KEARNEY, Neb. – The No. 16 Western State Colorado University grapplers remained undefeated in conference duals on Saturday, defeating No. 12 California Baptist University at the University of Nebraska – Kearney Midwest Duals. The Mountaineers also defeated Northern State University before falling to the No. 5 UNK 'Lopers.
The Mountaineers (5-2, 2-0 RMAC) began the duals with a 32-10 victory over Northern State. Western earned extra points with falls by
Ronald Wardleigh (Fr., Plain City, Utah) at 125 pounds and
Shawn Beiriger (RSo., Del Norte, Colorado) at 157 pounds.
Austin Harris (Sr., Windsor, Colorado) at 174 pounds and
Brandon Supernaw (RFr., Colorado Springs, Colorado) at 184 pounds also earned extra points with major decisions over their opponents.
In the following dual Western went up against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponent and No. 12 ranked Cal Baptist. Wardleigh started the dual for the Mountaineers with his second fall of the day. After the Lancers got a tech-fall at 133-pounds,
Corbin Bennetts (Sr., Buena Vista, Colorado) gave the Mountaineers a little more breathing room with a 5-4 decision.
CBU took the lead in the second dual, 13-9, with a decision and tech-fall at 149 and 157 pounds. The Mountaineers regained the lead with a decision at 165 pounds by
Travis Bradford (So., Houston, Texas), a fall by Harris at 174 pounds, and a fall by Supernaw at 184 pounds. The Mountaineers led 24-13 heading into the final two bouts. CBU would get nine more points but Western would take the dual 24-22 to maintain a perfect conference record.
In their final dual of the day, Western faced host school UNK. The Mountaineers and Lopers fought till the end as the dual wasn't decided until the end of the 197-pound match. After going down 7-0 to begin the dual, Western came back, earning two decisions by Bennetts at 141 pounds and
Tyler Adams (Sr., Rancho Santa Margarita, California) at 149 pounds. UNK would win the next two bouts before Western picked up another two wins by Harris and Supernaw to make the score 13-12 in favor of the Lopers.
Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, UNK would go on to win the next two bouts and the dual 22-12.
The Mountaineers will return home for a pair of duals next week. The first of which is next Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. against No. 20 Colorado Mesa University. The dual against the Mavericks will determine How the West was Won. Western will then host Colorado School of Mines on the following night at 7 p.m.
All Western State faculty and staff, as well as all students K-8th grade will receive free admission into the dual on Thursday night against CMU. The first 500 students will also receive free t-shirts for attending.
