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Fort Hays wrestlers finish regular season with three duals at GMC

2/8/2008

By NICK McQUEEN

Hays Daily News

During a grueling stretch in dual action in mid-January, the Fort Hays State University wrestling team gradually saw its position in the national rankings become lower and lower.

The Tigers had losses to three top 12 teams, and eventually found themselves out of the most recent national top 20 poll. The Tigers responded with a dominant win over the No. 20 ranked Mules from the University of Central Missouri on the road.

Fort Hays took eight of the 10 matches en route to a 28-9 win.

"It was a good dual on our part," Tiger coach Cody Bickley said earlier this week. "The guys came out ready to go and we knocked them back on their heels a little bit."

In a stretch where the Tigers wrestled five out of six duals on the road, Fort Hays went 3-3. The long road stretch only means the Tigers have a lot to look forward to -- their final three duals at home. It begins today with 7 p.m. dual action against No. 5 ranked Western State (Colo.) College in Gross Memorial Coliseum.

"We get to finish up the next few weeks here at home before the regional against quality opponents."

Two of those opponents, Western State and University of Nebraska-Kearney, are top 5 teams. Saturday's opponent, Grand Canyon University, is winless in dual action this season.

Last Saturday's win at Central Missouri got the Tigers' confidence back up, and put Fort Hays back on the national scene, even if just a little bit.

"We have been on the road the last three and ended up taking two of them." Bickley said. "It was good to get that momentum going and finishing up (the trip) on a positive note."

One of those wins included No. 55 on the career list for Bickley, who became the all-time Fort Hays wins leader. He will be honored with a banquet after Saturday's 7 p.m. dual in GMC. Admission to Saturday's dual is free and the banquet is open to the public.

But, the Tigers' focus remains on Western State today. The third-best team in the RMAC returns six All-Americans and came up with a win over defending national champion Central Oklahoma last week. The Tigers lost at home to Central Oklahoma in their only action at GMC in the latter part of January.

"We still have some guys battling sickness, so hopefully we can get that worked out," Bickley said.

"That's part of what we have to deal with. We just have to do the best we can."

At 5-4 overall and 3-2 in RMAC duals, the Tigers are in fourth place behind the Mountaineers (13-3-1, 3-1 RMAC). Two teams (Adams State and Nebraska-Kearney) remain unbeaten in conference dual action.

"They have a quality team and it's going to be another tough test for us," Bickley said. "We can shake some things up and get a good performance out of our guys.

"It will be great to be at home, so we're looking forward to that."

Bickley said the Tigers don't exactly know what to expect out of conference newcomer Grand Canyon.

The 'Lopes are 0-18-1 on the season, and 0-2 in RMAC duals. Bickley said they'll worry about Grand Canyon on Saturday.

"It's that time of the year everyone is getting geared up," Bickley said. "We know (Western) has a good team, but we're not going to lay down for them."

The three-dual home stand to close out the regular season ends with a Feb. 19 dual against Nebraska-Kearney, currently ranked No. 4. The Tigers will then compete in the West Regional/RMAC Championships in Las Vegas, N.M. on March 1.

Assistant sports editor Nick McQueen can be reached at (785)628-1081, Ext. 128 or by e-mail at nmcqueen@dailynews.net.

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