HAYS, Kan. – The No. 12 ranked Fort Hays State wrestling team dropped the non-conference dual to the Colorado School of Mines on Thursday, 16-15, inside Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers dipped to 1-5 in duals this season, while the Orediggers improved to 9-1 in dual matches.

In a battle of many decisions, Broderick Green dropped the opening bout to Matt Lavengood in a tight-knit 5-3 match. Green moved to 8-15 on the year. Conrad Cole put the Tigers on the board in the 133-pound bout after securing a 3-2 decision over Jake Woods with a third period escape. Cole earned his eighth win of the season.

Things looked for the better for FHSU as No. 2 ranked Brandon Ball earned three more team points for the Tigers in the 141-pound match. Ball defeated Lukas Erickson with an easy 3-0 decision. With the win, Ball moves to 14-0 on the year and is now 4-0 in his Tiger career against Erickson. Ryne Cokeley fought until the end of his battle with Noah Ottum, when Ottum used a late third period escape to break the 5-5 tie and win in a decision, 7-5. Through four matches, Fort Hays State and Colorado School of Mines were even, 6-6.

No. 4 ranked Efe Osaghae stayed at his normal weight class (157 pounds) and gave the Tigers the 9-6 edge with a narrow 8-6 decision over Skyler Lykins. Osaghae earned his 16th victory in the process. Back and forth it was, as Jonathan Ball fell victim to a tough match against Keenan Willits. Willits won by another decision in the match, this time 11-4. FHSU and Mines were once again all square, 9-9, with four bouts to go.

At 174 pounds, No. 9 ranked Marty Verhaeghe couldn’t get anything going against Robert Gambrell and was shutout in an 8-0 major decision, giving the Orediggers the four-point, 13-9 team advantage on the scoreboard. Micquille Robinson pulled the Tigers back within one point with a nail-biting 4-2 decision over Connor Ventura in the 184-pound match. With two matches remaining in the dual, the Orediggers held the 13-12 edge over the Tigers.

True freshman Tyler Boone was called upon to wrestle two weight classes higher than normal and held his own until getting taken down in the final seconds of the third period to fall to Jake Feldman in a 6-4 decision of the 197-pound bout. The Tigers needed four points to tie the match and have a possible tie-breaking scenario when A.J. Cooper stepped onto the mat for the 285-pound battle with Weston Hunt. Cooper fell down early in the first period after Hunt picked up a takedown. Before too long Cooper earned an escape to close the gap to 2-1 after one frame. In the second round, Hunt escape Cooper’s grasp initially for one-point to lead 3-1, before Cooper earned his first takedown of the bout. Going into the third frame, the wrestlers were tied 3-3. Cooper eventually came out on top as he held off a late charge by Hunt in the final minute of the match. The 7-6 decision wasn’t enough point for the Tigers to overcome and the Orediggers earned their ninth dual victory of the season.

FHSU is back in action on Saturday (Jan. 19) when they travel north to Kearney, Neb. for the Midwest Duals. First up is a date with Colorado Mesa at 9 a.m. before taking on No. 7 ranked CSU-Pueblo at 10:30 a.m.

EMPORIA, Kan. – Aaron Nicholson scored a career-high 24 points and hit seven of Fort Hays State’s 17 three-pointers as the Tigers rally from 15 down in the second half to beat Emporia State 82-71 Wednesday night at White Auditorium.

The Hornets (7-8, 2-4 MIAA) scored on their first possession of the second half to go up 15 but FHSU (12-4, 6-1 MIAA) responded with a 26-6 run to go up five. They pushed the lead to 12 with a little over eight minutes then hit some big threes down the stretch after the Hornets closed the gap to four.

Mark Johnson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

After shooting 37-percent in the first half, the Tigers hit 70-percent of their shots in the second half and finished 56-percent for the game including 17-of-29 from beyond the arc.

Nicholson hit seven threes and Jared Vitztum added six. The two combine to go 13-for-16 from beyond the arc.

Brady Werth scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half as the Tigers win their seventh straight at White Auditorium.

EMPORIA, Kan. – No. 3 Fort Hays State rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to take a late two-point lead but Addie Lackey hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds to play to lift Emporia State to a 54-51 win over the Tigers Wednesday night at White Auditorium. Its’s the first loss of the season for FHSU (15-1, 6-1 MIAA) after opening the season with a school record 15 straight wins.

The Hornets (12-4, 3-3 MIAA) scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to take a 12-point lead and led by nine after three quarters.

The Tigers rallied with a 17-4 run and took a 51-49 lead on a Taylor Rolf three with 1:51 to play but the Hornets scored the final five points

Tony Hobson Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

The Tigers hit their first two 3-pointers and raced out to an early 9-0 lead but would miss 16 of their next 17 from long range before hitting three of five from long range in the fourth quarter.

FHSU shot 30-percent from the floor and went 6-for-24 from beyond the arc.

Taylor Rolfs led the Tigers with 13 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter. Kacey Kennett and Lanie Page both added 10.

Tyra Jones led ESU with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Emily Miller added 10.

For the second time in program history, the Fort Hays State women’s basketball team is ranked first in the country according to the latest D2SIDA Media Poll, released Tuesday (Jan. 15). The Tigers also slid up one spot in the WBCA Division II Coaches Poll, climbing to third in the coaches rankings.

Fort Hays State was listed atop nine ballots in the media poll and two in the coaches poll. The Tigers were one of two programs to receive first-place votes in the coaches poll alongside top-ranked Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

The Tigers were previously ranked first in the country in the media poll on December 15, 2015 season after a 9-0 start to the 2015-16 season, including a victory over top-ranked Emporia State. FHSU also spent two weeks atop the coaches poll during the same span.

The Black and Gold are ranked in the top three nationally in the coaches poll for the first time since January 19, 2016. This is the 15th weekly coaches poll in which the Tigers have been ranked in the top five in the nation. FHSU has spent two weeks ranked No. 1 in the country, one week at No. 2, five weeks at No. 3, three weeks at No. 4 and four weeks at No. 5. The Tigers are 7-1 all-time while ranked third in the coaches poll.

Tony Hobson’s squad is the lone MIAA program recognized in the latest media poll, while No. 24 Lindenwood is the only other conference school ranked according to the coaches association.

The Tigers will take their undefeated record on the road again this week, with trips to Emporia, Kan. and Topeka, Kan. on the horizon. FHSU opens the road trip against Emporia State Wednesday (Jan. 16) at 5:30 p.m. inside White Auditorium.

Below are the complete national polls for January 15, 2019.

Cleary won three NAIA national titles at Martin Methodist College

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State University Athletic Director Curtis Hammeke announced on Tuesday the hiring of Gerry Cleary as the new head men’s soccer coach at FHSU. Cleary becomes the second head coach in program history, taking over a program that claimed four of the last five NCAA Central Regional titles and made its first national semifinal appearance in 2018.

“I am excited, grateful and humble to have the opportunity to take the reins of such a great program at such a great school,” said Cleary. “I look forward to building on to such a successful team.”

Cleary has three NAIA national championships to his credit as a head coach, all at Martin Methodist College. He guided the Martin Methodist women’s program to national championships in 2005 and 2007. After coaching the women’s program at Martin Methodist for eight seasons, he took over the men’s program in 2011. Following a combined 21-13-1 in his first two seasons coaching the men’s program, Cleary guided the RedHawks to the national championship in 2013 with a record of 19-2-2. Cleary became the first coach ever in collegiate soccer to win national championships with both a women’s and men’s program at the same school.

As head coach of the women’s program at Martin Methodist, Cleary compiled a record of 137-27-11 (.814) over his eight seasons guiding the program. His teams won seven consecutive conference regular season and tournament titles from 2004 to 2010. As head coach of the men’s program for three seasons (2011-2013), Cleary compiled a record of 40-15-3 (.716) and guided the team to the Southern States Athletic Conference title in 2013. Overall, in 11 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Cleary has a record of 177-42-14 (.790) with 15 conference championships (regular season and tournament combined).

Cleary earned NAIA National Coach of the Year honors three times, twice for women’s soccer (2005 and 2007) and once for men’s soccer (2013). He also earned NSCAA NAIA National Coach of the Year twice, NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year twice, and NAIA Region XI Coach of the Year twice. He was the TransSouth Athletic Conference Coach of the Year seven times in his tenure as the women’s coach at Martin Methodist.

Following his third national championship season at Martin Methodist, Cleary moved on to serve as an assistant coach for four years at the NCAA Division I level at California State University-Bakersfield, where he assisted Richie Grant. During his time in Bakersfield, he also served as Director of Coaching for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Club Central California Aztecs.

“Coach Cleary is highly respected among his soccer coaching peers and brings a great deal of experience and expertise to our men’s soccer program,” FHSU Athletic Director Curtis Hammeke said. “We’re excited about his leadership of our student-athletes moving forward.”

Cleary played for Richie Grant at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tennessee from 1995-98, where he was a three-time All-America and four-time All Mid-South Conference selection. Cleary twice earned Mid-South Conference Player of the Year honors and helped his university to three conference championships.

Cleary received his bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education from Lambuth University in 1999. He then earned a master’s degree in Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Supervision from Christian Brothers University in 2002, where he also served as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s soccer programs. Working under head coach Gareth O’Sullivan at Christian Brothers, they won eight Gulf South Conference Championships with both programs combined, finishing with a Division II Women’s National Championship in 2002.

Cleary has also coached Rocket City United in the National Premier Soccer League, located in Huntsville, Alabama. Cleary’s coaching tips have been published multiple times in World Soccer Magazine and World Class Coaching – the world’s leading resource magazine for soccer coaches.