Mike Kirk
KEARNEY, Neb. (Jan. 20) – Garrett Wells fueled a late rally that lifted top-ranked Central Oklahoma past No. 18 Northern State in the opener and the Bronchos overwhelmed Western Colorado in their final match at the Younes Hospitality Duals Saturday.
UCO overcame a 16-9 deficit to top the Wolves 22-16 before thumping the Mountaineers 34-6 behind five bonus-point wins. Wells started the comeback against NSU with an 18-0 thumping at 184, Dalton Abney followed with a 5-0 shutout and Shawn Streck finished it off with a 19-4 technical fall.
The Bronchos improved to 9-0 with the sweep at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds in running their winning streak to 16 straight. UCO goes back on the road next weekend, traveling to Colorado for back-to-back duals against Adams State and Colorado State-Pueblo.
“Northern gave us a battle, which we knew they would,” head coach Todd Steidley said. “We didn’t wrestle very well in a few spots and got behind, but the guys at the end of the lineup did a great job picking us up.
“I thought we wrestled better in the second dual. We got some big bonus wins early and that’s always key. It was a good day overall, though I think our guys saw that we still have a lot of work to do.”
The Bronchos led 9-6 halfway through the NSU dual, but the Wolves got a major decision at 165 and a stunning fall at 174 to go ahead 16-9. All-American Anthony DesVigne was leading 4-1 in the second period at 174 when Seth Brossard took him down to his back and got the pin.
Wells got UCO back on track at 184, using three takedowns and a pair of four-point near-falls in an 18-0 technical fall and two-time national champion Abney put the Bronchos ahead with a methodical 5-0 decision at 197….
