Those three victories came in the final three matches of the night and put an exclamation point on the Mountaineers’ day although they had already clinched the team title heading into the championship round.
Nebraska-Kearney, paced by 174-pound champion and RMAC Wrestler of the Year Kamarudeen “Marty” Usman finished second with 102 points while Fort Hays State took third with 94 ½ points.
The host Adams State College Grizzlies had two individual champions in seniors Arsenia Barksdale (Norfolk, Va.) and Joey Deaguero (Commerce City, Colo.) at 125 and 157 pounds, respectively, while finishing in a tie for sixth place with 67 ½ points.
The Grizzlies had four national qualifiers as sophomore Josh Hensley (Alamosa, Colo.) finished second at 141 pounds while senior Kyle Sand (Arvada, Colo.) finished fourth at 197 pounds.
The other weight class champions were Naveed Bagheri of San Francisco State at 133 pounds, Andre Harrison of Fort Hays State at 141 pounds, Louie DeSantis of Colorado State-Pueblo at 149 pounds and Victor Carazo of Grand Canyon at 165 pounds.
A total of seven different teams had individual champions while 10 of the 11 competing teams qualified a wrestler for the national tournament to be held Mar. 12-13 in Omaha, Neb.
The top four finishers in each weight class qualified for that tournament. However, Western State’s Kyle O’Brien and Nebraska-Kearney’s Joey Morrison, who finished fifth in the tournament at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively, both won successful true fourth place challenge matches to book their trips to the national tournament over Treven DeLaune of Colorado State-Pueblo at Daren Hocket of Western State. Fort Hays State’s Shawn Kuhlman also defended his place in such a match at 174 pounds.
Western State coach Miles Van Hee was named as the RMAC Coach of the Year for the second straight year, an award handed out after a vote of his peers.
Meanwhile, Chadron State’s Ryan Fillingame, who took third place at 133 pounds, was named as the RMAC’s Freshman of the Year.
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