the final 22-point spread.

No. 19 Fort Hays State 33, No. 10 Ouachita Baptist 11
After falling behind 4-0 after the 125-pound match, FHSU put on a furious rally against No. 10 ranked Ouachita Baptist with 15 points over the next three matches to take an 11-point lead.

Symon Seaton (133) pinned his opponent in 3:27 to instantly give FHSU the lead, then in a match-up of ranked wrestlers, No. 6 C.J. Napier of FHSU defeated No. 5 Josh Myers of OBU by a 4-3 decision. Mitchell Means (149) then pinnned his opponent in 1:39 to give the Tigers plenty of momentum.

In another marquee match-up, No. 5 Bobby Williams of OBU defeated No. 4 Derek Koehn of FHSU 6-1 at 157 pounds to close the FHSU lead to eight at 15-7. Koehn defeated Williams earlier this year in the championship match of the Jet Invitational hosted by Newman University.

Sam Thoman delivered another key blow in the big Tiger win with a pin in 5:09 at 165 pounds to push FHSU to a 21-7 lead. A Josh Rodriguez decision at 174 put the Tigers nearly in the clear for the dual win, but third-ranked Dallas Smith of OBU scored a major decision at 184 to make it 24-11.

Sixth-ranked Tanner Kriss would leave no doubt for the Tigers, pinning his opponent in 2:49 to secure the victory for FHSU. John Close put the icing on another 22-point win for the Tigers with a decision in the heavyweight match.

Fort Hays State will travel to the NWCA National Duals in Springfield, Ill. this coming weekend (Jan. 12-13). Fort Hays State is slated to face No. 2 ranked Newberry (S.C.) in the opening round. Following that match, FHSU will face either No. 7 Notre Dame (Ohio) or Augustana (S.D.). The duals are set to begin at 9 am on Saturday.

– FHSU Sports Information –

The Fort Hays State Lady Tigers drop eight spots to No. 18 in the latest USA Today/WBCA Division II Top-25 Coaches Poll. FHSU is one of four teams from the MIAA in this week’s rankings. Washburn drops six spots to No. 12, Central Missouri is in at No. 15 and Pittsburg State falls three to No. 17.

The Lady Tigers host Washburn Thursday night at 5:30pm at Gross Coliseum.

See complete poll…

Rank	Institution – First Place Votes	Previous Rank	Record	Total Points
1	Ashland (Ohio) -32	1	15-0	800
2	Bentley (Mass.)	2	11-0	767
3	Clayton State (Ga.)	4	11-0	703
4	University of South Carolina – Aiken	3	11-0	691
5	Indianapolis (Ind.)	7	9-1	652
6	Gannon (Pa.)	8	13-1	632
7	Simon Fraser (BC)	9	11-1	592
8	Colorado Mesa	13	12-0	531
9	California State – Chico	14	10-0	504
10	Tampa (Fla.)	16	10-0	474
11	Western Washington	20	10-2	423
12	Washburn (Kan.)	6	8-2	373
13	Augustana (S.D.)	5	9-2	370
14	Holy Family (Pa.)	11	12-2	332
15	Central Missouri	NR	10-1	272
16	Indiana of Pennsylvania	12	10-3	258
17	Shaw (N.C.)	18	10-2	257
18	Fort Hays State (Kan.)	10	10-2	247
19	Grand Canyon (Ariz.)	15	12-4	172
20	Pittsburg State (Kan.)	17	9-3	166
21	Rollins (Fla.)	23	8-3	146
22	Wayne State (Neb.)	19	8-3	101
23	Stonehill (Mass.)	NR	10-1	99
24	Minnesota State – Mankato	NR	9-2	88
25	Bloomsburg of Pennsylvania	22	8-3	84

 

 

Dropped Out: University of Wisconsin – Parkside; Limestone College (S.C.); Midwestern State University (Texas).

Others Receiving Votes: University of Wisconsin – Parkside 75; Limestone College (S.C.) 72; Assumption College (Mass.) 59; Dowling College (N.Y.) 56; Nova Southeastern University (Fla.) 52; Ouachita Baptist University (Ark.) 50; Newberry College (S.C.) 38; Augusta State University (Ga.) 35; Glenville State College (W.Va.) 22; Edinboro University (Pa.) 18; Academy of Art University (Calif.) 17; California University of Pennsylvania 16; Fayetteville State University (N.C.) 14; New York Institute of Technology 13; Montana State University – Billings 12; Saint Cloud State University (Minn.) 11; University of Alaska – Anchorage 10; East Central University (Okla.) 9; Grand Valley State University (Mich.) 9; Saint Mary’s University (Texas) 9; Bellarmine University (Ky.) 8; Metropolitan State University of Denver (Colo.) 7; Seattle Pacific University (Wash.) 7; Valdosta State University (Ga.) 7; Tarleton State University (Texas) 6; Wingate University (N.C.) 6; Northwest Nazarene University (Idaho) 5; University of Central Oklahoma 5; Elizabeth City State University (N.C.) 4; Millersville University of Pennsylvania 3; Tusculum College (Tenn.) 3; Colorado State University – Pueblo 2; CW Post Campus – LIU (NY) 2; University of North Alabama 2; California State University – Los Angeles 1; Truman State University (Mo.) 1.