Recap: @UNCBearsWrestle has three champions at the Northern Colorado Open

Saturday, November 11

Greeley, CO

All Day

University of Northern Colorado

Northern Colorado Open

11/11/2017 6:15:00 PM | Wrestling

Jimmy Fate, Dylan Gabel, and Jacob Seely top their weight classes

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo.- As hosts of the Northern Colorado Open, UNC wrestling had a strong showing at Bank of Colorado Arena on Saturday. UNC had three champions, with two wrestlers advancing to the finals and four advancing to the consolation finals.

The three champions for the Bears included Jimmy Fate, Dylan Gabel, and Jacob Seely.

Jimmy Fate won the 149 lb weight class for his first career championship at UNC. Fate defeated Wyoming's Sam Turner in the finals with a 4-2 decision, a week after Turner got the best of Fate at the Cowboy Open. On his way to the finals, Fate recorded three pins and a 5-1 decision in the semi-finals over Jaron Jensen.

Dylan Gabel won a championship at the Northern Colorado Open in the 184 lb weight class for the second straight year. This year, Gabel defeated Chaz Polson of Wyoming with a 3-2 decision for his first title of the season. Gabel advanced to the finals with a 4-2 win by decision over Wyoming's Carless Looney and recorded two pins in his first two matches of the day.

Jacob Seely won the championship in the 197 lb weight class after finishing as the runner-up during last year's Northern Colorado Open. Seely was dominate in the finals with a 19-6 major decision over Air Force Prep's Max Wright. In the semi-finals, Seely defeated unattached opponent Donavon Rincon, with an 18-3 tech fall. Seely is starting the 2017-18 season strong, with two championships in his first two competitions.

Along with the champions, UNC placed eight at the Northern Colorado Open. Rico Montoya lost in the 133 lb weight class finals to Montorie Bridges in a 12-7 decision. Montoya defeated Bridges for the 133 lb weight class title last week at the Cowboy Open. Macoy Flanagan improved on his fourth place finish last week and placed second in the 157 lb weight class. Flanagan was pinned by Air Force Preps Wes Ahrberg at the 1:11 mark in the finals.

In the consolation finals, Michael Johnson defeated Sid Flores from Air Force Prep by decision 8-4 to place third in the 125 lb weight class. Johnson lost 4-2 by decision in the semi-finals to eventual champion Cole Verner, who wrestled unattached for the day. Tyler Kinn placed third in the 157 weight class with a 6-0 decision over Efe Osaghae from Fort Hays. Kinn was defeated in the semi-finals by Ahrberg, 8-4 by decision. Ben Polkowske placed fourth in the 149 lb weight class after forfeiting to Jensen in the consolation finals. Polkowske was pinned at the 3:21 mark by Air Force Preps Brandon Konecny his first match of the day. Robert Winters Jr. placed fourth in the heavyweight class. He was pinned by Kayne Hutchison at the 0:59 mark in the consolation finals. Winters Jr. lost in the semi-finals to Cody Johnson from Colorado State, 7-1 by decision.

Sean Cannon wrestled unattached at the Northern Colorado Open and placed second in the 125 lb weight class. Cannon lost to Verner 8-3 by decision in the finals. Jamarcus Grant placed fourth in the 184 weight class wrestling unattached. Grant lost to Looney 3-2 by decision in the consolation finals.

Quotes
Jimmy Fate
"It felt good. I was down a weight [class] for the second week in a row. My legs felt good and I felt good physically. I've been working hard in the room and it all came together for me today. I let my offense go a little bit more this match then I did last week. I took a few bad shots at the end of last week's match that got me in trouble. But, I wrestled smart here and got the job done in the right position."

Head Coach, Troy Nickerson
On the team's performance:
"I think we wrestled pretty well. There was a lot more fight, which is something we were looking for. When we competed last weekend, I think we were a little hesitant with nerves from the start of the season, but we definitely corrected a lot of that this weekend and competed hard. There's still some positions we need to get better at, but overall I'm pretty happy."

On the three champions:
"It wasn't our best final round. I think we certainly could have done a lot better. But its progress and for Jimmy it's his first tournament title as a Bear. Dylan obviously coming off a tough weekend, it was really important for him to get back on the horse. Jacob Seely is really regaining that confidence since he has not been on the mat much in the last two years. It was really good for all three of those guys."

Up Next
Northern Colorado Wrestling will not compete for a couple of weeks until they travel to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Cliff Keen Invitational. The competition takes place all day on Dec. 1st and Dec. 2^nd.