Kearney, Neb. – The second-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team used four bonus points wins and an overtime decision to tame No. 17-ranked Fort Hays State, 35-12, Thursday night at the Health & Sports Center.

The Lopers finish up the regular season 10-3 and outscored the competition 290-36 over the last eight duals. The Tigers, meanwhile, drop to 3-7.

"Even in the matches won, and in the ones we lost, there was just a couple of choices that could have been the difference between getting bonus points or winning the match. The guys just need to trust where they are at," UNK head coach Dalton Jensen said. "It was good to dominate a rival opponent and this gives us confidence heading into regionals."

Senior Wesley Dawkins (133 lbs.) recorded a fall at 2:17 to get UNK on the board. The third-ranked Dawkins (Lincoln) was up 14-0 prior to his fourth fall of the year. After a forfeit win at 141 pounds put the Lopers ahead for good, senior Sam Turner (Colorado Springs) racked up three takedowns and 4:46 in riding time to major Cole Zebley, 8-0. Turner came in ranked fifth nationally at 149 pounds.

Next, second-ranked Matt Malcom (Glenwood, Ia.) put on a show at 165 pounds as he recorded five takedowns as part of an 18-3 tech fall. He is now 10-0 with nine bonus point wins. Not to be outdone, junior Austin Eldredge (McPherson, Kan.) moved to 11-0 at 184 pounds with a 15-0 tech fall in just 3:17. Ranked 11th nationally he improves to a team-best 11-0 with eight tech falls, two majors and a fall to his credit.

"We have a lot of guys that can score a lot of points so it makes things more enjoyable to watch. It's fun for fans," Jensen said. "We have three guys that have over 110 points on the year which is just crazy."

There were some nail-biters in between all the scoring. Redshirt freshman Joseph Reimers (Seward), ranked eighth at 197 pounds, trailed junior Tereus Henry 3-0 heading into the final period. Reimers used and escape and takedown to tie things up but, momentarily, Henry was awarded a takedown as time expired. However, the points were waved off after the action was determined to have come after the clock hit zero. Reimers took advantage by getting a quick takedown to win 5-3 in sudden victory.

"That guy is pretty tough and talented. To come back from a deficit and for as young as (Reimers) is to be able to gut that out … that's a match he's going to have to have in order to be an All-American or National Champ down the road," Jensen said.

Nationally-ranked AJ Cooper had the same result at heavyweight as he bested redshirt sophomore Lee Herrington (Kearney H.S.) in extra time. The match was tied at one apiece
with neither wrestler scoring in the first sudden victory period. With the first 30-second period winding down Cooper pinned Herrington at 8:29  Finally, second-ranked Mason Turner pinned top-ranked Josh Portillo (Clarion, Ia.) at 5:49 to start the night. Portillo almost had a pin of his own in the early going but Turner fought off that action. Turner broke a 2-2 tie in the third with a takedown before recording the fall.

UNK heads to NCAA Regionals in Grand Junction, Colo., on February 27. The 10 weight class winners advance to the NCAA Championships March 12-13 in St. Louis. This particular region will also get seven "wild card" national qualifiers and those will be determined in a head coaches meeting.

"Being smart (COVID wise). We'll continue our training and fine-tuning things with each individual. Other than that, most of the guys are where they need to be so I think we're ready," Jensen said.