Mike Kirk
KEARNEY, Neb. (Jan. 22) – Kalin Winkler and Shawn Streck had two falls apiece to lead top-ranked Central Oklahoma to a pair of wins at the Midwest Duals Saturday.
The Bronchos trounced Western Colorado 40-9 to open the day before Winkler’s second-period pin at 174 ignited a late surge that rallied UCO past No. 14 Adams State 29-12.
Central trailed the Grizzlies 12-9 before winning the final four matches. Winkler started the comeback, Heath Gray followed with a technical fall at 184, Dalton Abney had a major decision at 197 and Streck polished it off with a third-period pin at heavyweight.
UCO also got regular decisions from 125 Paxton Rosen, 133 Tanner Cole and 141 Nate Keim in notching its 15th straight win. The Bronchos, now 9-0 on the season, return home Sunday, Jan. 30 to host Central Missouri.
“Our big guys really came through for us,” head coach Todd Steidley said. “We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be at a few weights, but it was good to get back on the mat again. We did some good things, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”
Rosen and Cole opened the dual with back-to-back wins over ranked opponents and Keim followed with easy decision to stake UCO to a 9-0 lead, but the Grizzlies quickly came back to take the lead.
The sixth-rated Rosen upended No. 9 Isaiah Delacerda 8-4 behind a three-takedown attack, while the top-ranked Cole downed No. 10 Jonathan Andreatta 9-2. Cole used a takedown and four-point near-fall in the final 40 seconds to break a 2-2 tie while adding a riding time point in pulling out the tight victory.