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Tiger wrestlers win dual
1/18/2009
By NICK McQUEEN
nmcqueen@dailynews.net
In the next few years, a meeting between the Fort Hays State University wrestling team and Wichita's Newman University might start to show a hint of a rivalry.
With Newman in a transitional phase to NCAA Division II, the two schools have the only four-year programs in the state.
Friday night, though, in a dual at Gross Memorial Coliseum, the experience factor showed in a 43-6 win for the Tigers, their second dual victory of the season in as many outings.
"By the end of the night, I was pretty happy," Tiger first-year coach Chas Thompson said. "To start, it wasn't starting the way we wanted it to, but by the end, we were fairly happy."
Fort Hays collected wins in seven of the eight matches wrestled and picked up a pair of forfeit victories. After a slow start that included a loss at 133 pounds by redshirt freshman Travis Kuhn, the Tigers steamrolled through the final five matches to gain the win.
"I thought we started off the dual real slow," Thompson said. "I didn't think we wrestled very well starting off those first couple of matches."
In the first match of the night at 285, redshirt freshman Justin Glenn and Newman sophomore Josh Fansler, who was a little undersized, took their match to overtime where Glenn broke a 1-1 tie with a takedown with 24 seconds left in the extra session.
"He's a little below, but was a very tough opponent for Justin," Thompson said of Fansler, last year's NWCA national champion at 184 pounds. "That's a good win for Justin. We're giving him time to (mature) and learn the college wrestling style."
Glenn moved to 4-5 on the year with the victory and gave the TIgers a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers' only loss, a pin win by senior Isaac Wall (18-4) over Kuhn at 133 gave the Jets their only points of the night.
After that, senior James Annon sparked the Tigers with a major decision victory at 141. Annon, the No. 2 ranked wrestler in Division II, took advantage of an aggressive sophomore John Hagan, scoring 12 points.
"Annon got us going with the major decision, and it snowballed for us in a good direction," Thompson said. "We were pretty much able to close it out from there."
Annon, who has lost only once to a Division II opponent and has three losses to Division I opponents, moved to 12-5 on the season.
"He knows he has a target on his back, and he trains like it's there," Thompson said of Annon, a Norton native. "I always have confidence every time he goes out there. He has confidence in himself and knows his shape is going to be good."
With back-to-back forfeits, wins for junior Levi Younkin (19-10) and junior Danny Grater (16-6), the No. 6 ranked wrester in Division II, the Tigers were well on their way to a win. Pin victories for senior Troy Lussenhop (12-6) and junior Shawn Kuhlmann (21-5) sealed the deal.
"It's a good win for us," Thompson said. "It's an in-state Division II, so that could be a good rivalry in a couple years -- give them time to build up the program."
One of the most exciting matches of the night, the 197-pound bout between Tiger junior Tyler Gonzales and Newman's Chalder Hart, came down to the wire, with Gonzales picking up a 9-7 decision. Hart, a junior, had not seen any action for the Jets, and suffered his first loss.
"Tyler didn't know who he was having, and Chandler came out and looked tough. He jumped on him, but Tyler was able to fight back and was able to get the win," Thompson said.
Tiger redshirt freshman Ben Evans put on the finishing touches with a 29-second pin victory in the final match of the evening.
The win catapults the Tigers into Thursday's dual with No. 5 Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla.
"We're definitely not peaked, but we don't want to be at this time of the year," Thompson said. "We have some guys that aren't 100 percent, so I think we're looking pretty good."
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| MB | 03/13 | Central Oklahoma | W 80-64 |
| SB | 03/08 | Fort Lewis | W 5-4 |
| BB | 03/07 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 13-7 |
| BB | 03/06 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 16-4 |
| BB | 03/06 | No. 9 Emporia State | W 3-0 |
| MB | 03/05 | Emporia State | L 65-61 |
| BB | 03/05 | No. 9 Emporia State | L 10-3 |
| WB | 03/04 | No. 15 Emporia | L 72-66 |
| WB | 02/28 | No. 12 Emporia State | L 87-80 |
| MB | 02/28 | Emporia State | W 94-47 |
| SB | 02/28 | Quincy | L 6-0 |
| SB | 02/27 | Mo Southern | W 9-3 |
| SB | 02/27 | Missouri S&T | L 8-3 |
| SB | 02/27 | Drury | W 17-10 |
| BB | 02/27 | Mo. Western | W 17-0 |
| BB | 02/27 | Mo. Western | W 3-2 (10 inn.) |
| BB | 02/26 | Mo. Western | W 12-8 |
| BB | 02/26 | Missouri Western | W 11-10 |
| MB | 02/24 | Pittsburg State | W 69-60 |
| WB | 02/24 | Pittsburg State | L 78-74 |