Towne, Carazo place at Fort Hays Open

FORT HAYS, Kan. -- The Antelopes were riding through the flat land of Kansas, a day's accomplishments complete.

It was a long road ahead. But once again, Grand Canyon University wrestling was paving the way in what is constantly being referred to as a long journey. Talk about the future was realized in the reality of what these Antelopes are doing now.

GCU's Stephen Towne (pictured) went 5-2, placing fourth at 165 pounds in the prestigious Fort Hays State Open Saturday. Teammate Victor Carazo was fourth, following a 3-2 performance at 174. Bear in mind, the Fort Hays State Open has an average of 40 wrestlers per weight class.

"This was, by far, the toughest tournament we've been in," GCU coach R.C. LaHaye said. "This is one of the cream of the crop open tournaments in the country."

With a couple of the nation's top teams competing, Grand Canyon's place among the top four places in two weight classes speaks to the growing success of a program guided by one of college wrestling's former bests.

"For us to not only compete against those guys, but beat those guys says a lot about our kids," LaHaye said. "Just because we're a brand new program doesn't mean we can't compete with them. The two guys who placed in the tournament for us sets an example for the program in the future. It's a good stepping stone. It's a good accomplishment to place at a tournament like this, but I know all these guys have bigger goals ahead of them. You're always shooting for the postseason. You're always looking forward."

Towne beat No. 5 Pete Tapia by default before losing to Derrick Adkins 3-2 in the third place match. Carazo, seeded fifth, beat No. 4 Cody Rowell 8-3, but lost to No. 1 Kamarudeen Usman by technical fall, 15-0. Carazo went on to beat Cody Gillespie, 3-2.

GCU's Richard Hernandez went 2-2 at heavyweight. He pinned Nate Brown in 1:12. Freshman Tony Denegal and Richard Palencia, each had impressive wins at 133. Denegal beat No. 5 Jon Gerhold 4-3, and Palencia beat Josh Dragnett 6-4 and Stephen Kendrick 8-2.

"Both of those kids are just hard working kids," LaHaye said. "They're both gonna get a lot better."

Grand Canyon's Adam Barnett beat Chris Leak 9-6 at 184.

"It's a great experience for these guys," LaHaye said. "We're just enjoying the drive back from Kansas."

RESULTS

Grand Canyon University Athletics

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