EDMOND – No. 2-ranked Central Oklahoma puts a trio of winning streaks on the line Friday when the Bronchos host No. 23 Ouachita Baptist in the MIAA and home opener at Hamilton Field House.
Several extra matches between the two teams will be held at 6 p.m., with the varsity teams taking the mat at 7. UCO is 2-0 on the young season, while the Tigers from Arkadelphia, Ark. are 3-2.
The two-time defending national champion Bronchos have won 49 of their last 50 duals, including 24 in a row. UCO is also riding 21-match winning streaks in both MIAA and home duals.
“Our guys are looking forward to being home and wrestling in front of our fans,” said head coach Todd Steidley, who is 103-12 in his ninth year at the helm. “Ouachita has a solid team and they’re going to give us their best shot, so we better be ready to wrestle.
“We’re a little banged in a few places, but thankfully we have pretty good depth at most weights. I’m happy with what we’ve done so far and the guys are working hard to get better every day.”
The Bronchos own a 14-2 series lead over Ouachita and have won the last seven meetings.
A look at UCO’s probable lineup: 125 – Studd Morris, Sr. (5-0) or Garrett Steidley, Jr. (1-0); 133 – Eli Kirk, RS Fr. (12-2) or Barrett Hilton, So. (1-2); 141 – Dylan Lucas, Sr. (2-0), Josh Taylor, So. (10-0) or Dailey Jennings, RS Fr. (6-4); 149 – Bam West, So. (3-2) and Ryder Ramsey, Jr. (0-0); 157 – Gabe Johnson, Jr. (2-0) or Jose Flores, So. (1-2); 165 – Hunter Jump, Sr. (1-1) or Jaxon Randall, So. (10-4); 174 – Bryce Dauphin, Jr. (5-3) or Tucker Waitman, RS Fr. (8-4); 184 – Garrett Wells, So. (2-0) or Seth Sarasua, Sr. (9-2); 197 – Emmanuel Skillings, Jr. (4-1) or Kohner Gallagher, Jr. (0-0); Hvy – Paul Sharp, So. (7-4).
Central had five individuals listed in the preseason poll by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, with the first regular season rankings to come out in early December.
Defending national champion Gabe Johnson leads the way as the No. 1 pick at 157, while 165 Hunter Jump is second, 149 Dylan Brown third, 141 Dylan Lucas fourth and 184 Garrett Wells fifth.
Johnson is 2-0 with two bonus-point victories in the early going, running his winning streak to 17. Lucas and Wells are also 2-0, with Lucas owning a win over top-rated Ronan Schuelke of McKendree in UCO’s 18-17 dual triumph over the No. 3 Bearcats.
Jump is 1-1 against top-four opponents, beating fourth-ranked Cole Ritter of Maryville and falling in overtime to McKendree’s No. 3 Cory Peterson. Brown isn’t expected to make his season debut until next week.
Eli Kirk (133) leads the team in wins with 12 (12-2), including nine bonus victories. Two others have 10 wins — 141 Josh Taylor at 10-0 and 165 Jaxon Randall at 10-4 with nine bonus wins.
Studd Morris returned to the mat at the Drury Open last weekend after missing last season to injury and went 5-0 in claiming one of four titles for the Bronchos. Taylor, 133 Peter Rolle and 197 Emmanuel Skillings also claimed gold medals.
OBU is led by fifth-ranked Jimmy Anderson at 133, a returning national qualifier. Anderson beat Kirk 5-3 at last week’s Drury Open before falling to Rolle 9-2 in the finals.
Jaylon Otero went 5-0 in taking the Drury Open title at 157 to earn MIAA Wrestler of the Week honors. He finished fourth at last year’s Super Regional IV Tournament in coming up just short of qualifying for the national tournament. Brooks Schrimsher fell to UCO’s Skillings in the Drury Open finals.
