Bears Dominate in Season Opener Against the Tigers

Friday, November 4

Denver, Colo. (National Western Complex)

4 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

Monster Match: Fort Hays State

Photo by: Ashley Buchholz

11/4/2022 9:45:00 PM | Wrestling

By: By Jack Meyer, UNCBears.com

DENVER, Colo.- Northern Colorado wrestling had a strong start to the 2022-23 season against Fort Hays State, closing out their season opener with a resounding 43-3 dual victory.

The Bears put on an impressive showing, earning extra points in seven of the nine matches they won at the National Western Complex.

UNC claimed three falls, all in the first period, and three technical falls to coast to the season-opening win.

Freshman Stevo Poulin started his Bear career with the fastest victory of the day at 125, wasting no time in securing the win over Kevin Honas with a fall (0:30).

Returning NCAA-qualifier Jace Koelzer stepped up to 133 and followed with a win by technical fall (6:44) against Corbin White. While Koelzer started the match out strong, it was two takedowns and two four-point near falls in the third period that solidified extra points for the Bears.

Returning Big 12 champion Andrew Alirez picked up right where he left off last season with a victory over Mason Woodward at 141 with a fall in the first period (1:33).

Freshman Vincent Zerban (157) defeated Cody Hicks by technical fall (4:09) to keep the momentum going for the Bears. He had four takedowns and two four-point near falls in the match, with both near falls coming in the first period.

Baylor Fernandes dropped Blaise Ronnau by a tech fall (2:58) at 165, adding to UNC's already growing lead. His win in the first period consisted of two takedowns and three four-point near falls which led to a riding time point and the tech fall.

Xavier Doolin (285) then finished things off by becoming the third Bear of the day to win his match my fall in the first period (0:52), defeating Anthony Caldwell.

Chris Sandoval, Andrew Berreyesa (174), and Branson Britten (184) all claimed victories in their matches as well. Sandoval earned the win by a 17-5 major decision, while Berreyesa and Britten won by decision, 7-0 and 7-2, respectively.

What They Said
Head Coach Troy Nickerson
"I appreciate Fort Hays coming out to wrestle us. RMN events put on a great production. Today was a solid start for us to get our feet under us again. The biggest thing I was looking forward to was seeing where our freshmen were at. We had 5 guys (Stevo, Vinny, Baylor, Branson and Xavier) that competed in their first college dual today. They delivered on all accounts. We will get back to work tomorrow as we look forward to taking our team out East."

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado hits the road to New York where they take on Binghamton University on Saturday, November 12, as well as partaking in the Bearcat Open the following day, November 13.

To stay up to date on all things UNC Wrestling, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.