FHSU Athletics

JOPLIN, Mo. – Fort Hays State pulled out a tightly contested match with Missouri Southern on Friday by a score of 3-1 on the road. The Tigers had to win two sets by two points, which included a 27-25 win in the fourth to secure the victory. FHSU moved to 17-11 overall and 6-7 in the MIAA, while MSSU dropped to 2-21 overall and 1-11 in the MIAA.

Fort Hays State had a seven-point lead in the first set at 16-9 before Missouri Southern came storming back to an 18-18 tie. At 23-23, Sydney Dixon put down two straight kills to lift FHSU to the first-set victory. FHSU trailed by five early in the second set before coming back to lead 16-15. FHSU used a 4-0 run to build a 21-16 lead and then held on from that point to go up 2-0 in the match.

Missouri Southern built a 10-point lead at 21-11 in the third set, but the Tigers put together a furious rally to almost come all the way back. FHSU pulled within two at 24-22, but the Lions closed out the third with a kill. The Lions nearly forced a fifth and decisive set, leading 22-20 in the fourth before FHSU rallied to force a win-by-two situation. Mallory Flagor had a kill to put the Tigers up 26-25, then MSSU committed a hitting error to end the match.

Crystal Whitten and Flagor led the way in kills for FHSU, each with 15. Hannay Wagy churned out 46 assists, while Flagor led in digs with 14. Whitten joined Flagor with double-doubles as she added 11 digs.

Bridgette Jaeger led MSSU in kills with 14, while Payton Graves added 12 and Callie Whetstone had 10. Bradyn Wall produced 34 assists and Katie Wiele had 17 digs.

The Tigers play at Southwest Baptist in another conference match on Saturday.

FHSU Athletics

BOLIVAR, Mo. – Fort Hays State used three second half goals to notch a 4-1 win over Southwest Baptist on Friday (Oct. 30). The Tigers moved to 11-3-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the MIAA with the win, while SBU dropped to 0-15, 0-7 in the MIAA.

The Tigers trailed briefly as the Bearcats recorded their only goal at the 20:39 mark on a header by Ryan Estus. The equalizer came only 1:30 later as Joe Albright and Kyle Markovits at the top of the box in the middle of the field, who beat the keeper between two defenders. The teams went into halftime locked in a 1-1 tie.

FHSU had a flurry of goals within about a six and a half minute span to put the match out of reach. At 61:22 Maurizio Costa took a cross from Luan Silva and buried it to put the Tigers in front. Just over three minutes later at 64:26, Silva got in the scoring act by beating the goalkeeper one-on-one after a pass from David Lucio. At 67:46, Austin Clifton put the match out of reach when he beat the keeper one-on-one after a pass from Paul Luna.

FHSU outshot SBU 21-7 in the match. FHSU placed 13 of the shots on goal. FHSU goalkeeper Michael Yantz had to make just one save in the winning effort. He is now 11-3-1 on the season.

The Tigers prepare for another MIAA showdown with Northeastern State on Sunday (Nov. 1) in Tahlequah, Okla.

FHSU Athletics

NEWBERRY, S.C. – Fort Hays State’s Jon Inman was selected sixth at 184 pounds in the 2015-16 Preseason Division II Wrestling Coaches Association Poll, released on Wednesday (Oct. 28). Inman enters his junior year with the Tigers and has put together a career record of 66-20, and a Division II record of 50-14 at 184 pounds.

In the 2014-15, Inman took first, second, or third in six tournaments, including first place at the MIAA Championships and third place at the NCAA Super Regional, which qualified him for the NCAA Division II Championships for the second straight year. Inman also took home placement honors at the Bethany Swede Invitational (1^st), the Northern Colorado Open (1^st), the University of Nebraska-Kearney Holiday Inn Open (2^nd), the FHSU-Bob Smith Open (2^nd), and the Jet Invitational (3^rd).

Inman not only represents FHSU on the mat but also in the classroom. He was one of seven Tigers named to the 2014-15 NWCA Division II All-Academic Team as a Criminal Justice major with a 3.83 GPA.

Below is the 2015-16 preseason poll.

Team Rankings

FHSU Athletics

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State Wrestling was picked third in the 2015-16 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, released on Wednesday (Oct. 28). The Tigers tied for third in the voting with Central Oklahoma, each with 15 votes.

Nebraska-Kearney has been selected as the unanimous favorite to win the dual title this year. The Lopers received a maximum amount of 25 points in the poll (since coaches cannot vote for their own team). Last year’s dual champion Lindenwood was selected second with 19 votes, while the Tigers and Bronchos tied in the voting at 15. Fort Hays State took third alone in the conference last year, while UCO finished fourth.

The Tigers return three national qualifiers from last year’s squad, which includes Jon Inman, Noah Killip and Bradley Little. The Tigers had three champions at the MIAA Championships. FHSU placed fifth in Super Regional 4 last year with four national qualifiers. Trey Page was the lone Tiger to reach All-American status last year at heavyweight, placing third nationally with a record of 48-3.

Below is the 2015-16 MIAA Preseason Wrestling Coaches Poll.

2015-16 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Nebraska-Kearney (5) 25
2. Lindenwood 19
T3. Fort Hays State 15
T3. Central Oklahoma (1) 15
5. Central Missouri 11
6. Newman 5

Fort Hays State Weekly Football Press Conference
October 27, 2015

Fort Hays State head football coach Chris Brown along with select players met with members of the media on Tuesday. The 5-3 Tigers will be trying to bounce back from their loss at No. 2 Northwest Missouri State when they host winless Nebraska-Kearney Satudray at Lewis Field. Kickoff is at 2:37 p.m. for the MIAA TV Network Game of the Week.

Head coach Chris Brown

Bandit back Daniel Lindsey

Running back Derek Kendall-Campbell

Center Colby Hamel

FHSU Athletics

ALVA, Okla. – Fort Hays State won both of its matches in a triangular at Northwestern Oklahoma State on Tuesday. The Tigers defeated the host Northwestern Oklahoma State 3-0 in their first match of the day, then survived a five-set match with Oklahoma-Panhandle State, 3-2. The Tigers moved to 16-11 overall on the season.

Fort Hays State 3, Northwestern Oklahoma State 0
After the Tigers hit .371 in a conference match with Lindenwood this past Saturday, they followed it with another great offensive effort against Northwestern Oklahoma State in non-conference play. The Tigers hit .360 as a team against the Rangers, cruising to a straight-set win.

The Tigers hit .469 in the first set as they put down 19 kills. After struggling a bit to a .163 hitting percentage and just 14 kills in the second set, FHSU caught fire again in the third and hit .487 with 20 kills. Meanwhile, the Tigers limited the Rangers to a .179 hitting percentage overall.

Crystal Whitten put down a team-best 13 kills and hit .400, while Megan Anderson added 11 kills and hit .625. Mallory Flagor also reached double digits in kills with 10. Sydney Dixon and Rebekah Spainhour each recorded eight kills. Hannah Wagy notched 43 assists and Kailey Klibbe had a team-high 17 digs.

Ashanti Banks led NWOSU (8-14) with eight kills, Kaydee Yukawa had 13 assists, and Carley Geer had 16 digs.

Fort Hays State 3, Oklahoma-Panhandle State 2
Only six days after cruising to a straight-set win in Goodwell, the Tigers found themselves in a match with a struggling Oklahoma-Panhandle State team with just one win on the season. The Tigers were able to escape in five sets, moving to 16-11 overall, while OPSU dropped to 1-25.

The first set looked very similar to the week prior as the Tigers blitzed the Aggies by a score of 25-12. However, the Aggies retaliated with a 28-26 win in the second set to square the match. The Tigers had two set points but could not convert as OPSU rallied for the final three points of the set.

The Tigers took command once again in the third and coasted to a 25-18 win, but then let a five-point lead slip away in the fourth. Up 14-11, the Tigers allowed OPSU to go on an 8-0 run with four straight points in the run coming on service aces by OPSU’s Celci Bakos. OPSU nearly blew several set point opportunities as FHSU rallied for four straight points to make it 24-23, but FHSU committed an error to close the fourth set.

The fifth set was closely contested up to a 9-8 lead by FHSU, but FHSU took six of the final seven points in the set to escape with the win.

Rebekah Spainhour put down a team-best 19 kills and hit .630 in the match with just two errors. Crystal Whitten had 14 kills and Mallry Flagor added 13, while hitting .417. Megan Anderson and Sydney Dixon each had seven kills. Hannah Wagy produced 53 assists, while Kailey Klibbe had a team-high 14 digs.

Fort Hays State heads back on the road this weekend in conference play at Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist.

FHSU Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State men’s soccer moved up to No. 20 in the latest NSCAA Division II Poll, released on Tuesday (Oct. 27). The Tigers moved up four spots in the rankings after holding the No. 24 ranking for two consecutive weeks.

The Tigers moved up thanks to a pair of non-conference wins over Oklahoma Baptist and West Texas A&M. Upper Iowa joins FHSU as the two representatives from the MIAA in the top 25 as they nudge back in this week at No. 25. Fort Hays State sits at 10-3-1 overall, while Upper Iowa is 11-3-1 overall. Northeastern State was No. 15 in last week’s poll, but fell out after losses to Upper Iowa and Lindenwood.

Fort Hays State goes on the road this week for a pair of conference matches at Southwest Baptist and Northeastern State.

Below is the NSCAA Division II Poll for October 27, 2015.

Rank School Prev. W-L-T
1 Pfeiffer University 1 15-0-0
2 Midwestern State University 3 11-0-1
3 University Of Charleston 5 14-1-0
4 Southern New Hampshire University 2 13-1-0
5 California State University-Dominguez Hills 6 12-1-2
6 Palm Beach Atlantic University 4 13-1-1
7 Rockhurst University 12 12-1-2
8 Colorado School Of Mines 7 13-0-3
9 Seattle Pacific University 9 11-1-3
10 LIU Post 10 11-1-2
11 Saginaw Valley State University 18 14-2-0
12 Lee University 11 11-2-1
13 Lander University RV 11-2-0
14 St. Edward’s University 16 11-2-2
15 Millersville University 14 12-2-1
16 Fresno Pacific University RV 11-2-2
17 Northwood University (Mich.) 8 13-1-1
18 Merrimack College RV 10-2-2
19 Wingate University 19 12-2-2
20 Fort Hays State University 24 10-3-1
21 Carson-Newman University 13 12-2-1
22 Barry University RV 8-3-2
23 Urbana University 20 11-2-2
24 Fort Lewis College 25 11-3-2
25 Upper Iowa University NR 11-3-1

Also receiving votes: Cal Poly Pomona (15), Notre Dame College (11), Saint Leo University (7), Young Harris College (6), Bloomsburg University (2), California State University Stanislaus (1), Northeastern State University (1).