Nebraska-Kearney Lopers Place 4 at Wyoming Open
Kearney, Neb. - The 4th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team began its
season in earnest Saturday at the 37th Annual Wyoming Cowboy Open in
Laramie.
The non-team scoring event, sponsored by the UniWyo Federal Credit Union,
took place in the University of Wyoming's War Memorial Fieldhouse. Besides
the host Cowboys, other schools in attendance included Air Force, Boise
State, Utah Valley, Chadron State and Western State.
In the Amateur Division, UNK had 15 wrestlers compete. Redshirt freshman
Christian Flavin (197 lbs/Sharpsburg, Ga.) placed 1st with sophomore Jordan
Gienger (157 lbs./St. Francis, Kan.) coming in fourth. In the Elite
Division, junior T.J. Hepburn (149 lbs/East Hampton, Conn.) placed runner
up with senior Marty Usman (Arlington, Texas) -- competing unattached --
rolling to the 174 lbs. title.
After a first round bye, Flavin breezed into the finals with a fall (3:52)
and major decision (13-3). He would then edge Mark Jones of NW Wyoming, 9-7
in OT, for the title. Gienger reached the semifinals on the strength of a
major decision (14-2) and a 5-3 win over Tim Hollister of Air Force. After
losing to the eventual champion, Abner Cook, Gienger beat teammate Riley
Allen (Grand Island) to reach the 3rd place match.
Hepburn, a transfer from Colby C.C., was the top-seed at 149 lbs. and his
four wins included a tech fall (19-3) and pin (6:36). In the finals, he was
edged by the 2nd seed, Wyoming's Cole Dallaserra, 7-3.
Finally, after racking up 45 wins last year but no falls, Usman got his
senior year off to a quick start with a pin (2:19) of CSU-Pueblo's Justin
Grant in the 1st round. The Texan would go on to tech fall (18-3) Brad
Darrington of D1 Utah Valley in the finals.
Other highlights from the Amateur Division included redshirt freshman Bruce
Zurek (Comstock) reaching the 141 lbs. semifinals, as did true freshman
Matt Katusin (Skutt) at 133 lbs. Before losing to Gienger, Allen won four
matches.
UNK competes in the Kaufman-Brand Open at UNO on Nov. 21st
University of Nebraska at Kearney Regains RMAC All-Sports Competition Cup
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- May 13, 2008 -- The University of Nebraska at Kearney regained the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Sports Competition Cup after their 11-year reign was broken last year by Metropolitan State College of Denver. This marks the 12th time in school history the Lopers have won the RMAC All-Sports Competition Cup. They earned 730 points this year, 40 points more than second place Adams State College and Fort Lewis College.
The RMAC All-Sports Competition Cup is awarded to the institution which accumulates the most points over the year based on its teams' outcome in the RMAC's four core sports, along with four wild card sports. The four core sports are football or men's soccer, men's basketball, women's basketball and volleyball, while the four wild card sports consist of two men's sports and two women's sports, which are designated by that institutions' best finish in those 14 Olympic sports (19 total RMAC sports). Total RMAC All-Sports Competition Cup points are calculated based on how the teams finish in the various RMAC tournaments or RMAC post-season play. In the scenario that the team does not qualify for RMAC post-season competition or the RMAC does not conduct a post-season event (i.e. football), the points are calculated by the final conference regular season standings.
The Lopers won RMAC tournament titles in volleyball, women's tennis, wrestling and baseball, while finishing second in men's tennis and women's basketball.
With the NCAA outdoor track and field and baseball seasons yet to be completed, two schools from the RMAC have won three NCAA national titles in 2007-2008: women's cross country and indoor track & field (Adams State), and wrestling (Nebraska-Kearney).
Nebraska-Kearney will be presented with the RMAC All-Sports Competition Cup during the 2008 RMAC Hall of Fame & Awards Banquet on Saturday, July 12.
Nebraska-Kearney's Dlagnev Named Division II Wrestler of the Year
EDMOND, Okla. (April 4) -- Nebraska-Kearney
heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev has been named the 2007-08
NCAA Division II Wrestler of the Year after an
undefeated season capped by a national finals victory
that catapulted the Lopers to their first-ever team
title.
Dlagnev becomes the inaugural winner of the award,
sponsored by the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches'
Association and voted on by eight regional
representatives from around the country.
Each of the four regions nominated a candidate, with
West Region nominee Dlagnev receiving seven
first-place votes and finishing with 31 points to beat
runner-up Kyle Evans of Central Oklahoma and the
Midwest Region. Minnesota State-Mankato's Jason
Rhoten was the North Region representative and Dan
Scanlan of Limestone the East nominee.
Dlagnev, a native of Arlington, Texas, went a perfect
38-0 this season with 16 falls, six major decisions
and five technical falls. He captured his second
straight national championship with a 4-1 finals win
over Central Oklahoma's Dustin Finn that enabled UNK
to edge MSU-Mankato by a mere half-point for the team
crown.
A four-time West Region champion, Dlagnev finished
with a school-record 167 wins. He put together a
phenomenal 167-19 career record that included 55
falls, 38 major decisions and 10 technical falls and
he was 87-1 his last two years.
Dlagnev became just the fourth four-time All-American
in UNK history with national tournament finishes of
sixth-second-first-first. Also a four-time Wrestling
Coaches All-Academic pick, Dlagnev was selected for
the 2008 NWCA All-Star Classic and will continue his
wrestling career on the international level.
He was a fourth-place finisher in the Senior Men's
Freestyle Division at the U.S. National Championships
in 2007 and won the prestigious Sunkist Kids
International Open last fall.