by Kearney, Neb. – The 3rd-ranked Nebraska Kearney wrestling team won four weight classes and placed in the top five in six others Saturday at the UNK Holiday Inn Open at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds.
This non-team scoring event brought over 30 teams and 450 wrestlers to Kearney. Click HERE for UNK’s complete results.
UNK won 49 times on the day, 16 by fall. In the Elite Division, top-ranked Daniel DeShazer (Wichita, Kans.) placed first at 133 lbs. as did junior Connor Bolling (Central City) at 125 lbs. and sophomore Destin McCauley (Omaha Tribe) at 149 lbs.
McCauley shared the Elite Division’s Most Outstanding Wrestler Award with UNL’s Colton McCrystal (141 lbs.). Central Missouri’s Zadac Lankford was the Amateur’s M.O.W.
Redshirt freshman heavyweight Ivan DeLeon (Katy, Texas) won in the Amateur Division with fellow second-year Loper Chance Bila (Chadron) second at 174 lbs. Finally in this bracket, Gretna freshman Brady Radik was runner up at 197 lbs. with Colorado freshman Zach Stodden second at 184 lbs.
Winning a second straight tournament, Bolling went 4-0, starting the day with two majors before taking his final two matches by identical 5-2 scores. He bested Malacai Collins of Central Missouri in the finals.
Also returning to the winner’s circle was DeShazer. He won three times after a first round bye, getting past South Dakota State’s Ben Gillette, 6-3, and Air Force Academy’s Anthony McHugh, 11-5, to take the title.
McCauley placed first for the first time in 2014-15, going 4-0 with a fall at 1:49 over Nebraska’s Tyler Berger in the quarters. After a forfeit victory, he beat 7th-ranked Spencer Rutherford of Central Oklahoma, 9-2.
