Wrestling takes down No. 6 Adams St.
Posted by Administrator on Feb 18 2009
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By Photo by Justin Buchanan
Senior Cody Lambotte from Rossville, Kan., takes down top-ranked Raymond Dunning during the 141-pound match on Feb. 12. Dunning pinned Lambote, but the Lopers defeated the sixth-ranked Grizzlies 29-17.

By Garrett Ritonya
Antelope Staff

The UNK Wrestling Team exacted some revenge against an Adams State squad that took them down last season, soundly defeating the nationally 6th ranked Grizzlies 29-17 on Feb. 12.

Adams State, one of the best up-and-coming Division II wrestling schools in the nation, jumped out to an early 11-3 lead.The slow start has been a downfall of the Lopers all season long.

"It's always tough when your guys fall behind early since it puts 'pressure' on the other guys to step up and perform," said wrestling Head Coach Marc Bauer. "And our guys have really stepped up their performance to save the team."

UNK clawed back to a 20-17 lead and took the final two matches to take home the match by the final score of 29-17.

Star juniors Marty Usman of Arlington, Texas and Taylor May of Imperial, ranked first and third respectively in the nation in their weight class, led the Lopers.

Usman, ranked first at 174 pounds, recorded his 13th technical fall of the season and improved his record to a stellar 36-8 on the season. May, ranked third at 165 pounds, recorded another fall and bumped his season total to 27 wins.

The Lopers won without key wrestler Ryan Etherton, a Lincoln junior, who broke a cyst between his thumb and forefinger during a match last week. The injury occurred after the match and resulted in Etherton's hand swelling up. Bauer doesn't know when he will return to the lineup.

"They made a small incision on his hand to clean out the injury, so we don't know if he'll be back this week. But we plan on having him back by Regionals," Bauer said. "It will be important to get him back into the line-up and get him one match before that time."

UNK improves their record to 15-5 overall on the year and 5-1 in the RMAC. The Lopers will travel to Chadron State Feb. 18. UNK will host Augustana and Fort Hays State on Feb. 20 in Cushing Coliseum.

"I'm really confident with where we are right now, getting our final lineup set for Regionals and Nationals," Bauer said. "It will be nice to have some home field advantage for Regionals, so we expect a good performance."