EDMOND – Josh Taylor and Branson Britten pulled off big upsets to highlight Central Oklahoma’s stunning 33-3 drubbing of McKendree Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House.
It was a huge departure from usual meetings between the two rivals, with six of the nine previous meetings having been decided by four point or less.
No. 7-ranked UCO dominated this time, winning nine of the 10 matches – with the lone loss coming in overtime — to overwhelm the No. 11 Bearcats and improve to 3-1 on the season with its 27th straight home win.
The unranked Taylor knocked off No. 6 Ronan Schuelke 8-2 at 141 pounds, while 14th-rated Britten toppled No. 6 Darion Johnson 7-1 at 184 to lead the way.
Jason Henschel (133) and Garrett Wells (197) also had key wins in showdowns against ranked opponents, with 125 Guy Clevenger, 149 Bam West, 174 Hunter Jump and Hvy Judson Rowland all earning bonus-point victories. Gabe Johnson (157) added a decision.
UCO finished the dual with an 18-3 advantage in takedowns and 7-0 edge in near-falls.
“We wrestled really well today against a good team,” head coach Todd Steidley said. “I was proud of our guys. They were aggressive and did a great job getting to the leg when we were on our feet.
“We came ready to go and won a lot of key individual matches that turned the dual in our favor.”
Taylor had the first of those after UCO had already built a 7-0 lead. The junior took Schuelke to his back for a big seven-point move midway through the first period and McKendree’s two-time All-American couldn’t recover.
Schuelke escaped later in the opening stanza and got loose again in the second to make it 7-2, but Taylor escaped early in the third to go up 8-2 and coasted in.
Britten took Johnson down 37 seconds into their physical brawl and controlled him the rest of the period to take a 3-0 lead. The senior transfer who was making his UCO home debut escaped and added a penalty point in the second to make it 5-0, then added a riding time point after both wrestlers were penalized in the final period to secure the 7-1 victory.
The fourth-ranked Henschel downed No. 7 Thaddeus Long 9-4 to avenge a loss in the 2023 junior college national tournament finals. Long led 3-0 after a late first-period takedown, but Henschel nearly pinned him in notching a pair of four-point second-period near-falls to go ahead 8-3 and Long had no answer the rest of the way.
Wells used a big second period in his 7-1 win over fifth-ranked Logan Kvien. The sixth-rated Wells escaped early in the second period to break a scoreless tie, then used a takedown and two-point near-fall to make it 6-0 before adding a riding time point to offset Kvien’s third-period escape in the final period.
West had the lone fall of the day, building a 13-2 lead behind a four-takedown attack before decking Caleb Lavine at the 6:14 mark. Rowland added a technical fall in the closing match, scoring three takedowns and two near-falls in a 17-1 romp that ended early in the third period.
Clevenger and Jump both scored major decisions. Clevenger had two takedowns, a near-fall and a reverse in a 16-4 shellacking to put the Bronchos in quick control and the 14th-ranked Jump scored the last of his four takedowns with three seconds remaining to secure an 18-10 win over No. 15 Zeke Waltz.
Johnson had a pair of takedowns and riding time point in a methodical 7-2 victory, the 17th straight for the two-time national champion and top-ranked senior standout.
UCO doesn’t return to action until Dec. 3 when the Bronchos host MIAA rival Newman at 7 p.m.
UCO 33, McKendree 3
125 – Guy Clevenger, UCO, major dec. Jason Strope, 16-3.
133 – Jason Henschel, UCO, dec. Thaddeus Long, 9-4.
141 – Josh Taylor, UCO, dec. Ronan Schuelke, 8-2.
149 – Bam West, UCO, pinned Caleb Lavine, 6:14.
157 – Gabe Johnson, UCO, dec. Cale Hoskinson, 7-2.
165 – Sam Richardson, McKendree, dec. Bryce Dauphin, 4-1 (SV).
174 – Hunter Jump, UCO, major dec. Zeke Waltz, 18-10.
184 – Branson Britten, UCO, dec. Darion Johnson, 7-1.
197 – Garrett Wells, UCO, dec. Logan Kvien, 7-1.
Hvy – Judson Rowland, UCO, tech. fall Casey Olszowka, 17-1 (5:30)
*-UCO deducted one team for unsportsmanlike co
