No. 2 Bison fall to third-ranked Nebraska-Omaha

The Forum, Fargo, North Dakota

01/28/1996

No. 2 Bison fall to third-ranked Nebraska-Omaha
By Jay Osmundson

In their 17 years of coaching against each other, Mike Denney and Bucky Maughan have seen many wrestling matches -- and dual meets -- turn in the blink of an eye.

And such was the case Saturday night at the Bison Sports Arena as Denney's Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, rated third in NCAA Division II, rallied to edge Maughan's second-ranked North Dakota State Bison 21-15 in a showdown of perennial North Central Conference powers.

Leading 15-12 with their 190-pounder, defending national champion Ryan Wolters, leading Pat Kelley III 6-3 late in the first period, the Bison appeared to be in decent shape. But Wolters, trying for a takedown, missed connections, fell backwards and virtually pinned himself with just five seconds left.

Although it certainly looked like an accident in NDSU eyes, it wasn't to Omaha. It was the team-high 17th pin of the season for Kelley, who improved his record to 25-6 -- second only to the 25-5 mark of 177-pounder Corry Royal.

"Ryan (Wolters) was in control, but it looked like he got a little off balance and got caught," said Denney, whose Mavericks are now 5-0 in the NCC and 7-2 for the year. "Our kid (Kelley) is dangerous. He's done that before." Kelley's pin gave Omaha an 18-15 lead, meaning Bison freshman Kelly Kreger would have to beat Maverick senior Wade Kroeze at heavyweight for the Bison to tie or win.

Kreger, in only his second varsity appearance, was no match for the veteran Kroeze won 10-3 to hike his record to 24-5.

Thanks to last week's blizzard, the Bison hadn't wrestled in two weeks. And Maughan said it showed as they dropped to 0-1 in the NCC and 3-1 overall. But he didn't use the layoff as an excuse.

"Omaha outwrestled us, and we've got to pick it up from here," Maughan said.

"We were expecting Wolters to get a superior decision, because he's done it to the kid before. But he got caught in a freaky move and that was it. We knew Greger wasn't ready for that kid (Kroeze)." Maughan also expected a better result at 177. But All-American Mike McCormick fell to Royal 11-4, bowing to the Maverick for the second time this year.

"McCormick had a poor match," Maughan said.

The Bison's Jeff Kapusta remained unbeaten at 126 by edging Brauman Creighton 8-5. Kapusta clinched his eighth straight victory with a takedown with 12 seconds left. It was only the fifth loss in 28 matches this year for Creighton.

Jeremy LaVigne of NDSU scored the meet's only other fall, pinning Erin Daugherty in 2:12 at 142.

And the Bison got somewhat unexpected victories from Mark Pazdernik at 158 and Jeremy McCrank at 167.

Pazdernik improved to 8-5 with a 9-2 victory over Dan Lovell (19-10), while McCrank edged Phil Smart 3-2. The Mavericks' Raphael Kizzee, a defending national champion, couldn't go at 167 because of a bad knee. He faces knee surgery Monday.

The Bison were also bitten by the injury bug. George Thompson, one of NDSU's top hopes, encountered back problems during his 134-pound match and lost 10-6 to Tony Johnson.