Five Mavs will Wrestle for Individual Titles Tonig
Mar 13, 2010 | General
OMAHA, Neb. - Five Nebraska-Omaha wrestlers will battle for national titles at 8 p.m. tonight in front of a home crowd inside Sapp Fieldhouse. Ryan Pankoke and Jacob Marrs both collected third-place finishes this afternoon.
Garcia (133 - ranked second) won a hard-fought semifinal match against Corey Bowers of Gannon University 6-3 to move into the finals of the National Tournament for the third time in his career.
"It was a tough match, but I found a way to win," Garcia said. "All that matters is that I just go out and wrestle the way I'm capable of and take care of business in the finals."
The victory moves Garcia to 48-0 on the season. The four-time All-American will square off against top-ranked Shane Valko (26-1) of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. Valko has been ranked No. 1 in the NWCA Coaches poll the entire season in front of Garcia at No. 2.
"It's going to be a good match, I think I just have to wrestle within my pace, just kind of control the tide," Garcia said. "I'm really proud of the team to get five wrestlers into the finals. Im a little dissapointed for some of the other guys because I know how much they wanted to get there."
Mario Morgan (141 - ranked third) won by fall over Cory Bloodgood of Central Missouri at 6:15 to earn his way into the finals for the first time in his career. The win marked the third victory over Bloodgood, all by falls, and marked Morgan's 100th win of his career. The victory was also the 29th-straight win of the season for the Chicago native (40-3). The two-time All-American will meet Augustana's seventh-ranked Jay Sherer in the finals. Morgan beat Sherer 5-3, a two-time All-American himself, on Feb. 17 when the two schools met in dual competition last month. Morgan is already 3-0 against the All-American.
"He's going to wrestle tough...we wrestled a little bit earlier this year," Morgan said. "It's going to be a pretty tough challenge....he likes to keep matches pretty close, so it should be fun. I feel like if I wrestle good I'll be ok though. My main focus is to just wrestle my own match and things should be alright."
At 149, third-ranked Esai Dominguez earned a spot in his first-career finals round of the National Tournament. Dominguez beat Augustana's Nate Herda 10-5 to advance. He will face top-ranked Craig Becker of Wisconsin-Parkside. Becker defeated Dominguez 12-7 at the regional tournament on Feb. 28.
" We always have good matches, Im getting excited for it...especially in front of the home crowd and with my family members watching it definitiley makes it special," Dominguez said. "We are looking pretty good going into the finals. Coach Denney has always instilled in us the three-C's: being cool, calm and confident. I think its showing in our performances out there."
Maverick redshirt freshman George Ivanov (157) moved on to the finals after a victory over Danny Grater of Fort Hays State, 4-3. The fourth-ranked Ivanov will face eighth-ranked Jonathan Jackson of Anderson College in the finals.
"Im pretty excited about getting to the finals," Ivanov said. "I think if I just stick to the plan, and with the way I've prepared, everything should go right. My goal from the beginning of the season was getting to to the nationals and I have worked really hard to get here to the finals. I know I just have one more match left and I have to wrestle tough to get it."
Redshirt freshman 285-pounder Elijah Madison beat fifth-ranked Jacob Kahnke of St. Cloud State 3-2 to move into the finals. He will meet top-ranked Brady Wilson of Minnesota State in the finals. Madison and Wilson have met two times this season with Wilson winning both matches. The two met once at the NWCA National Duals on Jan. 10 where he lost 2-1, and on Feb. 5 when Wilson edged him, 2-1. Both were overtime losses.
"I just have to wrestle hard for seven minutes, impose my will on him....and I will win it," Madison said. " He's not better than, he's just better on top, so I gotta get a take down," Madison laughed.
"I think it would be huge to get the five guys we have left to win it all....I dont think its ever been done before," he said. "We just have to go out there and stay focused and I think we can make something special happen here tonight."
Pankoke collected a third-place finish in his first National Tournament appearance. The Beaver Crossing, Neb., defeated Victor Garazo 3-1 in a sudden victory for the win. He finished the year with a 33-7 record, earning All-American accolades for the first time in his career.
At 197, Marrs and top-ranked Keeno Griffin battled in rematch from last year's national championship match, only this time the two were going for third-place. Griffin took a 2-1 lead after scoring a takedown with 1:01 left in the third. Marrs escaped to tie the match at 2-2 with 30 second left. The two All-Americans needed extra time to settle the match, and it was Marrs who scored a nearfall and a reversal in overtime to earn the 7-2 win in dramatic fashion. Marrs finished his UNO career with a 132-31 record, and is now ninth on UNO's all-time wins list.
Terrell McKinney lost his consolation match in overtime 6-4 to Andy Forstner of Minnesota State in sudden victory. McKinney received a win by forfeit over Russell Weakley to earn a seventh-place finish.
Head Coach Mike Denney said that his team is in a pretty good position overall. "I think that's the most people we've ever advanced to the finals in our 31 years, so thats pretty good, " Denney said. "We have a couple freshman in the finals as well, which is good. I think we are wrestling well, we just have to go out there and finish what we started."
Tonight's final round action can be seen live on CBS College Sports TV and NET 2.
Garcia (133 - ranked second) won a hard-fought semifinal match against Corey Bowers of Gannon University 6-3 to move into the finals of the National Tournament for the third time in his career.
"It was a tough match, but I found a way to win," Garcia said. "All that matters is that I just go out and wrestle the way I'm capable of and take care of business in the finals."
The victory moves Garcia to 48-0 on the season. The four-time All-American will square off against top-ranked Shane Valko (26-1) of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. Valko has been ranked No. 1 in the NWCA Coaches poll the entire season in front of Garcia at No. 2.
"It's going to be a good match, I think I just have to wrestle within my pace, just kind of control the tide," Garcia said. "I'm really proud of the team to get five wrestlers into the finals. Im a little dissapointed for some of the other guys because I know how much they wanted to get there."
Mario Morgan (141 - ranked third) won by fall over Cory Bloodgood of Central Missouri at 6:15 to earn his way into the finals for the first time in his career. The win marked the third victory over Bloodgood, all by falls, and marked Morgan's 100th win of his career. The victory was also the 29th-straight win of the season for the Chicago native (40-3). The two-time All-American will meet Augustana's seventh-ranked Jay Sherer in the finals. Morgan beat Sherer 5-3, a two-time All-American himself, on Feb. 17 when the two schools met in dual competition last month. Morgan is already 3-0 against the All-American.
"He's going to wrestle tough...we wrestled a little bit earlier this year," Morgan said. "It's going to be a pretty tough challenge....he likes to keep matches pretty close, so it should be fun. I feel like if I wrestle good I'll be ok though. My main focus is to just wrestle my own match and things should be alright."
At 149, third-ranked Esai Dominguez earned a spot in his first-career finals round of the National Tournament. Dominguez beat Augustana's Nate Herda 10-5 to advance. He will face top-ranked Craig Becker of Wisconsin-Parkside. Becker defeated Dominguez 12-7 at the regional tournament on Feb. 28.
" We always have good matches, Im getting excited for it...especially in front of the home crowd and with my family members watching it definitiley makes it special," Dominguez said. "We are looking pretty good going into the finals. Coach Denney has always instilled in us the three-C's: being cool, calm and confident. I think its showing in our performances out there."
Maverick redshirt freshman George Ivanov (157) moved on to the finals after a victory over Danny Grater of Fort Hays State, 4-3. The fourth-ranked Ivanov will face eighth-ranked Jonathan Jackson of Anderson College in the finals.
"Im pretty excited about getting to the finals," Ivanov said. "I think if I just stick to the plan, and with the way I've prepared, everything should go right. My goal from the beginning of the season was getting to to the nationals and I have worked really hard to get here to the finals. I know I just have one more match left and I have to wrestle tough to get it."
Redshirt freshman 285-pounder Elijah Madison beat fifth-ranked Jacob Kahnke of St. Cloud State 3-2 to move into the finals. He will meet top-ranked Brady Wilson of Minnesota State in the finals. Madison and Wilson have met two times this season with Wilson winning both matches. The two met once at the NWCA National Duals on Jan. 10 where he lost 2-1, and on Feb. 5 when Wilson edged him, 2-1. Both were overtime losses.
"I just have to wrestle hard for seven minutes, impose my will on him....and I will win it," Madison said. " He's not better than, he's just better on top, so I gotta get a take down," Madison laughed.
"I think it would be huge to get the five guys we have left to win it all....I dont think its ever been done before," he said. "We just have to go out there and stay focused and I think we can make something special happen here tonight."
Pankoke collected a third-place finish in his first National Tournament appearance. The Beaver Crossing, Neb., defeated Victor Garazo 3-1 in a sudden victory for the win. He finished the year with a 33-7 record, earning All-American accolades for the first time in his career.
At 197, Marrs and top-ranked Keeno Griffin battled in rematch from last year's national championship match, only this time the two were going for third-place. Griffin took a 2-1 lead after scoring a takedown with 1:01 left in the third. Marrs escaped to tie the match at 2-2 with 30 second left. The two All-Americans needed extra time to settle the match, and it was Marrs who scored a nearfall and a reversal in overtime to earn the 7-2 win in dramatic fashion. Marrs finished his UNO career with a 132-31 record, and is now ninth on UNO's all-time wins list.
Terrell McKinney lost his consolation match in overtime 6-4 to Andy Forstner of Minnesota State in sudden victory. McKinney received a win by forfeit over Russell Weakley to earn a seventh-place finish.
Head Coach Mike Denney said that his team is in a pretty good position overall. "I think that's the most people we've ever advanced to the finals in our 31 years, so thats pretty good, " Denney said. "We have a couple freshman in the finals as well, which is good. I think we are wrestling well, we just have to go out there and finish what we started."
Tonight's final round action can be seen live on CBS College Sports TV and NET 2.
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