Kearney, Neb. – The 3rd-ranked Nebraska Kearney wrestling team fell to two nationally-ranked Division I squads Friday morning at the 35
th Annual
Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va.
In the "York River Pool" bracket, the Lopers lost to 25th-ranked Bucknell,
33-6, and then to 24th-ranked Old Dominion,
39-6. UNK will have two more duals, one later today at 2:00 p.m. Central and Saturday at 9:00 a.m. Central. Opponents are TBD.
Against the Bucknell Bison, the Lopers got wins from junior
Devin Aguirre (Ponca City, Okla.) at 165 lbs. and redshirt freshman
Chance Bila (Chadron) at 174 lbs.
Aguirre used two first period takedowns to take a 4-1 lead over Rob Schlitt. After a second period escape, his final point came on a double misconduct call. In the next bout, Bila had takedowns in each period to beat Rory Bonner by four points, 7-3.
UNK could've scored some more team points but top-ranked
Daniel DeShazer (Wichita, Kans.) was edged in overtime by Grimaldi Gonzalez, 7-5, at 133 lbs. Last month, DeShazer beat Gonzalez, 6-3, in Las Vegas.
DeShazer used a takedown with 16 seconds left in the third period to force more time. However, Gonzalez returned the favor with a takedown with 11 seconds left in the sudden victory period to win.
At 149 lbs., seventh-ranked
Destin McCauley (North Sioux City, S.D.) scored all six of his points in the first period against 18th-ranked Victor Lopez. That included three near fall points. However, Lopez came back to win 8-6 thanks to two reversals and a third period takedown.
Finally, top-ranked
Romero Cotton (Hutchinson, Kans.) was beating Tyler Lister 5-4 in the third period before Lister managed a fall at the 6:26 mark.
Against the ODU Monarchs, DeShazer was up 3-1 over Michael Hayes before recording a fall at 5:11 to score UNK's only points of the dual.
At 197 lbs., Cotton was down 3-1 heading into the third period against Kevin Beazley. The deficit drew to three when Cotton was called for illegally slamming Beazley. But, an escape and last second takedown by Cotton moved the match into sudden victory.
There, Beazley got an early takedown to win.
