UNK Wrestling: #9 Lopers Roll at Regionals, Qualify 8 for NCAA's

The ninth-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team once again dominated NCAA Super Region VI, having eight top three finishes to rack up 143.50 points Saturday in Pueblo, Colo.

The 11-team event was hosted by Colorado State-Pueblo with the top three finishers in each of 10 weight classes advancing to the NCAA Championships March 15-16 in Wichita.

Winning its fifth region title in the last six years, UNK more importantly got most of its lineup to the national meet. Coming in first was fifth-ranked Crew Howard (285 lbs.), sixth-ranked Zach Ourada (125 lbs.), eighth-ranked Nick James (141 lbs.) and 10th-ranked Billy Higgins (184 lbs.). Finishing runner up were fourth-ranked Trenton Munoz (174 lbs.) and 10th-ranked Jackson Kinsella (197 lbs.) with senior John Burger (149 lbs.) and sophomore Kaden Hart (165 lbs.) battling back to finish third. This will be the first NCAA meet for Ourada, Munoz, Kinsella and Howard; Higgins and James are two-time All-Americans with both Hart and Burger being previous national qualifiers. 

No. 14 Chadron State (109.5) and Colorado School of Mines (103.5) came in second and third place, respectively, with No. 24 Western Colorado fourth (90.0). 

Ourada (Omaha Skutt) had two bonus point wins to reach the 125-pound finals where he slipped past previously unbeaten and ninth-ranked Isaiah Gamez of Adams, 3-2, in the first tie break period. He used an escape with two seconds left and then rode out Gamez for 30 seconds. Two classes higher, James (Kearney) rolled into the finals as well and was up 5-0 over CSC's Ethan Leake when the match was stopped due to injury.

The same exact thing happened to Burger (New Milford, NJ) in the 149-pound third-place bout. Falling to CSC's Torry Early in the quarters, Burger responded with three straight decisive wins before having to face Early again. He was up 6-2 when the match was halted because Early was hurt. To return to the NCAA's, Hart (St. Peters, Mo.) overcame a first-round setback by reeling off four straight wins. He outscored his competition by a 34-7 margin in those matches.

Next, Higgins (Omaha Skutt) had three bonus point wins before scoring six first-period points to best WCU's Cole Gray in the 184-lbs. finals, 7-4. Howard (Clarinda, Ia.) had a 16-0 tech fall of ninth-ranked Taniela Feliciano-Takafua of Simon Fraser (Canada) in the 285-lbs. semis and then got past Colorado Mesa's Tyler Doyle, 4-1, thanks to a second period takedown and riding time.

Finally among the qualifiers, the-fourth ranked Munoz (Santa Clarita, Calif.) easily got to the 174-pounds finals where he fell to second-ranked Cole Hernandez of WCU, 7-5. A reversal with 45 seconds left and riding time provided the winning points for Hernandez who is now 30-2. Kinsella (Creston, Ia.), ranked 10th nationally, fell to 11th-ranked Tereus Henry of Hays in overtime, 4-1. He had posted a 17-1 tech final in the semis.

Finishing up the season were redshirt sophomore Nic Stoltenberg (157 lbs.) and redshirt freshman Drew Arnold (133 lbs.). Arnold (Beatrice H.S.) came in fifth place with a 3-2 record; he suffered a 6-3 loss in sudden victory in the semis to CSC's Oran Huff. In his first year as a Loper after transferring from UNL, Stoltenberg (Omaha Skutt) ended up with nine wins.

The seeding for the NCAA's will be announced closer to the start of the tournament.