Results
The Fort Hays State wrestling team opened the dual season on Friday evening (Jan. 7) at Gross Memorial Coliseum with a 26-19 victory against CSU-Pueblo.
Travis Budke was paired with CSU-Pueblo's only nationally ranked wrestler in the dual at 165 pounds. He entered the match with some familiarity after having lost a 2-1 decision to the eighth-ranked Justin Grant earlier this season. Friday night, Budke's first period fall avenged that loss to the returning national qualifier and proved pivotal in securing the Tigers' 26-19 win.
The dual opened at 125 pounds when FHSU forfeited to the Thunderwolves, which spotted them a six point edge in the team score.
FHSU then scored three consecutive wins, each by nationally ranked athletes.
Fourth-ranked Aldon Isenberg scored a first period fall just over a minute into the match when he took his opponent, Ryan Kirby, directly to his back. The pin was the 133 pounder's eighth of the year and kept his undefeated record in tact at 13-0.
Third ranked and returning NCAA DII All-American Andre Harrison and the seventh-ranked Mitchell Means followed with nearly identical outcomes. Harrison tallied a 10-1 win over Jake Snider, a four time Colorado high school state champion, and Means a 10-2 major decision over Nick Stahler at 149 pounds. Each accumulated in excess of three minutes riding time en route to their major decisions.
The momentum appeared as though it would continue at 157 pounds when the Tigers' Derek Koehn entered the third period with a 6-2 lead, but was victimized by Matt Addington's granby cradle, which tied the score and sent the bout to overtime. Addington came out on top in an entertaining scramble to earn the 8-6 sudden victory. FHSU led 14-9 at that point.
Following intermission the dual resumed with the aforementioned 165 pound bout. Approximately a minute into the match Grant nearly scored on a single leg attack. He then switched to a double leg attempt and elevated Budke off the mat. Budke continued to counter the attack with a neck wrench and when they returned to the mat, Grant hesitated just long enough for Budke to block with his hip and throw Grant to his back for the fall. The victory extended the Tiger's team score lead to 20-9.
CSU-Pueblo countered with two wins when Trevor Grant pinned Aaron Berscheidt at 174 pounds and with Adam Carey scored an 11-3 major decision over Chris Luna at 184 pounds. The back-to-back victories brought the team score to 20-19 in favor of the Tigers.
Pueblo had planned to forfeit at 197 pounds, but the Thunderwolves sent back-up 165 pounder to the mat to battle Steven Kyler. The move was an attempt to keep the dual meet within striking distance when the 285 pounders took the mat. Levi Jutila did his part in a 7-2 loss to Kyler, which resulted in just three team points being awarded, instead of the six that would have been earned with a forfeit.
With the team score 23-19 in favor of the Tigers, Justin Glenn stepped on the mat to renew his rivalry with the Thunderwolves' returning national qualifier Patrick Carey. Glenn scored two wins over Carey last season. The bout entered the last 45 seconds of the third period tied 1-1 when Carey attempted a leg attack on Glenn, who re-shot with a with a double leg blast and was just able to drag his toes inside the circle to score the takedown. Glenn later countered a desperation takedown attempt for his second takedown of the match to score a 5-2 win.
Glenn's win sealed the dual win for the Tigers, now 1-0 on the season. CSU-Pueblo fell to 1-2 on the season.
Following the match Coach Chas Thompson indicated he was “very happy to get the win. Budke's pin was the key tonight.” He went on to acknowledge that “the first time back down to weight after the (Christmas) break is always tough on the boys……we'll look a lot different in our next match.”
Following the dual, the Tigers headed to the Hastings (Nebraska) College Open on Saturday. They will then travel to Edmond, Oklahoma on January 13 to take on the ninth-ranked Bronchos from Central Oklahoma.
