Recap: @UNCBearsWrestle falls to Duke, CSU-Bakersfield

Sunday, January 14

Greeley, CO

3 pm

University of Northern Colorado

CSU-Bakersfield

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

1/14/2018 8:15:00 PM | Wrestling

Northern Colorado drops both matches on Sunday in the tri-meet

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo- Northern Colorado wrestling had a busy Sunday, but could not come away with a win against either Duke or CSU-Bakersfield. UNC dropped its first dual of the day against Duke by a razor thin margin, 19-18. The Bears had little time to rest as they faced off against CSU-Bakersfield, with the Roadrunners winning 22-12.

Northern Colorado-Duke
The dual started in the 149 lb weight class with Jimmy Fate taking on Brandon Leynaud. Fate established himself in the first period with a pair of takedowns to hold a 4-1 advantage. Fate added to his lead in the second period with another takedown, along with an escape and a stalling penalty. Another takedown in third period would give Fate a 12-1 major decision victory over Leynaud and UNC opened with a 4-0 lead.

Tyler Kinn went against No. 11 Mitch Finesilver in the 157 lb weight class and Finesilver built a 4-1 lead in the first period. Finesilver extended the lead in the second and third periods to defeat Kinn in an 8-2 decision and bring the team score to 4-3.

In the 165 lb weight class, No. 19 Keilan Torres struggled early against Zach Finesilver and was in an 8-1 hole after the first period. Finesilver had a pair of takedowns and a four-point near fall. The second period was a different story as Torres managed to pin Finesilver at 3:43. Torres aggression allowed him to add to his team leading nine pins this season and gave UNC a 10-3 advantage in the dual.

Sethan Bogulski faced off with the third Finesilver brother, Matt, in the 174 lb weight class. Bogulski was trialed 2-1 after the first period. After a scoreless third, Finesilver tallied another takedown and added an escape, along with a riding time point to win 6-1 decision of Bogulski. UNC's lead was trimmed to 10-6.

Now in the 184 lb weight class, No. 23 Dylan Gabel looked to rebuild UNC's lead against Kaden Russell. Gabel had a takedown and a four-point near fall on Russell to race out to a 6-0 lead. In the second period, Gabel added another takedown and Russell was hit with a stalling penalty to grow and the lead was up to 9-0. Two more stalling penalties on Russell in the third period earned Gabel a 12-0 major decision victory over Russell. UNC now had a 14-6 lead over the Blue Devils half way through the dual.

Tanner Davis stepped in the lineup in the 197 lb weight class to replace the injured Jacob Seely and his first dual match of the season pitted him against Alex Schenk. In the first period, Schenk had a takedown on Davis, but he was able to respond with a reversal to tie the match at two. Davis took the lead in the second period with a reversal, but Schenk got a late escape to leave the score at 4-3. Schenk had a takedown of Davis in the third and scored a riding time point to win a 7-5 decision over Davis. Duke crept closer to UNC with the win and only trailed 14-9 now.

Robert Winters Jr. was on the mat for UNC in the heavyweight class and he faced off against fifth ranked Jacob Kasper. Kasper had a takedown in each of the first two periods to lead 4-0 over Winters Jr. Kasper would separate himself in the third with three takedowns and defeated Winters Jr. 12-2 by major decision. UNC's lead was now down to 14-13.

In the 125 lb weight class, Sean Cannon started out well against Thayer Atkins with a takedown in the first to lead 2-1. Atkins would tie the match up at five in the second period with two takedowns. Another takedown by Atkins and a stalling penalty on Cannon would give Duke the match win. Atkins defeated Cannon 9-5 by decision and now had the lead in the dual with a 16-14 advantage.

Rico Montoya would meet the fourth Finesilver brother, Josh, in the 133 lb weight class. Finesilver lead 3-2 after the first period after the two exchanged takedowns and Finesilver had an escape. The second period saw Montoya tie the match with a takedown, but Finesilver scored a two-point reversal with seven seconds left. Montoya was able to tie the match again in the third period with a takedown, but a late escape from Finesilver handed him the win with a 7-6 decision. Duke built its lead up to 19-14.

In the final match of the dual, Benjamin Polkowske and Jeremiah Reitz faced off in the 141 lb weight class. Polkowske had two takedowns on Reitz to lead 4-2 after the first period. Polkowske grew his lead in the second period with two more takedowns. The trend continued in the third period and Polkowske had two more takedowns to win the match 13-4 by major decision. Despite Polkowske's win, Duke won the dual 19-18 for its second dual win of the season, after defeating CSU-Bakersfield earlier in the day.

Northern Colorado-CSU Bakersfield
Jimmy Fate again opened the dual for UNC, and faced off against Kalani Tonge. After a scoreless first period, Fate earned an escape and a takedown on Tonge in the second to hold a 3-0 lead. Fate added a riding time point to end the match and won 4-0 by decision. UNC started out with a 3-0 lead in its second dual of the day.

In the 157 lb weight class, Tyler Kinn went against Coleman Hammond. Kinn scored first with a takedown, but Hammond responded with a reversal and four-point near fall. Kinn closed out the first with his own reversal to leave the score at 4-6 in favor of Hammond. Hammond kept up the pressure in the second period and had a takedown and a four-point near fall on Kinn. He went on to defeat Kinn 16-4 by major decision. Bakersfield now had a 4-3 lead over UNC.

Keilan Torres looked to follow up his pin in the first dual with a match against Bakersfield's Jacob Thalin. Torres had a takedown and a two-point near fall on Thalin to lead 4-1 after the first period. In the second period, Thalin tied the match at four with a takedown, following an escape. The match would go to overtime after a scoreless third period. Torres would pull off the win with a takedown at 0:39 for a sudden victory 6-4. UNC had the lead back at 6-4 with Torres's victory.

Sethan Bogulski met Bryan Battisto in the 174 lb weight class and Battisto dominated in the first period with a 10-1 lead. Battisto would extend his lead in the third period to defeat Bogulski 15-5 by major decision. Bogulski managed to score with several escapes, but Battisto was able to score more takedowns. Bakersfield once again had the lead 8-6.

UNC needed Dylan Gabel to perform well in the 184 class to try and get the lead back. Gabel faced off against Dom Ducharme. After Ducharme got an early takedown, Gabel responded with a takedown and a four-point near fall to lead 7-2. Another takedown in the second gave Gabel a 9-2 advantage that he would hold into the third period. Gabel won a 9-4 decision and UNC retook the lead 9-8 in the dual.

Tanner Davis went up against Matt Williams in the 197 lb weight class and trailed 2-1 after the first period. Williams would get another takedown on Davis to extend the lead to 5-1. The match would end with a 6-2 decision win for Williams and Bakersfield once again had the lead at 11-9.

The heavyweight class had Robert Winters Jr. against Dominic Balmer. Balmer established a 1-0 lead in the second with an escape. Winters Jr. managed to tie the match at one in the third period, forcing overtime. In overtime, Winters Jr. walked off with a sudden victory when he took down Balmer with 0:13 seconds left. The lead continued to change hands and UNC was up 12-11 in the dual.

Michael Johnson was up for UNC in the 125 lb weight class and met Sergio Mendez. Mendez would score takedowns in the first two periods to lead 4-1. Mendez extended the lead in the third with another takedown and won the match 9-3 by decision. Bakersfield was in front again with a 14-12 lead.

The 133 lb weight class would pit Rico Montoya and Sean Nickell against each other. Nickell used a takedown, a two-point near fall, and a four-point near fall to lead 8-0 after one period. The second period had no scoring, but Nickell would put the match away in the third with three takedowns. He defeated Montoya 13-4 by major decision and Bakersfield's lead grew to 18-12.

Benjamin Polkowske and Russell Rohlfing would be the last match of the day for both teams in the 141 lb weight class. Rohlfing would lead 4-1 after the second period and this trend continued in the third. Rohlfing picked up the major decision 11-1 victory over Polkowske to close out the dual win for the Roadrunners.

CSU-Bakersfield earned a 22-12 victory over UNC, to drop the Bears record to 1-4 in duals this season. The Roadrunners improved to 3-6 on the season.

In their words
Troy Nickerson, Head Coach
On the Duke dual
"I think overall, we wrestled pretty well against Duke. I thought the energy was good. I think we left 125 and 133 on the table, which would have sealed the dual win for us."

On the CSU-Bakersfield dual
We wrestled uninspired, no heart no desire. Bakersfield is a good top team and we knew that. We work on getting out of legs every day in practice room, at some point you just have to connect. I trust my coaches are showing them what they need to know, but there just needs to be a little more effort put in. We need bonus points from some our seniors, some of those guys have to step up.

Dylan Gabel
"I felt good the first match. The second match I wrestled well for two periods. I gave up that takedown early and I didn't let that get to me. I was Able to wrestle hard and get the back points and wrestled well in the second period to get that takedown. I made the wrong decision choosing down in the third. It was a mistake and I won't do it again. Our heads weren't in the right place against Bakersfield."

Keilan Torres
"I don't think I wrestled well today. I know I won both of my matches, but Duke I was behind 10-2. Even though I had the fall against Duke, it was not acceptable and I'm not happy with my performance. At the same time, I did get the job done, I won, but I'm not happy with it. I have to step it up more. You could tell the energy wasn't there against Bakersfield. Against Duke, we came out and attacked, but Bakersfield we held back. Those are two teams I truly believe we can beat.

Up Next
Northern Colorado will stay at home and host Cal Poly in another dual at Bank of Colorado Arena on Friday, January 19^th. Stay up to date with UNC wrestling at uncbears.com and on Twitter with @UNCBearsWrestle.