COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Western Colorado wrestling stepped up from its Division II platform to take on the D-I Falcons from the U.S. Air Force Academy Friday night, and the final result was not far from the expected as the Falcons scored a 44-3 win over the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers earned their points from
Jimmy LaConte's 8-6 win in the 174 bout.
JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Air Force def. Western Colorado, 44-3
Records: Western Colorado 1-1, Air Force 1-1
Location: U.S. Air Force Academy; Colorado Springs, Colo.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- LaConte trailed the Falcons' Noah Blake 2-1 after the first period and 5-1 after the second.
- He cut into the deficit with an early escape in the third period before earning two more points with a takedown with 37 seconds remaining.
- Still trailing by a point (5-4), LaConte allowed an escape to put himself in position for two more points with a takedown, which he successfully executed with just four seconds on the clock, evening the score a 6-6.
- With no ride time points, the match extended into overtime where LaConte completed his rally using a takedown of Blake for the match-winning points.
- In the previous bout, Hunter Mullin fell just shy of pulling an upset at 165 against Jack Ganos.
- Similar to LaConte's match, Mullin was behind 5-1 at the start of the third period, but an escape and then a takedown with 1:13 to go slashed Ganos' advantage to 5-4. And just like LaConte, Mullin had to immediately allow the escape to provide the opportunity for a two-point takedown that would tie the match, only the move never happened as Ganos avoided Mullins' attacks – receiving, in fact, a stall warning with 35 seconds remaining – to hang on for the 6-4 win.
- Though Western wasn't able to pull off any other upsets against its D-I foes, Air Force was only able to record a pair of falls against the cagey Mountaineer squad.
UP NEXT
The Western varsity will next hit the mat on December 9 in a non-conference dual at Colorado Mesa University.
