Mike Kirk
WICHITA, Kan. (March 15) – Dylan Brown and Anthony DesVigne pulled off quarterfinal upsets to lead a Central Oklahoma surge that propelled the Bronchos into the lead at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships Friday night at Hartman Arena.
Brown and DesVigne — both seeded sixth — knocked off No. 3 seeds, with Brown downing Chris Donathan of Grand Valley State 18-11 at 149 pounds while DesVigne toppled Cole Hernandez of Western Colorado 4-1 in overtime at 174.
They were two of six straight winners UCO had in the quarterfinals. Gabe Johnson (157), Hunter Jump (165), Dalton Abney (197) and Shawn Streck (Hvy) also moved into the semifinals, while 184 Garrett Wells stayed alive in the consolation bracket.
The top-ranked and defending national champion Bronchos have 59.5 points for a five-point lead over No. 2 Lander. No. 3 St. Cloud State is third with 47 points, followed by No. 5 McKendree (42.5) and No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney (36.5).
The tournament resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday with the semifinals and completion of all consolation matches before the championship finals at 7 p.m.
“We came through with some big wins tonight,” head coach Todd Steidley said. “We wrestled a lot better than we did in the first round and I was really proud of our effort. The guys were aggressive and kept trying to score points, which paid off for us.
“The semifinals will be another big round. It’s going to be a close team race and we need to keep moving guys forward.”
Brown gave up an early takedown to Donathan, but escaped and took Donathan to his back for a seven-point move in taking an 8-3 lead after the opening period. He escaped and scored another seven-point move midway through the second stanza to go up 16-3.
Donathan reversed Brown to his back late in the period in getting within 16-8, but Brown had a third-period escape and added an overtime point to offset a Donathan takedown in claiming the wild win.
It was the 12th straight win for Brown, who will take on second-seeded Jacob Ealy of Pittsburgh-Johnstown in the semifinals.
DesVigne and Hernandez traded escapes to end regulation in a 1-1 deadlock. DesVigne countered a Hernandez shot and turned it into the winning takedown on the edge of the mat 22 seconds into the sudden-victory period.
The senior earned his 10th consecutive win and will meet seventh-seeded Trey Sizemore of Indianapolis in the semis.
Johnson had a dominating performance in advancing to the semis against No. 2 Jack Haskin of Lake Erie. The third-seeded sophomore had three takedowns and a near-fall in taking a 13-2 lead after the first three minutes, then escaped and got another takedown to notch at 17-2 technical fall at the 3:53 mark for his 13th straight victory.
The fifth-seeded Jump prevailed 4-2 over No. 4 Nicholas Coreno of Gannon, breaking a 1-1 tie on a takedown with 33 seconds remaining. Coreno quickly escaped, but Jump held on for his 11th consecutive win.
He will face top-seeded Daniel Hunsberger of Lander in the semis.
Abney upheld his No. 1 seeding with an 8-0 rout eighth-seeded Jackson Kinsella of Nebraska-Kearney in clinching his status as UCO’s first-ever five-time All-American.
The two-time national champion had a first-period takedown and second-period reverse to take a 5-0 lead, then added two penalty points and a riding time point to claim the major decision and stay unbeaten (16-0).
Abney will take on McKendree’s unseeded Logan Kvien in the semifinals.
Streck avenged his only loss in the last two years with a 13-3 demolition of sixth-seeded Ryan Herman of Maryville. Herman won 11-10 in the regional finals two weeks ago, but Streck wasn’t pushed this time as he scored four takedowns in the major decision.
Streck will go against Pittsburgh-Johnstown’s second-seeded Isaiah Vance in the semis.
Wells shook off a first-round loss with two clutch consolation victories. He clipped Colorado Mesa’s Jason Bynarowicz 9-5 in his first match before blanking Limestone’s Jaquez Bostic 5-0.
Dylan Lucas was eliminated with two straight losses at 141. The third-seeded junior dropped a 2-1 tiebreaker decision to Nebraska-Kearney’s No. 6 Nick James in the quarterfinals before being ousted in his first consolation bout.
CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS
141 – Nick James, Nebraska-Kearney, dec. Dylan Lucas, UCO, 2-1 (TB).
149 – Dylan Brown, UCO, dec. Chris Donathan, Grand Valley State, 18-11.
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, tech. fall Drew Wiechers, Ashland, 17-2 (3:53).
165 – Hunter Jump, UCO, dec. Nicholas Coreno, Gannon, 4-2.
174 – Anthony DesVigne, UCO, dec. Cole Hernandez, Western Colorado, 4-1.
197 – Dalton Abney, UCO, major dec. Jackson Kinsella, UNK, 8-0.
Hvy – Shawn Streck, UCO, major dec. Ryan Herman, Maryville, 13-3.
CONSOLATION FIRST ROUND
184 – Garrett Wells, UCO, dec. Jason Bynarowicz, Colorado Mesa, 9-5
CONSOLATION SECOND ROUND
141 – Joey Niffenegger, Mercyhurst, major dec. Lucas, UCO, 11-3.
184 – Wells, UCO, dec. Jaquez Bostic, Limestone, 5-0.
CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND
141 – Dylan Lucs, UCO, pinned Colton Stoneking, Fairmont State, 3:43.
149 – Dylan Brown, UCO, dec. James Ryan, Gannon, 6-3.
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, dec. Ben Durocher, Wisconsin-Parkside, 8-2.
165 – Hunter Jump, UCO, dec. Kyle Botelho, San Francisco State, 8-3.
174 – Anthony DesVigne, UCO, dec. Cole Glazier, St. Cloud State, 8-2.
184 – Cole Gray, Western Colorado, dec. Garrett Wells, UCO, 10-4.
197 – Dalton Abney, UCO, dec. Nicholas Johnson, Glenville State, 5-0.
Hvy – Shawn Streck, UCO, major dec. Matt Long, Gannon, 14-6.
