LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Jason Henschel had an impressive day in his Central Oklahoma debut Sunday afternoon as the No. 11-ranked Bronchos opened the dual season at the Jack Stephens Center.
The senior 133-pounder knocked off top-ranked James Anderson 10-5 in UCO’s 47-0 drubbing of No. 25 Ouachita Baptist before scoring 21 unanswered points in a 22-6 technical fall during the Bronchos’ 27-11 loss to Division I Little Rock.
The Bronchos recorded seven bonus-point wins – including four falls – in the rout of OBU and earned three wins against the Trojans, who are ranked as high as 14th in Division I by one website. It was UCO’s first dual against a Division I opponent since Jan. 15, 2011.
“It was a pretty good day for us,” head coach Todd Steidley said. “I thought our guys wrestled hard and we did some good things, especially for it being the first time against outside competition. We learned some things that will hopefully help us down the road.”
Henschel was the story of the day for the Bronchos. The Goddard, Kansas product was a two-time junior college national runner-up at Pratt Community College before starting the 2023-24 season at Division II Northern State.
He transferred to UCO last year and went 7-1 in two open tournaments while redshirting, then started his senior season with a bang.
“Jason has worked really hard since he’s been here and was ready to go,” Steidley said. “We know what he’s capable of and he showed that today. He has a chance to do some big things this season.”
Henschel never trailed against Anderson in the opening dual against OBU. He struck for a takedown a minute into the match and then following an Anderson escape with another takedown with 30 seconds left in the opening period to take a 6-1 lead.
Anderson made it close with an escape and last-second takedown in the second period to get within 6-5, but Henschel was up to the challenge in the final stanza. He fought off Anderson’s near-fall attempts before getting loose with 20 seconds left and quickly struck for the clinching takedown.
The Bronchos also got first-period falls from 141 Shaun Muse, 149 Bam West and 157 Gabe Johnson, while 174 Hunter Jump added a second-period pin. UCO added technical falls from 125 Guy Clevenger and 184 Branson Britten, a major decision from 197 Garrett Wells and wins from 165 Bryson Dauphin and Hvy Ryan Nichols.
Johnson had the quickest fall of the day, throwing Eli Silva to his back 25 seconds into the match and ending it at the 50-second mark. Muse had two takedowns before getting his fall in just 58 seconds, while West took Caleb Andrews to his back and ended his match at the 2:12 mark.
Jump had three first-period takedowns before decking Ethan Day 38 seconds into the second stanza for UCO’s fourth fall. Clevenger had a takedown and four near-falls in scoring his 17-0 technical fall in just 2:28, with Britten collecting two takedowns and three near-falls in an 18-0 shellacking that ended a minute into the second period.
Wells cruised to a 13-0 rout behind two near-falls, a takedown and reverse. Dauphin had a pair of takedowns and a reverse in a 9-2 triumph, with Nichols’ overtime victory finishing off the shutout. Nichols scored a late reverse to tie BK Seago and force OT, then got the winning takedown with 30 seconds left in the sudden-victory period.
Henschel, Johnson and Wells earned wins against Little Rock, with Henschel’s the most impressive.
He trailed Jackson Tucker 6-1 after the first period, but dominated in the final two frames. Henschel scored a two-point near-fall off a tilt, then nearly got a fall on the edge of the mat in adding four more points to go on top 7-6 after two periods and kept on going.
A quick escape and takedown pushed his lead to 11-6 and Henschel piled it on from there, adding three more near-falls – the final one coming at the final buzzer — to finish off the 22-6 technical fall.
Johnson prevailed in a tough, physical battle with Jaivon Jones for his 15th straight win and the 43rd in 44 outings. The two-time national champion broke a scoreless deadlock on a slick single-leg takedown with nine seconds left in the first period, then escaped early in the second to go up 4-0.
Jones countered a Johnson takedown try to score one of his own with 49 seconds remaining to make it 4-3, with Johnson getting loose quickly to take a two-point lead into the final two minutes.
Jones escaped 15 seconds into the period to get within 5-4, but Johnson was up to the challenge and scored the clinching takedown on the edge of the mat with 46 seconds left and rode Jones the rest of the way.
Wells earned UCO’s final win, blanking Michael Gasper 5-0. The two big men battled to a scoreless draw in the first period, with Wells taking the lead on an escape early in the second.
The junior then struck for the deciding score with 12 seconds left, securing the lone takedown of the match off a single leg shot to go up 4-0. Wells then controlled Gasper the entire third period to add a riding time point for the final score.
Wells made the move from 184 to 197 this season and didn’t give up a point in his first two matches at the new weight after posting a 13-0 major decision in the OBU dual.
The Bronchos dropped a couple of tough decisions, with Hunter Jump falling 4-1 at 174 and Branson Britten losing 4-2 at 184.
Jump gave up a takedown with just four seconds left in the opening period and that was the difference in his match with Gunner Holland, while Brock DeiSignore scored a takedown off a wild scramble with Britten in the final 45 seconds of their match.
UCO doesn’t return to action again for two weeks, with a large group of individuals set to compete in the Drury Open Nov. 15 while the starters go to Sioux Falls, S.D. for a dual against Augustana Nov. 16.
UCO 47, Ouachita Baptist 0
125 – Guy Clevenger, UCO, technical fall Justin Shaw, 17-0 (2:28).
133 – Jason Henschel, UCO, dec. James Anderson, 10-5.
141 – Shaun Muse, UCO, pinned Abdul Hashimi, 0:58.
149 – Bam West, UCO, pinned Caleb Andrews, 2:12.
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, pinned Eli Silva, 0:50.
165 – Bryce Dauphin, UCO, dec. Samuel Schmidt, 9-2.
174 – Hunter Jump, UCO, pinned Ethan Day, 3:38.
184 – Branson Britten, technical fall Luke Brooks, 18-0 (4:08).
197 – Garrett Wells, UCO, major dec. Cayden Byrd, 13-0.
Hvy – Ryan Nichols, UCO, dec. BK Seago, 7-4 (SV).
Little Rock 27, UCO 11
125 – Tyson Roach, LR, technical fall Guy Clevenger, 19-2 (3:15).
133 – Jason Henschel, UCO, technical fall Jackson Tucker, 22-6 (7:00).
141 – Brennan Van Hoecke, LR, major dec. Shaun Muse, 16-6.
149 – Brock Herman, LR technical fall Bam West, 20-4 (5:22).
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, dec. Jaivon Jones, 8-4.
165 – Matty Bianchi, LR, major dec. Bryce Dauphin, 10-2.
174 – Gunner Holland, LR, dec. Hunter Jump, 4-1.
184 – Brock DeiSignore, LR, dec. Branson Britten, 4-2.
197 – Garrett Wells, UCO, dec. Michael Gasper, 5-0.
Hvy – Kaden Darwin, LR, dec. Ryan Nichols, 8-1.
