NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKED
Injuries, departures made Div. II title more impressive for Nebraska-Omaha
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — It’s been an impressive ride for the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks.
The top-ranked Mavericks have won the last two Division II national titles and added their second straight NWCA Cliff Keen National Duals championship with a 20-10 win over No. 2 Minnesota State-Mankato, Jan. 15, at the UNI-Dome.
But as has been customary during their superb three-year run, nothing has come easy for veteran coach Mike Denney and his gritty, blue-collar team.
The Mavericks won the first five matches, including one-point wins by Dan Hilario (133), Shane Unger (149) and Patrick Allibone (157), in the finals against Minnesota State. Allibone, an NCAA champ, outlasted All-American Math Bitz, 1-0. Allibone escaped in the second period for the match’s only points.
UNO survived a scare in the heavyweight match when three-time national champ Les Sigman tweaked his shoulder early in his match with MSU’s Tim Kraemer. But Sigman came back to win 5-1. He is now 36-0 and has won 62 straight. Sigman has scored bonus points in 33 of 36 matches this year.
“W
ow, that scared me a little bit with his shoulder,” Denney said. “Hopefully, the big fella is going to be OK.”Sigman was named Outstanding Wrestler in Division II. He went 4-0 as did Cody Garcia (125), Hilario and national champ J.D. Naig (174). UNO seniors Mitch Waite and Christian Alt each went 2-0 at 141. Waite beat two ranked wrestlers and Alt one.
“We were pretty consistent and showed some improvement,” Denney said. “Cody Garcia really gave us that early spark and the rest of the guys followed with some great performances.”
Garcia, a freshman ranked No. 7, set the tone early in the finals, scoring a takedown on a perfectly executed inside trip en route to a methodical 6-1 win over No. 5 Nick Smith.
The No. 4 Waite hit an early four-point move and stayed in control the rest of the way in a 9-3 win over No. 8 Zach Stephens of Minnesota State. Waite, a two-time All-American who is coming back from neck surgery, also beat No. 6 Andre Vander Velde of Augustana 10-8 in the quarterfinal dual.
Alt beat No. 2 Kyle Evans of Central Oklahoma 3-2 in the semifinal dual.
“It’s taken me a while to get back into the flow of things, but I’m starting to feel a lot better and my confidence is really coming back,” Waite said. “You know I love these big matches and I really get up for events like this. This is the fourth time I’ve competed at the National Duals, so I was pretty comfortable out there.”
Waite is one of four national finalists on a veteran team.
“Everybody was so relaxed and calm before the finals. We were definitely ready to go,” Waite said. “Cody Garcia did just a phenomenal job getting us going in the first match and we really fed off his energy. That kid’s a stud.”
The Mavericks suffered a tough blow the week before the National Duals when true freshman Jacob Marrs suffered a torn ACL in the first round of the Dana Open.
Marrs, 21-3 this season at 197, may be done for the year. He has competed in only Open meets, so he would still have four years of eligibility left.
Ben Strandberg, a two-time national qualifier for UNO at 197 who was beaten out by Marrs, transferred to Div. III Buena Vista during Christmas break. The Mavs used back-up 184-pounder Nick Edmonds at 197 during the National Duals. The sophomore from Omaha went 1-3.
Minnesota State was without top-ranked Travis Krinke at 174. He is out with a shoulder injury, but is expected back soon.
Nebraska-Omaha’s Nate Oviatt, a three-year starter who is ranked fifth, fell 11-0 to No. 6 John Koons of Minnesota State. Oviatt went 0-4 in Cedar Falls.
The Mavericks now embark on a tough stretch where it has duals with Division III national champ Augsburg (Jan. 27), No. 5 Central Oklahoma (Feb. 3), No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney (Feb. 4) and No. 2 Minnesota State (Feb. 10). Only the Minnesota State dual is at home.
“Nothing’s ever easy — we know that,” Denney said. “I was proud of our guys. We wrestled well. We just have to keep it going.”
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