#1 Lopers Region Champs Again, Sending Seven to Sioux Falls

The top-ranked Nebraska Kearney wrestling team won its seventh regional title in eight years and qualified seven individuals for the NCAA Championships Saturday in Golden, Colo.

The 13-team "Super Region VI Championships" were hosted by Colorado School of Mines. The top three finishers in each of 10 weight classes advance to the NCAA's March 13-14 in Sioux Falls. Brackets will be released in the coming weeks. ​

UNK had three winners, three runners up and one third place finisher. Those not making the cut to nationals each scored team points with two finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. No. 15 Adams State (124) was the team runner up with No. 17 Chadron State (100) in third.

Winning their weight class was top-ranked Crew Howard (285 lbs.), sixth-ranked Trenton Munoz (165 lbs.) and sixth-ranked Otgonbayar Batsuuri (174 lbs.). Finishing second were fourth-ranked Jackson Kinsella (197 lbs.), fourth-ranked Kaden Hart (184 lbs.) and 12th-ranked Zach Ourada (133 lbs.). Finally, rallying for third place was second-ranked Joseph Airola (141 lbs.).

Howard (Clarinda, Ia.) ran his win streak to 18 as he recorded three falls and a 6-1 decision over 14th-ranked Tyler Doyle of Colorado Mesa. Munoz (Santa Clarita, Calif.) had a first period fall in the quarters and used second period reversal to edge eighth-ranked Ivan Smith Jr. of New Mexico Highlands in his first-place bout, 4-2. Next, Batsuuri (Mongolia) didn't allow an offensive point among four wins with Hart (St. Peters, Mo.) falling to third-ranked Keegen Gehlhausen of CSC for the second time this year. Finally, the Eagles 14th-ranked Mason Villwok avenged a regular season setback to Kinsella (Creston, Ia) with Ourada (Omaha Skutt) falling to Jakob Romoer of Adams who pulled off several upsets in winning 133.

​In the consoles, Airola (Ward, Colo.) lost to Colorado Mesa's Apollo Cruz for the second time this winter in round one. He had a long road to reach nationals but won in sudden victory before besting Cruz by major decision to get to the third-place match. Overall, Airola out scored his final four foes by a tally of 38-3. Finally, fifth-ranked Cael Robb (Medford, Minn.) fell to seventh-ranked Owen Cline of Mesa in the 157 lbs. semis and then dropped his third-place bout in sudden victory. Redshirt senior Daniel DeRosier (Bellevue East) had a fall in his first-ever regional trip with graduate Caleb Coyle (Bennington) having a fall as well.
 

125 lbs.
Caleb Coyle (14-12) placed 5th and scored 12.0 team points
Champ. Round 1 - Caleb Coyle received a bye
Quarterfinal - Caleb Coyle won by fall over Jovanni Evangelista (Vanguard) (Fall 2:14)
Semifinal - #2 Isaiah Gamez (Adams State) won by fall over Caleb Coyle (Fall 4:20)
Cons. Semi - #7 Quade Smith (Chadron State) won by decision over Caleb Coyle (Dec 4-1)
5th Place - Caleb Coyle won by medical forfeit over Diego Camarillo (New Mexico Highlands)
133 lbs.
#12 Zach Ourada (18-8) placed 2nd and scored 14.0 team points
Champ. Round 1 - Zach Ourada won by maj dec over Isaiah Miller (Cal Poly Humboldt) (MD 11-3)
Quarterfinal - Zach Ourada won by decision over AJ Hague (Colorado Mesa) (Dec 4-2)
Semifinal - Zach Ourada won by decision over #11 Zachary Klarcyk (Vanguard) (Dec 3-2)
1st Place - Jakob Romero (Adams State) won by decision over Zach Ourada (Dec 4-1)
141 lbs.
#2 Joseph Airola (22-4) placed 3rd and scored 13.5 team points
Champ. Round 1 - Apollo Cruz (Colorado Mesa) won by decision over Joseph Airola (Dec 7-5)
Cons. Round 1 - Joseph Airola received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Joseph Airola won in sudden victory - 1 over Ed Bowman (CSU-Pueblo) (SV-1 4-1)
Cons. Round 3 - Joseph Airola won by dec over Terrell Kinlicheenie (NM Highlands) (Dec 8-1)
Cons. Semi - Joseph Airola won by major decision over Apollo Cruz (Colorado Mesa) (MD 9-0)
3rd Place - Joseph Airola won by tech fall over Caleb Chaves (Chadron State) (TF 6:30; 17-1)
149 lbs.
Daniel DeRosier (22-10) place is unknown and scored 3.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Daniel DeRosier won by fall over Khalin Radev (Simon Fraser) (Fall 2:54)
Quarterfinal - Angel Flores (Adams State) won by decision over Daniel DeRosier (Dec 9-4)
Cons. Round 2 - Zane Stoddard (San Francisco State) won by fall over Daniel DeRosier (Fall 1:57)
157 lbs.
#5 Cael Robb (19-8) placed 4th and scored 12.0 team points
Champ. Round 1 - Cael Robb won by tech over Joe Perez (Cal Poly Humboldt) (TF 3:37; 15-0)
Quarterfinal - Cael Robb won by major decision over Johnny Thomas (Fort Hays State) (MD 13-2)
Semifinal - #7 Owen Cline (Colorado Mesa) won by major decision over Cael Robb (MD 15-6)
Cons. Semi - Cael Robb won by decision over #12 Vincent Cabral (Western Colorado) (Dec 5-1)
3rd Place - Basil Othman (San Francisco State) won in sudden victory over Cael Robb (SV-1 4-1)
165 lbs.
#6 Trenton Munoz (22-5) placed 1st and scored 17.0 team points
Champ. Round 1 - Trenton Munoz received a bye
Quarterfinal - Trenton Munoz won by fall over Deacon Pickett (CSU-Pueblo) (Fall 1:55)
Semifinal - Trenton Munoz won by decision over Cason Lindsey (Fort Hays State) (Dec 4-0)
1st Place - Trenton Munoz won by decision over #8 Ivan Smith Jr. (NM Highlands) (Dec 4-2)
174 lbs.
#6 Otgonbayar Batsuuri (17-7) placed 1st and scored 17.0 team points
Champ. Round 1 - Otgonbayar Batsuuri won by fall over Keagen Kroeger (Vanguard) (Fall 1:53)
Quarterfinal - Otgonbayar Batsuuri won by decision over Chris Pebley (Colorado Mesa) (Dec 7-0)
Semifinal - Otgonbayar Batsuuri won by dec over Solomon Arnds-Volcin (CSU-Pueblo) (Dec 6-2)
1st Place - Otgonbayar Batsuuri won by decision over Jakob Smith (Colorado Mines) (Dec 8-2)
184 lbs.
#4 Kaden Hart (15-6) placed 2nd and scored 16.0 team points
Champ. Round 1 - Kaden Hart won by tech fall over Gabriel Cox (Western Colo) (TF 3:23; 17-1)
Quarterfinal - Kaden Hart won by tech fall over Gavin Funk (San Francisco State) (TF 4:02; 16-0)
Semifinal - Kaden Hart by decision over Wyatt Reisz (Colorado Mines) (Dec 4-3)
1st Place Match - #3 Keegan Gehlhausen (Chadron St) won by decision over Kaden Hart (Dec 8-1)
197 lbs.
#4 Jackson Kinsella (18-5) placed 2nd and scored 16.5 team points
Champ. Rd 1 - Jackson Kinsella won by tech over Devin Kinlicheenie  (Highlands) (TF 7:00; 17-2)
Quarterfinal - Jackson Kinsella won by major decision over Laith Gilmore (San Fran St) (MD 10-1)
Semifinal - Jackson Kinsella won by major decision over Mason Diel (Colorado Mines) (MD 11-1)
1st Place - #14 Mason Villwok (Chadron State) won by decision over Jackson Kinsella (Dec 8-5)
285 lbs.
#1 Crew Howard (23-2) placed 1st and scored 21.0 team points
Champ. Round 1 - Crew Howard won by fall over Phillip Chobot (NM Highlands) (Fall 2:12)
Quarterfinal - Crew Howard won by fall over Jaxson Thomas (Fort Hays State) (Fall 1:59)
Semifinal - Crew Howard won by fall over Henry Sturn (CSU-Pueblo) (Fall 4:26)
1st Place - Crew Howard won by decision over #14 Tyler Doyle (Colorado Mesa) (Dec 6-1)