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Tiger wrestlers in opener
11/8/2007
By RANDY GONZALES
Hays Daily News
The Tiger wrestling team might be in the toughest conference in the land, what with the No. 1-ranked squad leading the way.
So what better way to prepare for a tough schedule than to play an NCAA Division I squad in the season opener?
The Fort Hays State University wrestling team will tangle with Stanford University in a 7 p.m. dual Friday in Topeka.
"We're all very excited," Tiger coach Cody Bickley said. "What's exciting about it for our kids, (Stanford has) two kids who are national title contenders at the Division I level.
"For our kids to compete against those kids, that's a good memory to have," Bickley added.
The dual came about because Stanford was looking for an opponent to open with in Topeka. The Cardinal have a fifth-year senior in 125-pounder Tanner Gardner, who wrestled in high school in Topeka, at Shawnee Heights.
Fort Hays has three wrestlers on its roster also from Shawnee Heights -- two at 174 pounds in junior Blake Malloy and senior Phil Hart, and 197-pound sophomore Tyler Gonzales, whose father coached all four wrestlers in high school.
So, scheduling Stanford in Topeka was a no-brainer.
The Tigers were picked fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and that might seem like a no-brainer, too, but Bickley begs to differ.
"I think people are going to underestimate us a lot because we lost three All-Americans," said Bickley, whose squad was 7-6 in duals last year (4-3 in the RMAC). "But we return some national qualifiers.
"We keep adding pieces to the puzzle. This squad is very talented," Bickley added.
University of Nebraska-Kearney, ranked first in the nation, also is the top pick in the RMAC, which Bickley said is as good as he can remember.
"Without a doubt, it's the top the conference has been since I've been here," said Bickley, who came to Fort Hays to wrestle in 1993 and is in his eighth season as the team's coach.
Fort Hays finished second at the regional last year, its best showing in school history. The Tigers qualified seven wrestlers for the national meet.
The Tigers, ranked 18th in the NCAA II preseason poll, will have a slightly different look for the opener against Stanford. The Cardinal have a returning All-American at 157 pounds in Josh Zupancic.
Sophomore 157-pounder Danny Grater, a returning national qualifier and preseason No. 6 in NCAA Division II, will move up to 165 Friday.
"Danny kind of is taking one for the team," Bickley said, in order to give the Tigers a better chance to score points.
Senior Eric Johnson, who is returning to the mat after taking a year off, will jump up from 149 to 157 and take on Zupancic. They wrestled as freshmen in college, with Zupancic claiming a narrow win over Johnson when he was at Central Oklahoma.
"It's asking a lot of him," Bickley said of Johnson.
Johnson lost to senior Josh Pfannenstiel in the Black and Gold Scrimmage, and Bickley decided against redshirting Pfannenstiel, a Hays product.
"We're going to let him battle in there," Bickley said of his 149-pounder.
Filling out the lineup Friday for the Tigers will be senior Kyle Patton at 125, redshirt freshman Blake Fisher at 133, Norton junior James Annon (a returning national qualifier) at 141, Malloy at 174, Oakley sophomore Shawn Kuhlman at 185, Gonzales at 197 and senior Dustin Martin at 285 pounds.
Bickley said St. Francis redshirt freshman Dylan Loyd is a good prospect at 141, while Hutchinson freshman 197-pounder Ben Evans -- who lost in overtime to Gonzales in the scrimmage -- likely will redshirt. Gonzales is ranked fourth nationally in the preseason.
Martin, meanwhile, could be pushed by freshman Justin Glenn once football season is over. Glenn, the Tigers' fullback, was a state champion in Oklahoma. Glenn will start practicing Nov. 26, and his first action will be Dec. 1 in the home opener, the FHSU-Bob Smith Open.
Sports editor Randy Gonzales can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 137, or by e-mail at rgonzlaes@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 |
