Wrestlers Beat Fort Hays, Fall To No. 4 UNK

Wednesday, February 15

Hays, KS

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Nebraska-Kearney

Kyle McCrite picked up two wins Wednesday and has a team-best 31 victories on the season.

2/15/2012 2:31:00 PM | Wrestling

Grand Canyon split Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual meets in Fort Hays, Kan., Wednesday.

GCU (19-5, 8-2), ranked No. 6 in the Basford poll and No. 7 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association rankings beat Fort Hays State (8-3, 3-4), No. 9 in Basford and No. 15 in the NWCA, 22-12. The Antelopes lost to Nebraska-Kearney (10-3, 6-0), No. 2 in Basford and No. 4 in the NWCA, 25-9.

In the win over Fort Hays, GCU’s Brett Sanchez (184) defeated the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the nation, Walker Clarke, 4-1 and Bobby Ward (149), ranked No. 5 by Basford and No. 8 by the NWCA, beat second-ranked Mitchell Means 7-3.

Trailing 9-6, GCU ran off three straight wins. Two-time All-American Victor Carazo (174), No. 3 by Basford and No. 5 by the NWCA, beat Josh Rodriguez by major decision 13-5. Following Sanchez’s win, Celic Bell (197) made quick work of Tanner Kriss, picking up a win by fall in only :28.

Returning All-American Ted Bristol (157) downed Derek Koehn 5-4 and Kyle McCrite, ranked No. 5 by Basford, beat Colin Hase 11-8.
Against Nebraska-Kearney, GCU won three matches. Five of the seven losses were by two points or less.

Carazo (174) defeated Mark Fiala 7-4. Bell (197) earned a 7-5 victory over Matt Lenagh and McCrite (125) picked up a 7-1 decision over Jordan White.

At 133, GCU's Lino Estrada lost 4-3 to Stephen Weimer. Four other matches were mere two-point losses. Ward (149) and David Wilber(165) each lost 5-3 decisions. Ward lost to No. 3 Raufeon Stots. Wilber was defeated by second-ranked Joey Wilson.

Sanchez and third-ranked Jordan Johnson each dropped 3-1 decisions. Sanchez lost to Ross Brunkhardt and Johnson lost to Kevin Barrett, who earned a takedown in the final seconds of the third period.

"We knew to win the dual it would come down to the swing matches and they won all of them," said GCU coach R.C. LaHaye. "Give credit to Kearney.

"I really liked the way we responded (from the loss). Bobby came back and beat the No. 2 kid and Sanchez knocked off the No. 1 kid in the nation. Vic, Celic and McCrite all had solid days, too."

It was the final dual meets of the season. GCU, which finished with a school-record 19 wins, will return to Fort Hays on Feb. 25 to compete in the RMAC/Region IV Championships. The top four in each weight class move on to the NCAA Championships.

"We have one week to make improvements where we need to and compete for a region championships and try to qualify as many people as possible (for the NCAA Championships)," added LaHaye.

GCU 22, FHS 12

UNK 25, GCU 9