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Five Tigers headed to nationals
3/12/2009
By The Hays Daily News
The qualifiers for the Fort Hays State University wrestling team have already arrived in Houston, site of the NCAA Division II National Championships. The two-day event begins Friday, part of the Division II National Championships Festival, which will include swimming, indoor track and field, and wrestling.
The Tiger wrestlers were in Houston on Wednesday to practice and participate in various other activities associated with the season finale.
Five wrestlers earned bids into the national tournament after competing in the West Regional/RMAC Championships two weeks ago in Kearney, Neb.
Fort Hays, which finished fourth in the final team standings, will be represented by junior Danny Grater (157 pounds), junior Tommy Edgmon (125), senior Troy Lussenhop (164), senior James Annon (141) and junior Tyler Gonzales (184).
Grater enters the tourney with a 28-11 mark after finishing second in the regional. Grater was the only Tigers to reach a title match, but three other Tigers finished in the top four. He was named to the all-RMAC second team.
Grater enters the national tourney as the No. 3 ranked wrestler at 157 pounds. Grater has been ranked all season.
At 125 pounds, Edgmon is ranked No. 7 in the nation, carryiing a 15-7 mark into the weekend.
Edgmon finished third in the regional, losing in the semifinals. He won two matches after his semifinal loss to collect third place.
Lussenhop also finished third for the Tigers in Kearney, also falling in the semifinals, but bouncing back with two wins on the consolation side. Lussenhop is 24-11 entering the tourney.
At 184, Gonzales is 24-15 after finishing fourth. Gonzales is making his third appearance for the Tigers at the national tournament. He qualified twice before at 197 pounds. Annon, a Norton native who has been ranked as high as No. 2 at 141, needed a little luck to get into the tourney. An All-American for the Tigers last season, Annon finished fifth in the regional, but was able to take the fourth qualifying spot since he had defeated the fourth-place finisher earlier in the tourney. Annon, a three-time qualifier, was the Tigers' only All-American last season with a fifth-place finish at nationals. After being ranked No. 2, Annon was not listed in the final rankings two weeks ago. He enters the tourney with a 26-9 record.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| 2/18 | SW Baptist | L 66-53 | |
| 12/1 | Oklahoma - Panhandle | L 66-60 (OT) | |