WICHITA, Kan. – Fort Hays State wrestling claimed third place at the RWC Jet Invitational hosted by Newman University on Sunday. The Tigers turned in a solid performance with wrestlers in only seven of the ten weight classes. Six of the seven finished in the top four of their respective weight classes.
At 141 pounds, Brandon Ball remained hot picking up the only first place finish of the day for the Tigers. After a bye in the first round, Ball handled his first opponent, Garrett Wilson of Newman, with an 18-0 technical fall. From there he went on to win the semifinal bout with Otero Junior College’s Downey Wood by an 8-4 decision. In the finals, Ball claimed victory with his second technical fall of the day, this time over Northeastern Oklahoma A&M’s Curtis Burnett. Ball handled Burnett easily walking away from the mat with a 16-1 win and now improves to 18-3 on the season.
Rakim Dean went 2-1 for the day on his way to a second-place finish. After a bye in the first round Dean went on to win his next two matches. In the quarterfinals, Dean pinned Imani Woodley from Otero Junior College just 27 seconds into the match. To advance to the finals, Dean handled Oklahoma City’s Derek Siversten with a 4-2 decision. In the final bout Dean was just ousted by Cody Chaney from Emmanuel College (Ga.) in a tight 4-3 decision.
Redshirt-freshman Christian Lance was great once again on the mat for the Tigers, finishing as the runner up in the 285-pound weight class. Lance, who is now 22-2 on the year, went 2-1 on the day. After a free run into the quarterfinals, Lance won with a 17-2 technical fall over Bethany College’s Nick Pearce. In the semifinal bout, Lance handled Dalton Weidl of Newman easily with a 7-3 decision. He squared off in the first-place match with Central Oklahoma’s Caleb Cotter, who was the culprit of Lance’s first loss of the season. Unfortunately, Cotter once again got the better of Lance as he walked off the mat with a 5-4 decision win.
At 133 pounds, Wyatt Alvis had his best tournament of the year for FHSU as he took home a third-place finish. After a bye in the first round, Alvis dropped his first match to Darius Bunch from Emmanuel College by the score of 2-1. After receiving another bye in the consolation bracket, Alvis proceeded to win his next match over Newman’s Cole Sutterfield by major decision, 11-3. He advanced to the consolation finals against Blake Dauphin of Central Oklahoma after an injury default in the semifinals. Alvis made quick work of Dauphin pinning him just 36 seconds into the second period.
Austin Brandt improved to 9-7 this season with his third-place finish at 197 pounds. In the quarterfinals, Brandt picked up a 5-3 decision over Zak Pitt from Emmanuel College to advance to the semifinals. There he dropped the ensuing bout to Northeastern Oklahoma’s Rushton Duke by the way of a technical fall. Brandt bounced back in the consolation bracket and pinned Nate Finnel of Otero Junior College at the 2:58 mark to move into the third-place match. There Brandt went into overtime and picked up a sudden victory takedown against Riley Fielder of Oklahoma City.
At 174 pounds Micquille Robinson picked up fourth place honors and now sits at 17-9 on the season. After a bye in the first round, Robinson went on to claim a major decision over Oklahoma City’s Zaine Jackson by the score of 10-1. In the semifinals, Robinson was sent to the consolation bracket as he was on the wrong end of a major decision by Central Oklahoma’s Miguel Barreras, 11-2. In the consolation semifinals Robinson bounced back with a 4-1 decision, but then dropped the third place match to Kyle Ryan of Newman by a 3-1 decision.
The Tigers get plenty of time off before they return to action on Saturday (Jan. 7) when head to Adams State for dual action.
RWC Results for Fort Hays State
133 – Wyatt Alvis (5-5) placed 3rd and scored 10.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Wyatt Alvis (Fort Hays State) 5-5 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – Darius Bunch (Emmanual College) 2-1 won by fall over Wyatt Alvis (Fort Hays State) 5-5 (Fall 0:18)
Cons. Round 2 – Wyatt Alvis (Fort Hays State) 5-5 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 – Wyatt Alvis (Fort Hays State) 5-5 won by major decision over Cole Sutterfield (Newman) 0-6 (MD 11-3)
Cons. Semi – Wyatt Alvis (Fort Hays State) 5-5 won by injury default over Gunner Laffoon (Otero Junior College) 5-6 (Inj. 0:00)
3rd Place Match – Wyatt Alvis (Fort Hays State) 5-5 won by fall over Blake Dauphin (Central Oklahoma) 8-6 (Fall 3:36)
141 – Brandon Ball (18-3) placed 1st and scored 16.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Brandon Ball (Fort Hays State) 18-3 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – Brandon Ball (Fort Hays State) 18-3 won by tech fall over Garrett Whitson (Newman) 6-6 (TF-1.5 4:25 (18-0))
Semifinal – Brandon Ball (Fort Hays State) 18-3 won by decision over Downey Wood (Otero Junior College) 9-4 (Dec 8-4)
1st Place Match – Brandon Ball (Fort Hays State) 18-3 won by tech fall over Curtis Burnett (Northeast Oklahoma) 14-3 (TF-1.5 7:00 (16-1))
149 – Jacob Kay (13-8) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Jacob Kay (Fort Hays State) 13-8 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – Gavin Millhouse (Oklahoma City) 5-7 won by decision over Jacob Kay (Fort Hays State) 13-8 (Dec 9-5)
Cons. Round 2 – Jacob Kay (Fort Hays State) 13-8 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 – John Risewick (Bethany (Kan.)) 2-2 won by decision over Jacob Kay (Fort Hays State) 13-8 (Dec 17-11)
174 – Micquille Robinson (17-9) placed 4th and scored 5.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Micquille Robinson (Fort Hays State) 17-9 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – Micquille Robinson (Fort Hays State) 17-9 won by major decision over Zaine Jackson (Oklahoma City) 2-8 (MD 10-1)
Semifinal – Miguel Barreras (Central Oklahoma) 23-4 won by major decision over Micquille Robinson (Fort Hays State) 17-9 (MD 11-2)
Cons. Semi – Micquille Robinson (Fort Hays State) 17-9 won by decision over Anthony Lodermeier (Otero Junior College) 14-8 (Dec 4-1)
3rd Place Match – Kyle Ryan (Newman) 3-3 won by decision over Micquille Robinson (Fort Hays State) 17-9 (Dec 3-1)
184 – Rakim Dean (16-8) placed 2nd and scored 12.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – akim Dean (Fort Hays State) 16-8 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – akim Dean (Fort Hays State) 16-8 won by fall over Imani Woodley (Otero Junior College) 7-9 (Fall 0:27)
Semifinal – akim Dean (Fort Hays State) 16-8 won by decision over Derek Sivertsen (Oklahoma City) 5-3 (Dec 4-2)
1st Place Match – Cody Chaney (Emmanual College) 3-0 won by decision over akim Dean (Fort Hays State) 16-8 (Dec 4-3)
197 – Austin Brandt (9-7) placed 3rd and scored 8.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Austin Brandt (Fort Hays State) 9-7 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – Austin Brandt (Fort Hays State) 9-7 won by decision over Zak Pitt (Emmanual College) 1-2 (Dec 5-3)
Semifinal – Ruston Duke (Northeast Oklahoma) 17-4 won by tech fall over Austin Brandt (Fort Hays State) 9-7 (TF-1.5 3:42 (16-0))
Cons. Semi – Austin Brandt (Fort Hays State) 9-7 won by fall over Nate Finnel (Otero Junior College) 1-2 (Fall 2:58)
3rd Place Match – Austin Brandt (Fort Hays State) 9-7 won in sudden victory – 1 over Riley Fielder (Oklahoma City) 3-9 (SV-1 8-6)
285 – Christian Lance (22-2) placed 2nd and scored 11.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Christian Lance (Fort Hays State) 22-2 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal – Christian Lance (Fort Hays State) 22-2 won by tech fall over Nick Pearce (Bethany (Kan.)) 0-2 (TF-1.5 5:27 (17-2))
Semifinal – Christian Lance (Fort Hays State) 22-2 won by decision over Dalton Weidl (Newman) 3-4 (Dec 7-3)
1st Place Match – Caleb Cotter (Central Oklahoma) 20-2 won by decision over Christian Lance (Fort Hays State) 22-2 (Dec 5-4)
