Colon, Moore Lead Wrestlers to 6th at Cliff Keen

Friday, December 6

Las Vegas, Nev.

TBA

University of Northern Iowa

Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite

Colon, Moore Lead Wrestlers to 6th at Cliff Keen

12/7/2013 1:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: UNI Athletics Communications

LAS VEGAS – Four wrestlers medaled at the Cliff Keen Invitational to lead the Panthers to a sixth-place finish Saturday.

125 – Dylan Peters 5^th
133 – Joe Colon 3^rd
141 – Joey Lazor 8^th
165 – Cooper Moore 4^th

The Panthers improved on their last year's eighth-place finish. Senior Joe Colon (133 pounds) and redshirt freshman No. 16 Cooper Moore (165 pounds) led the team, placing third and fourth, respectively.

Colon, ranked fourth in the nation, fell to No. 16 Johnni DiJulius of Ohio State early in the day to end his run for the title. He finished the day with a dominate win, earning a 16-0 tech fall against No. 14 Mark Grey of Cornell.

“He came back strong,” said head coach Doug Schwab. “He lost in the semis, but he responded in the next matches. He just caught up in some things. He just needs to be aware of some positions, but it's a learning process. Obviously being seeded first, he expected to win, and so do we.”

After knocking off No. 10 Joseph Booth of Hofstra yesterday, Moore lost by decision to No. 5 Michael Moreno of Iowa State to start today's competition. He bounced back, earning a 4-2 decision over No. 18 Austin Wilson of Nebraska. He fell to No. 8 Daniel Yates of Michigan to settle for fourth.

“I really thought he had the guy pinned for third, but they didn't call it,” said Schwab. “Sometimes that happens, and you have to be able to rebound from it. You just can't get behind on those top-ranked guys. We have to think more about our shots. He will continue to improve.”

Cornell's Nahshon Garrett ended Dylan Peters' pinning streak in the 125-pound weight class. The redshirt freshman was undefeated, with all nine wins coming from falls. Peters, ranked seventh in the nation, fell to No. 2 Garrett in a 4-2 decision to start the day, but later won a 15-13 decision over No. 6 Tyler Cox of Wyoming.

“I need to remember he's a freshman, but he expects a lot out of himself, too,” said Schwab. “You need to be able to respond to it, and we have to be ready to go again. We saw a lot of good things from him and have a better understanding of what we need to do make that jump to next level. He is right in the mix, but he isn't after moral victories and neither are we. That's not the expectations we are making.”

Joey Lazor (141 pounds) was the only Panther to win his first round of the day. However, he lost his next two matches to take eighth.

“Our guys competed hard and battled all weekend,” said Schwab. “Everyone won a match, and everyone scored points. We were in position to win a lot of those matches that we weren't expected to take. I thought it could have been better weekend, but the guys are looking to make those adjustments.”

JIM FOX OPEN – DUBUQUE

Six Panthers, some competing unattached, placed in the top 4 in the Jim Fox Open in Dubuque, Iowa, today.

133 – Levi Wolfensperger 1^st (3 falls, 1 tech fall)
141 – Adam Perrin 1^st (2 falls)
149 – Tyler Patten 1^st (2 major decision); Tanner Hiatt 4^th (1 major decision, 1 fall)
157 – Zach Witte 2^nd (1 major decision)
165 – Curt Maas 2^nd

“It's important this group of guys continues to compete and win,” said Schwab. “Some guys reversed some matches from the last time they saw those competitors, so that is a positive. We are building our program by bringing those guys up. We need to continue to build their experience and improve as a whole.”

The Panthers will host the UNI Open Dec. 14. Competition is scheduled to start at 9 a.m.

RESULTS (# rankings are InterMat national rankings):

125 – #7 DYLAN PETERS 5^th (4-2)

DAY 1: Peters pins Pat Rollins (Oregon State), 2:10; Peters pins Brenn Schiess (Western Wyoming), 2:00; Peters pins Earn Hall (Iowa State), 6:30
DAY 2: #2 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) dec. Peters, 4-2; #8 Martin (Josh) Martinez (Air Force) dec. Peters, 10-7; Peters dec. #6 Tyler Cox (Wyoming), 15-13

133 – #4 JOE COLON 3^rd (5-1)

DAY 1: Colon pins Lino Estrada (Grand Canyon), 6:24; Colon tech fall Dennis Gustafson (Virginia Tech), 18-3 (6:45); Colon dec. Vincent Dellafave (Rutgers), 1-0;
DAY 2: #16 Johnni DiJulius (Ohio State) dec. Colon, 6-2; Colon dec. Jose Mendoza (CSU Bakersfield), 8-1; Colon tech fall #14 Mark Grey (Cornell), 16-0

141 – #8 JOEY LAZOR 8^th (4-2)

DAY 1: Lazor pins Joe Locksmith (Navy), 4:57; Lazor dec. Joey Delgado (Oregon State), 11-4; Todd Preston (Harvard) pins Lazor, 1:12; Lazor maj. dec. Angelo Latora (Michigan), 10-0
DAY 2: Lazor dec. Joseph Spisak (Virginia), 5-3; Dylan Phillipy (San Francisco State) dec. Lazor, 12-5; Gabe Moreno (Iowa State) wins by injury default over Lazor

165 – #16 COOPER MOORE 4^th (4-2)

DAY 1: Moore dec. Dakota Friesth (Wyoming), 6-2; Moore pins Derrick Booth (North Idaho College), 2:01; Moore dec. #10 Joesph Booth (Hofstra), 3-1
DAY 2: #5 Michael Moreno (Iowa State) dec. Moore, 10-5; Moore dec. #18 Austin Wilson (Nebraska), 4-2; #8 Daniel Yates (Michigan) pins Moore, 1:39

174 – #17 CODY CALDWELL (3-2)

DAY 1: Caldwell dec. Frank Affronti (Hofstra), 3-2; Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State) dec. Caldwell, 4-0; Caldwell dec. Brent Havlik (Wyoming), 6-0; Caldwell dec. Brian Harvey (Army), 3-1
DAY 2: #14 Bryce Hammond (CSU Bakersfield) tech fall Caldwell, 15-0 (7:00)

184 – KYLE LUX (2-2)

DAY 1: Lux wins by default Maxwell Huntley (Michigan); Lux maj. dec. Austin Gaun (Grand Canyon), 12-4; #18 Benjamin Stroh (Wyoming) tech fall Lux, 17-3
DAY 2: Tanner Weatherman (Iowa State) dec. Lux, 12-8 SV

285 - BLAIZE CABELL (3-2)

Day 1: Adam Fager (Utah Valley University) dec. Cabell, 10-4; Cabell dec. Trevor Smith (Army), 7-3; Cabell maj. dec. Daniel Gusev (Arizona State), 11-0; Cabell dec. #12 Ty Waltz (Virginia Tech), 9-7
Day 2: #3 Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) dec. Cabell 6-4

FROM DAY 1:

149 – GUNNAR WOLFENSPERGER (2-2): Wolfensperger dec. Preston McCalmon (Arizona State), 6-0; Wolfensperger pins Adrian Avelar (Western Wyoming College), 2:02; Jeremy Golding (North Idaho College) dec. Wolfensperger, 6-3; Brandon Richardson (Wyoming) dec. Wolfensperger, 9-3

157 – JARRETT JENSEN (1-2): Andy McCulley (Wyoming) wins by default Jensen; Jensen pins Nicholas Moreno (North Idaho College), 6:54; Brian Realbuto (Cornell) pins Jensen, 5:00

197 – BASIL MINTO (2-2): Minto maj. dec. Chace Eskam (Arizona State), 8-0; Shane Woods (Wyoming) dec. Minto, 2-0; Minto dec. Marcus Haughian (Grand Canyon), 10-3; Derek Thomas (Utah Valley University) dec. Minto, 2-1 SV

TEAM SCORES: