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Tigers lose home dual to ranked team
1/18/2008
By RANDY GONZALES
Hays Daily News
A milestone was reached in Thursday night's dual between the Fort Hays State University wrestling team and Central Oklahoma.
Just not the one Tiger fans wanted to see.
Central Oklahoma coach David James recorded his 300th career victory in the third-ranked Bronchos' 30-10 win over the No. 20 Tigers in Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Tiger coach Cody Bickley was denied his chance to break a tie for the all-time school record for wins. Bickley tied former Tiger coach Dave Winter with 54 career dual victories at New Mexico Highlands on Friday.
Winter, who coached the Tigers from 1963-70, had a career record of 54-43. Bickley is now 54-39-5, reaching 54 wins in 97 duals; Winter did it in 98.
"There have been some great coaches who have come through here," Bickley said. "I think it's definitely an honor.
"It comes back to the guys in this program," Bickley added.
The Tigers had their problems with Central Oklahoma (7-3 in duals), the defending national champion, winning just three of 10 matches.
"It's good to hook up with these guys," Bickley said. "We know they're one of the teams we've got to close the gap on."
Fort Hays (3-3) did get off to a good start, with senior Kyle Patton (7-5) winning 6-0 over freshman Nick Rice at 125 pounds. But the Bronchos won the next five matches to take a 19-3 led before Fort Hays won at 174, where junior Blake Malloy beat sophomore Kenney Meredith 12-4. Malloy (15-6) led 2-1 after the first period and three back points gave him a 6-3 lead heading into the third period. Two takedowns and two escapes gave Malloy all the breathing room he needed for the major decision win.
Bickley said one momentum swing in the dual came in the next match. Tiger sophomore Shawn Kuhlman was locked in a tight battle with fourth-ranked senior Heath Jolley, leading 2-1 late in the first period. But Kuhlman made what Bickley called a "technical error" and Jolley took advantage, pinning Kuhlman with 11 seconds left in the period.
The Tigers bounced back at 197 pounds, with sophomore Tyler Gonzales (13-6) locked in a 1-1 tie with redshirt freshman Jarrett Edison until Gonzales scored two points on a takedown in the match's final 10 seconds for a 3-1 win.
But senior Dustin Martin was pinned by sophomore Dustin Finn in the 285-pound match to end the night. The Tigers also lost at 133 (redshirt freshman Blake Fisher, 11-1 major decision to junior Tim Elliott); at 141 (junior James Annon, 11-1 major decision to No. 1 in the nation senior Kyle Evans); at 149 (senior Josh Pfannenstiel 8-0 to No. 7 sophomore Colby Robinson); at 157 (sophomore Danny Grater, 9-6 to No. 5 senior Jason Leavitt); at 165 (junior Troy Lussenhop, 10-3 major decision to senior Paul Mayfield).
Grater was locked in a tight match, and had chances for the win, but couldn't pull it out. In the match at 165, Mayfield had to literally hang on in the final seconds. With 11 seconds remaining and leading big, Mayfield hurt his ankle bad enough the match was stopped and he eventually limped back to the mat, hanging on to Lussenhop to ride out the final seconds.
"Overall, as a team, we battled hard," Bickley said. "Malloy and Gonzales had two good matches, Kyle's back at 125."
With the win, Jones became the 33rd coach in collegiate history to reach 300 wins. In his 26th year, Jones is 300-102-4.
Fort Hays resumes Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action Saturday at 12th-ranked Chadron State (Neb.) College. In the latest poll, five RMAC schools are ranked.
"Go up to Chadron ... it's a place to get back on track," Bickley said. "If we go up there and get a win Saturday, it will be a huge statement.
"This is the toughest the conference has been since I've been here," Bickley added.
Sports editor Randy Gonzales can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 137, or by e-mail at rgonzales@dailynews.net.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/11 | Central Missouri | L 4-2 |
| BB | 5/10 | Missouri Western | W 4-3 |
| BB | 5/09 | Emporia State | L 6-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
