Bears Drop To 9th In Latest National Wrestling Rankings
EDMOND, Okla. -- Defending national champion Central Oklahoma retained its No. 1 ranking in the final NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches' Association poll that was released Wednesday.
The Bronchos, who captured their 14th consecutive Midwest Regional title last weekend, received all eight first-place votes in balloting of coaches from around the country to finish No. 1 with 160 points. UCO advanced seven individuals to the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, set for March 14-15 in Wheeling, W. Va.
North Central Conference champion Nebraska-Omaha is second in the poll and has six national qualifiers, while West Region Nebraska-Kearney is third and will send eight to the national tournament. East Region champion Pittsburgh-Johnstown is fourth with eight qualifiers and North Dakota State is fifth with seven in the national meet.
UCO has three top-ranked individuals -- Mark Dodgen (125), Cole Province (133) and Shawn Silvis (165) and three others in the top four. UNO is led by No. 1s Chad Wallace (197) and Les Sigman (heavyweight), while UNK has Brandon Pfizenmaier (149) and Frank Kuchera (174) atop the individual rankings.
The NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches' Association Top 20 poll with points and their last ranking (first-place votes in parenthesis):
Others Receiving Votes: Colorado School of Mines, Minnesota State-Moorhead, Southwest State (Minn.), St. Cloud State (Minn.), West Liberty State (W.Va.)Rank School (State) Points Last Ranking 1. Central Oklahoma (8) 160 1st 2. Nebraska-Omaha 149 3rd 3. Nebraska-Kearney 145 4th 4. Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 128 5th 5. North Dakota State 126 2nd 6. San Francisco State (Calif.) 125 6th 7. Ashland (Ohio) 107 10th 8. Central Missouri State 99 13th 9. Northern Colorado 97 7th 10. South Dakota State 88 14th 11. Findlay (Ohio) 87 T-15th 12. Adams State (Colo.) 76 11th 13. Wisconsin-Parkside 58 NR 14. Minnesota State-Mankato 53 12th 15. Augustana (S.D.) 45 8th 16. Indianapolis (Ind.) 37 9th 17. North Carolina-Pembroke 30 NR 18. Gannon (Pa.) 22 18th 19. Western State (Colo.) 13 NR 20. Chadron State (Neb.) 11 20th
125 Pounds 1. Mark Dodgen, Central Oklahoma 2. Jared Haberman, Western State (Colo.) 3. Joey Bareng, San Francisco State (Calif.) 4. Drew Passley, Central Missouri State 5. Dan Hilario, Nebraska-Omaha 6. Matt Strawser, North Dakota State 7. Bryce Abbey, Nebraska-Kearney 8. James Phillips, Ashland (Ohio)133 Pounds 1. Cole Province, Central Oklahoma 2. Tony Fratzke, Minnesota State-Mankato 3. Joey Simcoe, Findlay (Ohio) 4. Curry Pickard, North Carolina-Pembroke 5. Mitch Waite, Nebraska-Omaha 6. Donald Lockett, San Francisco State (Calif.) 7. Thad Benton, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 8. Adam Mars, Adams State (Colo.)
141 Pounds 1. Shane Barnes, Adams State (Colo.) 2. Merrick Meyer, Truman State (Mo.) 3. Matt Dodgen, Central Oklahoma 4. Rodrick Ratcliff, Nebraska-Omaha 5. Shaine Jaime, Central Washington 6. R.C. LaHaye, Western State (Colo.) 7. Brad Russell, Wisconsin-Parkside 8. Ronald Paterniti, Gannon (Pa.)
149 Pounds 1. Brandon Pfizenmaier, Nebraska-Kearney 2. Waylon Lowe, Findlay (Ohio) 3. Andy Messersmith, Adams State (Colo.) 4. Eric Pizzi, Central Missouri State 5. Austin Scarset, Augustana (S.D.) 6. Mitch Napier, Indianapolis (Ind.) 7. Jared Barnes, South Dakota State 8. Loren Hutchins, Northern Colorado
157 Pounds 1. Paul Carlson, North Dakota State 2. Travis Koppenhafer, Adams State (Colo.) 3. Brody Olson, Northern Colorado 4. Adam Morris, Findlay (Ohio) 5. Gary Skoch, Ashland (Ohio) 6. Jack Quintana, Western State (Colo.) 7. Corey Crandall, Truman State (Mo.) 8. Dan Dempsey, Wisconsin-Parkside
165 Pounds 1. Shawn Silvis, Central Oklahoma 2. Jake Emerick, Minnesota State-Mankato 3. Tyler Bryant, South Dakota State 4. Lucas Mackesy, Findlay (Ohio) 5. Greg Chiereileson, Colorado School of Mines 6. Riley Ross, Nebraska-Kearney (Neb.) 7. Josh McDonald, San Francisco State (Calif.) 8. Matt Neumueller, St. Cloud State (Minn.)
174 Pounds 1. Frank Kuchera, Nebraska-Kearney 2. Zach Stephens, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 3. Jason Tapia, Central Oklahoma 4. Randy Pyle, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 5. Tom Bauer, Ashland (Ohio) 6. Jon Duncombe, St. Cloud State (Minn.) 7. Bryan Cowdin, South Dakota State 8. Thad Pike, North Dakota State
184 Pounds 1. Tyler Jones, South Dakota State 2. Mauricio Wright, San Francisco State (Calif.) 3. Zach Stalder, Nebraska-Omaha 4. Jeff Henning, Central Oklahoma 5. Mark Dubrovich, Colorado School of Mines 6. Sam Kenton, Augustana (S.D.) 7. Jordan Nichols, Fort Hays State (Kan.) 8. Derek Brunson, North Carolina-Pembroke
197 Pounds 1. Chad Wallace, Nebraska-Omaha 2. Jeff Rusher, Chadron State (Neb.) 3. Drew Dunbar, San Francisco State 4. Ryan Kirst, Ashland (Ohio) 5. Seth Shippy, Central Missouri State 6. Brian Kraemer, North Dakota State 7. Tim Boldt, South Dakota State 8. Justin Mautz, Mercyhurst (Pa.)
Heavyweight 1. Les Sigman, Nebraska-Omaha 2. Lyneil Mitchell, Gannon (Pa.) 3. Dustin Darveaux, St. Cloud State (Minn.) 4. Howard Bell, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 5. Plamen Paskalev, Central Missouri State 6. Barron Blanchard, Northern State (S.D.) 7. Bob Murphy, Nebraska-Kearney 8. Andrew Ubben, Fort Hays State (Kan.)
