UNK Ends Semester on High Note, Off Until January 6th
Kearney, Neb. – The second-ranked Nebraska Kearney wrestling team rolled past eighth-ranked Augustana, 31-14, and York University, 50-3, Saturday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center. This winter triangular wrapped up the fall semester for the Lopers (3-0). They are now off until the NWCA National Duals (Jan. 6-7) and the Hastings Open (Jan. 7). To start the day, Augie bested NAIA York by a 50-3 score with the Vikings and Lopers having three exhibition matches prior to their dual. While AU (4-3) won all of those matches, UNK dominated the varsity action. "Augustana has some good kids that will be at the national tournament. They are always a good dual team and that wasn't our traditional lineup. We have a few guys banged up," said UNK head coach Dalton Jensen. "So, it was good to see some fresh faces in the lineup and see where they are at." True freshman Joey Airola (Ward, Colo.) used a first-period fall at 133 pounds to get Kearney on the board with third-ranked Nick James (Kearney) following with a 15-4 major decision that included four takedowns and a 4-point near fall. Next, redshirt freshman Beau Hostler (Broomfield, Colo.) had a fall in sudden victory to win at 149 pounds before AU won back-to-back matches. "We burned (Airola's) redshirt last week at Hays and he went on to win that tournament. He came out here today and got two pins," said Jensen. "Excited to see how he keeps progressing throughout the year … just a tough kid who comes from a really good club. His skill level coming into college really transitioned well." UNK's four nationally-ranked upper weights not only each won but also didn't allow an offensive point. Second-ranked Austin Eldredge (McPherson, Kan.) had two takedowns and riding time as part of a 7-1 decision at 174 pounds, top-ranked Billy Higgins (Omaha Skutt) had two takedowns to win 5-2 at 184 lbs. with seventh-ranked Hayden Prince (Goose Creek, S.C.) using a third period takedown to edge Zach Peterson, 3-2, at 197 lbs. Finally, second-ranked heavyweight Lee Herrington (Kearney) won by forfeit. The Lopers used two more forfeits, four falls and three tech falls to blast the Panthers (2-3) by 47 points. Redshirt freshman Dylan Vodicka (Garrison) had a fall in 54 seconds at 184 lbs., redshirt freshman Jackson Kinsella (Clarinda, Ia.) almost matched him at 197 lbs. (1:03) with redshirt freshman Kaden Heart (St. Peters, Mo.) recording eight takedowns to win 22-6 at 165 lbs. "Against York we used some guys who haven't been in the lineup before. There is a mismatch there for us but to become a good wrestler you have to learn how to dominate. You have to score a lot of points and they were able to go out and do that," said Jensen.
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