UNK tallied 76.50 points to come in behind first-time national champ St. Cloud State (84.50). The Huskies, with one national champ, two runners up and two third place finishers, finally get to the top of the award stand after finishing second in 2013, 2012 and 2011.
To record the program's fifth national runner up finish and 14th straight Top 10 showing, the Lopers had five All-Americans in Cotton (1st/197 lbs.), DeShazer (1st/133 lbs.), sophomore Destin McCauley (3rd/149 lbs.), junior Devin Aguirre (4th/165 lbs.) and redshirt freshman Keith Surber (5th/141 lbs.).
Cotton (Hutchinson, Kan.) and DeShazer (Wichita, Kan.) become UNK's 10th and 11th three-time All-Americans, respectively, while also joining Ali Elias ('90 & '91), Brett Allgood ('06 & '08), Tervel Dlagnev ('07 & '08) and Raufeon Stots ('12 & '13) as Lopers with two-time national titles.
It wasn't easy for either Cotton or DeShazer as they had to work overtime in both of their semifinal and finals matches.
At 133 lbs., DeShazer was just four seconds from reaching a minute of riding time in the finals against Michael Labry of Ashland (Ohio). A third period takedown by DeShazer put him up 4-3 but Labry squirted free just as DeShazer was about to reach the needed minute and an extra point.
No one scored in either sudden victory period with both wresters also escaping in the first tie breaking period. In the second tie breaking period, both wrestlers again escaped but DeShazer rode Labry for 13 seconds, erasing Labry's nine second advantage and earning four seconds of riding time to win 7-6.
Finishing the year 39-5 and improving to 62-3 all-time vs. D2 competition, DeShazer got past Nate Rodriguez of Ouachita Baptist (Ark.), 2-1, in the semifinals. Two escapes, and riding Rodriguez out, provided the winning margin.
Cotton won both his semifinal and final matches by identical 3-1 scores and in the first sudden victory period. He once again beat Julian Smith of McKendree (Ill.), getting a takedown 23 seconds into overtime.
Last year, Cotton needed a furious rally to beat Smith for the national title.
In the finals, Cotton faced Huston Evans of Newberry College (S.C.). Evans, a Virginia Tech transfer, fought off a couple of Cotton attacks in regulation but he couldn't stop him in OT, giving up a takedown at the 38 second mark.
Also a two-time All-MIAA running back, Cotton concludes a short season with an 18-5 mark.
McCauley (No. Sioux City, S.D.) fell to rival Terrel Wilbourn of Lindenwood in the 149 lbs. semifinals. Losing to Wilbourn by an 11-5 score in the regular season, McCauley was poised to grab a 2-0 lead late in the first period.
However, Wilbourn not only fought off the shot but got a takedown and two near fall points to lead 4-0. McCauley tried to rally but lost 7-6.
He came back to win two matches, using a third period takedown to beat Findlay's Nick Goebel, 3-2, for third place. McCauley ends 2014-15 with a 27-8 mark.
At 141 lbs., Surber (O'Fallon, Ill.) fell to now two-time national champ Dan Ownbey of UNC-Pembroke, 6-4, in the semis and to Notre Dame's Maurice Miller, 9-5, in a consolation match.
He finished off a 26-11 season by beating OBU's Josh Myers, 8-4, for a second time in this tournament to place fifth.
Finally, Aguirre (Ponca City, Okla.) suffered a 5-2 loss to Lake Erie's Matt Vandermeer in the 165 lbs. semis. Vandermeer used a first period takedown and never let Aguirre go, building up over 2:00 of riding time.
Aguirre, finishing 31-16, came back to major Nick Fischback of Wisconsin-Parkside, 12-3, his second win over Fischback in the tourney. SCSU's Gabe Forgarty came on strong late to beat Aguirre, 12-6, for third place.
On Friday, UNK's other two qualifiers – juniors Connor Bolling (125 lbs.) and Chase White (157 lbs.) – went a combined 3-4.
Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament - Chris Watson, Central Oklahoma
Bob Bubb Coaching Excellence Award - Pat Timm, Northern State
Most Falls in the Least Time - Larry Bomstad, St. Cloud State
Coach of the Year - Mike Wehler, Mercyhurst (Pa.)
NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler - Ziad Haddad, Kutztown (Pa.)
NCAA Most Falls - Matt Vandermeer, Lake Erie (Ohio)
NCAA Most Tech Falls - August Mizia, Mercyhurst (Pa.)
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